Advisors

John Adams

Founding Director, Natural Resources Defense Council

John H. Adams is the Founding Director and former President of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He co-founded the NRDC in 1970 as an organization of public interest lawyers focused on the formation and enforcement of emerging environmental laws. John created an influential non-profit organization of lawyers and scientists with more than 1.2 million members and online activists nationwide.

John has a B.A. in History from Michigan State and an L.L.B. from Duke University Law School. Prior to the NRDC, he worked as the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. John serves as Chairman of the Board of the Open Space Institute. He is also on the boards of the League of Conservation Voters, Woods Hole Research Center, Center for American Progress and Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. John has also served on the Pew Oceans Commission, the President’s Council on Sustainable Development and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Common Sense Initiative.

Over the years, he has received several notable honors and environmental awards including receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 and being named one of the National Audubon’s 100 Champions of Conservation. He was also the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws from Duke University, as well as, Duke University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and Duke University Law School’s Charles J. Murphy Award.

John lives in upstate New York with his wife Patricia. They and their three grown children and six grandchildren enjoy spending time at their home in the Catskills on the Beaverkill River.

Paul Guilfoyle

Actor, Director and Teacher

Paul Guilfoyle is an actor, director and teacher. He has performed in over 90 films, and acted in or directed over 100 plays, in styles as diverse as Shakespeare classics to movement theatre. He recently completed 10 seasons of network television for CBS. He is a member of The Actors Studio and a recipient of The Screen Actors Guild Award for acting. As a teacher Paul designed and implemented an Arts-in-Education program in collaboration with Theatre Company of Boston and South Boston High School. This program was chartered during the turbulent court-ordered desegregation period in Boston. A founding member of Peaked Hill Trust, Paul helps maintain self-sustaining “dune shacks” in the National Seashore in collaboration with The National Park Service. He is a graduate of Lehigh University.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Environmental Attorney, Activist, Professor, Radio Host

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is widely recognized as one of the most resolute defenders of the environment. Mr. Kennedy was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper, a clean water advocacy organization, lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn the 200 Waterkeeper organizations that today span the globe. Mr. Kennedy is the Chief Prosecuting Attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and President of Waterkeeper Alliance. Mr. Kennedy also serves as Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He is also a Clinical Professor and Supervising Attorney at Pace University School of Law’s Environmental Litigation Clinic, and is co-host of the Ring of Fire radio program. Mr. Kennedy is a venture partner in and senior advisor to VantagePoint Capital Partners, a leading global investor in energy innovation and efficiency.

Among Mr. Kennedy’s published books are the New York Times bestseller Crimes Against Nature (2004), St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy (2005), The Riverkeepers (1997), andJudge Frank M. Johnson, Jr: A Biography (1977). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post,Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek,Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The Nation, Outside Magazine, The Village Voice, and many other publications.

Mark LaLiberte

EEBA Certified Trainer

As a trainer, author, and consultant, Mark LaLiberte has provided building science education for over 16 years. Mark is an inspiring and effective lecturer who blends the technical with the practical in an interactive format. He has consulted on the building criteria for the Energy & Environmental Building Association and the American Lung Association’s Health House Project.

Mark’s training program has provided thousands of builders, architects, manufacturers and consumers with the tools they needed to build affordable, energy efficient, more durable and healthier homes. Recognized as one of the leading experts in the whole-house systems approach to building and maintaining a home, Mark has lectured at:

International Housing Symposium, Tokyo, Japan USDA & NAHB Research Center, Warsaw, Poland National Association of Home Builders International Show American Lung Association/American Thoracic Society International Conferences Over 100 Building Industry Workshops & Training Sessions each year Understanding that education of the field is key to proper product performance, Mark LaLiberte has provided customized training for such industry leaders as Andersen Windows & Doors, 3M, Xcel Energy, Lincoln Electric System, Nebraska Public Power, Tucson Electric, Southwest Gas, and building officials for the IECC.

Currently, Mark serves on the Board of Directors of the Cold Climate Housing Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. He has also served as Board President of the Energy Efficient Building Association. Mark has also chaired the American Lung Association’s Health House Program Committee and served as Team Advisor to EPA’s Energy Star Program, Curriculum Developer and Trainer for the Energy Code Advancement Project, and Advisor and Trainer to the Department of Energy’s Building America Program.

Mark LaLiberte is the on-camera guide for Building Better Homes, taking quality products, demonstrating their correct application and the important details of installing them correctly the first time. Using the whole-house systems approach to construction, Mark applies the guidelines and standards of such national building programs as EPA’s Energy Star, DOE’s Building America, and the American Lung Association’s Health House project.

Marie Langlois

Co-Founder, Washington Trust Investors, Philanthropist

Marie Langlois is the Co-founder and recently retired managing director of Washington Trust Investors. Marie served as an advisor and portfolio manager to individuals and institutional clients. Prior to co-founding Washington Trust, Langlois worked at Fleet National Bank where she rose to senior vice president and manager of personal financial services. A 1964 graduate of Brown University and recipient of an honorary doctor of laws in 1992, Langlois served as a University trustee and as vice chancellor of the Brown Corporation from1998-2007. Langlois has a long record of philanthropy and community service. She currently sits on the boards of The Rhode Island Foundation, Lifespan, Salve Regina University, Rhode Island Philharmonic and Music School, and Rhode Island Public Radio, and she is a member of the Champlin Foundations distribution committee. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard University and is a past president of the Harvard Business School Association of Rhode Island, as well as the Providence Society of Financial Analysts and Home Health Services of Rhode Island.

Henry Lee

Jassim M. Jaidah Family Director, Environment & Natural Resources Program, JFK School of Government, Harvard University

Henry Lee is a Lecturer in Public Policy, the Jassim M. Jaidah Family Director of the Environment and Natural Resources Program within the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, co-chair of the Kennedy School’s Program on Infrastructure in a Market Economy, and co-principal investigator of the Energy, Technology, and Policy Project at Harvard University. Before joining Harvard, Henry spent nine years in Massachusetts state government as Director of the state’s Energy Office and Special Assistant to the Governor for Environmental Policy. He has served on numerous state, federal, and private advisory committees and boards focusing on both energy and environmental issues and spent 12 years working with power developers in the United States and East Asia. His recent research interests focus on environmental management, energy policy, global climate change, geopolitics of oil and gas, and public infrastructure projects in developing countries. He has recently written several articles on China’s oil strategies.

Michael Mullens

Founder & Principal Investigator of the UCF Housing Constructability Lab

Michael A. Mullens, Ph.D., PE is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida. He is the founder and Principal Investigator of the UCF Housing Constructability Lab. He received a BSIE from Mississippi State University and did his graduate IE work at Georgia Tech. He served two years as an OR Analyst with Detroit Diesel and over 10 years as a management consultant, primarily with Coopers & Lybrand, specializing in manufacturing, warehousing, and material handling. He has been a member of the UCF faculty since 1990 and teaches in the areas of senior capstone engineering design and concurrent engineering. His research is focused on the introduction of advanced manufacturing technologies into the U.S. homebuilding industry. He has worked extensively in the areas of panelized and modular homebuilding, truss manufacturing, and structural insulated panels. He is Secretary of the National Consortium of Housing Research Centers and is Continuing Education Director of the IIE Construction Division. He is a Senior Member of IIE and SME, and a member of ASEE and INFOR.

Andrew Russell, Duke of Bedford

Technology Investor, Conservationist

Andrew Russell, Duke of Bedford has been a technology investor for 30 years, focusing on green technology. In addition to his interest in leading edge technology, Andrew operates an internationally recognized center of excellence for the conservation of endangered species at his celebrated Woburn Abbey. He also manages extensive real estate holdings centered in London. Andrew holds a BA from Harvard.

Liliane Wong

Architect Advisor & Professor, Rhode Island School of Design

Liliane brings to Blu Homes her twenty years of experience in design & construction with a focus on residential homes. As a professor at Rhode Island School of Design, Liliane has been involved with Blu Homes from the start, working with Blu on initial student studios to design efficient, green, prefabricated homes. Beyond her work as a professor at RISD, Liliane works in the private sector as an architect. As a principal of Mahon Wong Associates in Cambridge, MA, and a consultant architect at Fletcher Harkness Cohen Moneyhun in Boston, Liliane Wong has taken on many public and commercial projects in the northeast and beyond. Her award-winning work in library design can be seen at the Rowan University Library in Glassboro, NJ; Montclair [NJ] Public Library; Merriam-Gilbert Library in West Brookfield, MA; and St. Lawrence University Library in Canton, NY, among others. She has also completed such commercial projects as the Falcucci Marble Factory and Showroom in Boston and the kore furnishings line for Hodkinson Associates. Liliane was educated at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Masters in Architecture, 1985, and Vassar College, BA in Mathematics, 1981.