Edward F. Connelly, President, LEED AP is a leading practitioner of sustainable development and a social entrepreneur. He has over twenty years of experience managing social enterprises and large government organizations, always with an eye toward integrating environmental stewardship with community and economic development.
A long-time Massachusetts resident, Mr. Connelly joined New Ecology as its second president in June 2004. Since that time, NEI has become recognized as a national leader in community-based sustainable development, most notably in the movement to green affordable housing and community developments, and has become especially well-known for its efforts to use data to inform sustainable development decision-making. Mr. Connelly is currently leading NEI’s efforts to disseminate green building and energy conservation strategies faster and farther by developing web-based applications to track energy use and assemble and vet winning green building strategies.
Prior to joining New Ecology, Mr. Connelly founded CleanScape, an award-winning, triple-bottom-line, urban revitalization enterprise in Providence, RI. CleanScape is one of a handful of successful companies that pioneered the concept of green jobs as a way to bring economic stability to under-employed urban residents. He started the company in 1997 and served as President through 2004 and Board Chairman through 2007.
From 1990 to 1997 Mr. Connelly held senior management positions at the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, a quasi-public solid waste management corporation that operated the largest landfill and municipal recycling processing facility in New England. His accomplishments included developing models of collecting and processing household recyclables that became national models because of their efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and helping to turn a financially weak entity into a profitable, well-run model of a quasi-public corporation. He twice served as acting Executive Director.
Mr. Connelly served as the Assistant Town Administrator for Sharon, Massachusetts from 1987 to 1989. He has continued his service to the Town by serving on the Personnel Board and an advisory committee on Water Meter upgrades, and recently helped found an Energy Advisory Committee.
Since 2003, Mr. Connelly has served on the Board of Directors of MassEnergy/People’s Power and Light.
Mr. Connelly holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a JD from Boston College Law School.
Lauren Baumann, Vice President, LEED AP and NaCPHCTM joined New Ecology, Inc. in 2005. Her unique experience as a scientist and an urban planner, along with her passion for the practical application of sustainable development concepts and building science theory have made Ms. Baumann a leader in the green affordable housing field. At New Ecology, Ms. Baumann manages the new construction program. She has greened more than 1,000 units of affordable housing in the Boston metro area, including projects pursuing Energy Star Homes and LEED certifications, as well as numerous other types of community based-development projects. She has worked with New Ecology's clients to raise over 1.5 million dollars in grant and rebate funds to support energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other greening features. Ms. Baumann is a LEED accredited professional with Building Design and Construction (BD&C) and Homes (H) designations, a qualified Enterprise Green Communities charrette provider, and a Certified Passive House Consultant. She has been recognized as a young leader in the environmental movement with a fellowship from the Wild Gift, and she has served that organization on the Board of Directors and Alumni Council. She is also a Senior Fellow in the New England Region Environmental Leadership Program. Ms. Baumann holds a degree in Biology from Cornell University, and Masters in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
*NaCPHCTM is a service mark of Passive House Institute US | PHIUS used under license.
Eric Gardner, Energy Efficiency Program Director joined New Ecology, Inc. in 2011. He brings to New Ecology fifteen years of management experience in the fields of construction, real estate development, building science, and energy efficiency consulting. At New Ecology, Mr. Gardner manages the existing building energy efficiency program which aims to improve the efficiency of existing buildings through energy analysis, energy retrofits, research, and policy advocacy. Prior to joining New Ecology, Inc., Mr. Gardner was the founder and President of Bay State Building Technologies, Inc., a company that provided energy efficiency auditing and weatherization contracting services with a specialization in existing building energy retrofits. Mr. Gardner also acted as Director of Development for Sunrise Senior Living and Director of Land Development for Toll Brothers, Inc. managing complex real estate transactions, architectural and land design, regulatory permitting, and construction activities. Mr. Gardner is a Level-One Certified Thermographer and a certified BPI Building Analyst. He holds a Master of Science degree from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta.
Alison Corwin, Senior Associate, LEED AP joined New Ecology, Inc. in 2007. Ms. Corwin has worked in the government, corporate and non-profit sectors and has experience working with communities on sustainability issues including green building, transportation, energy efficiency and economic development. At New Ecology, Ms. Corwin works on both the green new construction and existing building retrofit programs. Ms. Corwin has coordinated several LEED projects using the LEED Homes, New Construction and Existing Buildings rating systems. She is a member of Emerging Green Builders and the Interdisciplinary Consortium on Urban Planning and Public Health and has been involved in community organizing, political campaigns and volunteer efforts on issues of homelessness and domestic violence. Ms. Corwin received her degree in Political Science and Environmental Studies from St. Lawrence University, and her Masters in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. While at Tufts, Ms. Corwin received the national American Planning Association AICP Student Project Award for Best Application of the Planning Process for a park she designed in Salem, MA.
Shiva Prakash, Senior Associate, LEED AP joined New Ecology in 2009. She received her Master in City Planning degree from MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning in 2010 and her B.S. in Economics from MIT as well. Throughout her undergraduate and graduate work, she has been involved in projects that explored economic development and physical planning strategies in underserved communities throughout Massachusetts, as well as policy research based on operations modeling for larger-scale statewide planning efforts through work at MIT’s Engineering Systems Division. Shiva’s primary interests are in the role of policy in the implementation of sustainability, effective green building design and issues of social and environmental justice.
Marty J. Davey, Program Manager joined New Ecology in 2008. Prior to that, Ms. Davey served as President and General Manager of CleanScape, helping to create over 30 green-sector jobs in a distressed neighborhood of Providence, RI. During her tenure at CleanScape, Marty helped raise $2.5 million in financing from over 20 sources and presided over the company’s transition to profitability, almost doubling revenue in three years. Ms. Davey worked as a Supervising Environmental Planner at the RI Department of Environmental Management, responsible for development of statewide policies and programs for recycling and recycling market development. Ms. Davey has also worked as a grant writer and consultant to several well-known organizations, including EPA New England and the Salvation Army. Ms. Davey's first job out of college was as an engineer with the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics where she broke new ground by becoming the first woman to supervise at-sea systems operability tests. At New Ecology, Ms. Davey is working on the design and implementation of Energy Tracker, existing building projects, fundraising efforts for multiple projects and expanding New Ecology’s good work into Rhode Island.
Yun Zhan, Associate joined New Ecology in 2011. Ms. Zhan is a graduate of the Master of City Planning Program from the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT, and holds Bachelor Degrees in both Engineering (Urban Planning) and Economics. Ms. Zhan's broad academic background provides her with an advanced understanding of the interdisciplinary areas between planning, housing, energy, finance and economics. In addition to her academic background, Ms. Zhan has worked in real estate development, affordable housing, and city planning: experience which has provided her skills in database management, quantitative analysis, and GIS. Ms. Zhan's current interests are in applying her strengths in economics, quantitative analysis, and the principles of city planning to sustainable design, energy efficiency of the built environment, and affordable housing.