Company History | Meet the Team | Advisory Board | Affiliations

Founded in 2008 and based in Orlando, Florida, ecoPreserve offers Fortune 500 experience for the benefit of businesses and organizations of all sizes. We have worked with clients of all shapes and sizes to help them achieve positive returns on their building efficiency and human capital  investments. Due to our lean core staffing, low overhead and extensive partner network, ecoPreserve delivers outstanding capabilities customized to meet your needs flexibly and efficiently.

History

ecoPreserve is proud to be a woman-owned specialty professional services firm based in Orlando, Florida. We opened our doors in 2008 as a green education provider. At that time, our focus was training and accreditation for construction and facility professionals interested in entering the growing field of building sustainability. We're happy to have worked with motivated students who achieved a 90% first time test pass rate with the LEED Accredited Professional Exam (national average first time pass rate is <50%).

As the LEED Project Manager, ecoPreserve guided Lincoln Plaza, located across from City Hall in the heart of Orlando's business district, through the coveted LEED for Existing Buildings Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) Certification process.  Lincoln Plaza holds the honor of being the first LEED EBOM Certified building in downtown Orlando. ecoPreserve was subsequently invited to guide the Orange County Convention Center through LEED EBOM, making it to be one of the largest EBOM buildings at three million square feet.

We pride ourselves on the extensive charity and volunteer work we are involved with to move our communities in Florida to the forefront of sustainability and green buildings.

Meet the Team

Alexa Stone, President, LEED AP O+M

Alexa Stone is the founder of ecoPreserve and native of Oregon where she spent much of her youth outdoors hiking and skiing. She attended the University of Colorado and spent summers at UCLA. Alexa is a graduate of Old Dominion University as a business major and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. After graduation, Alexa was off to China where she taught at Beijing’s Academy of Sciences.
Alexa began her career in electronics in 1990 by importing custom-engineered products from China. In 2002 she joined Home Depot (HD) Supply as the Lighting and Energy Specialist with a focus on reducing energy consumption through energy efficient lighting upgrades. Alexa is a former Board of Director for the US Green Building Council Central FL (USGBC) and the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA). She is the former Green Committee Chair for the Building Owners & Manager’s Association (BOMA), where she was selected to receive BOMA President’s Award for her commitment to sustainability in Central FL. Alexa is a founding member of the Central Florida Energy Efficiency Alliance that encouraged energy benchmarking of over 2,000 buildings throughout Central FL.

Jeff Benavides, Project Manager, LEED AP O+M

Jeff Benavides is a graduate of the University Of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management with a focus in Sustainable Tourism. While pursuing his degree, he began a grass-roots green initiative at the Peabody Orlando guiding the 850+ room resort through the Florida Green Lodging Program designation, implementing a recycling program and partnering with the Clean the World Foundation and Brazilian Springs Water. As a Sustainability Coordinator with the City of Orlando, Jeff helped manage the Mayor's GreenWorks Program, benchmarked energy for all city facilities, developed a Green Business Program and achieved GOLD Local Government certification from the Florida Green Building Coalition. Returning to hospitality, Jeff helped to bring the largest timeshare brand to the forefront of energy management and waste programs for its 160+ resort portfolio. Jeff is a founding member of the Hospitality Advocacy Committee of the USGBC Central FL and the Central Florida Energy Efficiency Alliance. He has played percussion for over 15 years and enjoys hiking, kayaking, biking, cooking, yoga and traveling!

Jessica Wright, Project Manager

Jessica Wright joined ecoPreserve in summer 2011 as a project manager.  She is a graduate of UCF with a degree in hospitality management as well as Sustainability from the University of Phoenix.  Jessica relocated to Orlando in 1994 and worked in food service for several years.  She now owns and operates a small business, Caring Hands Gardener, that provides organic gardening and landscaping for homes and businesses. She has created a sustainable business that combines her two passions: gardening and environmental protection. Jessica's passion for the environment began at an early age growing up in rural areas and has continued through to today. Jessica is a member of the Florida Healthcare Engineering Association (FHEA) and the US Green Building Council.  She volunteers for Keep Seminole Beautiful and the Seminole County school system (teaching sustainability and gardening to elementary school students).  Her hobbies include kayaking, swimming and whitewater rafting.

Jason Helvenston, LEED AP

A sustainable design and building professional with 20 years experience in the Design/Build industry, Jason has directed all aspects of sustainable project management and design for commercial properties, multi-story residential buildings and mixed-use/master planned communities. Jason holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Central Florida and the following professional credentials: USGBC LEED Accredited Professional, FGBC Green Home Certifying Agent, USGBC LEED for Homes Green Rater, Home Energy Rating System (HERS®) State & National Certified Energy Rater & EnergyStar® Building Energy Ratings & Energy Efficient Mortgage Qualification. A lifetime volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, Jason and his wife Jennifer are completing their own GREEN and Energy Star labeled home in historic downtown Orlando, Florida. “In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” Iroquois

Advisory Board:

Larry Clark, LEED AP O+M, Building Systems & Energy Advisor

Larry Clark is an electrical engineer (B.S.E.E.), LEED AP and Certified Commercial Energy Auditor. He previously served as Director of Corporate Business Development at Hill York, President at MEPCO (formerly Dunham-Bush); and regional manager at Vapor Power division of Westinghouse Air Brake. He has had more than a dozen HVAC and energy related articles published and is a frequent presenter and lecturer on metering/submetering and advanced ventilation strategies. He is a member of ASHRAE, IEEE and USGBC South FL (2011-2012 chair of Broward Green Schools Committee), and serves on the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) Education Review Team, BOMA FL Energy Committee and the City of Pompano Beach Recycling & Solid Waste Committee. Larry is principal of Sustainable Performance Solutions LLC.

David L. Dunn, CFM, Sustainable Facility Operations & Program Advisor

With a long history of facilities management including work at United Technologies and the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. After joining the City of Orlando, Dave developed strategy for the Mayor’s “Green Works Orlando” program and was the project leader for LEED certification of 6 new construction city fire stations. Additionally, he manages energy efficiency programs in 61 City buildings and coordinates EECBG grant funding. David is a U.S. Navy & Air Force Veteran, he holds a Associate of Science in Business Administration, a Bachelor’s of Art of Divinity. He is Chapter President of the International Facilities Managers Association (IFMA) of Central Florida and actively involved in U.S. Green Building Council and the Central Florida Energy Efficiency Alliance. David speaks nationally on behalf of IFMA on building sustainability topics including LEED, net-zero, vegetated roof, rainwater harvesting systems, hybrids and gray water reuse. He presently serves as Fleet & Facilities Manager for the City of Orlando.

Alberto Brioso, LEED AP Environmental Quality & Hygenist Advisor

With over 17 years in the environmental safety and health profession, Alberto Brioso has gained experience and understanding of the synergy between sustainability and health. He has worked in both the public and private sectors to include the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Department of Health, as an international building materials manufacturer. Alberto also has extensive experience in environmental consulting and has performed hundreds of indoor air quality assessments including IEQ commissioning for LEED projects. Alberto earned a Bachelors of Science in Biology and a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering with a specialization in Human Engineering. He is also a Certified Industrial Hygienist with extensive experience in workplace hazard assessments for industries of all types.

Todd Langner, Lighting & Energy Advisor

Todd Langner is the Senior VP for Business Development for SESCO Lighting.  His extensive experience in the lighting industry includes executive roles at: Troy Lighting (President & Chief Operation Officer), Kichler Lighting (Executive VP of Marketing and Product Development) and Hunter Lighting (President).  Todd's passions include marketing, branding, product development, strategic planning, mergers & acquisitions and mentoring. Todd is a graduate of University of Florida with a major in Public Relations.  On a personal note, Todd is described as "driven" and "goal-oriented" but he says there is one principle which must override all other in order to insure business and personal success: HUMOR.  "Without humor the work product won't be as good and the journey will be miserable."

Mark Thomason, Technology Advisor

Mark Thomason is the Director of Business Development for Palmer-Electric (www.palmer-electric.com), a 60 year old full service electrical contractor in Central Florida.  Mark, who is a green technology geek, is heading up Palmer Electric's new initiatives, such as Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment, Energy Management and Solar. Mark's entire career has centered around technology.  He has repaired Sonar Systems for the US Navy, worked as Product Manager for a very large software company, started his own software company and is now helping Orlando get ready for Electric Vehicles by installing EV Charging Equipment and running a popular blog at www.PluginRecharge.com.
Mark is on ecoPreserve's LEED certification team for the "Orange County Convention Center" and is one of the architects of the USGBC's new "Orlando Green Destination" designation for hotels.  Mark is an active member in "Get Ready Central Florida" (http://www.ocfl.net/getready).

Professional Affiliations: