City Green Certified Energy Advisors
Knowledgeable and friendly Certified Energy Advisors working with City Green can give you expert, independent, and customized advice about improving your home's energy efficiency through energy saving upgrades. (Also see our energy efficiency serivces for new homes.) Read more about your local advisors in:
Victoria and Area
Paul Butler
With a background in real estate and construction, Paul knows homes inside and out, understanding both how buildings are put together and what it means to call a house a home. He is a graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Residential Energy Efficiency program, and has performed over 500 home energy assessments, along with over 1,200 blower door tests for homes and large construction projects.
On a home energy assessment, Paul seeks to help homeowners learn at least one new thing about how their home works, and to help homeowners find cost-effective energy saving options. He also provides in-depth, expert advice about home moisture and ventilation issues.
Brooke Gallupe
Brooke discovered a passion for home energy efficiency when he started helping another energy advisor. In an unexpected career move for a graduate of French literature, Brooke studied, apprenticed, and was certified himself by 2008. Since then, he has assessed over 1000 Victoria houses. Brooke also keeps busy improving the efficiency of his 1890s Victoria home, where he lives with his family.
Before becoming a Certified Energy Advisor, he was a touring musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist involved in a number of musical projects, from rock bands to symphonic pieces.
Trevor Hoskins
A LEED Accredited Professional and a graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Residential Energy Efficiency program, Trevor has provided expert advice and home energy assessments to over 500 Victoria households. Trevor has a background in renovation and construction, including construction of a number of off-grid log cabins in Northern BC. Born and raised in Victoria, he is also a trained commercial pilot, and enjoys biking, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and other activities in the great outdoors. Trevor enjoys meeting homeowners, offering useful advice, and helping them make a difference.
Kenton Preston
Kenton relocated to Victoria from Vancouver in 2006 while working as an Operations Manager and Trainer with a big box home improvement retailer.
He honed his practical renovation skills at an early age while assisting with his father’s home renovation business - straightening nails and insulating attics - which led him to later design and renovate numerous secondary suites in Kitsilano. For many years Kenton contemplated a career change within the residential building industry that would satisfy his entrepreneurial spirit and capitalize on his customer service and training skills in a more sustainable way. This search led him to study for and successfully complete the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) exam in the summer of 2008. He joined City Green Solutions shortly thereafter. As a student of building science he keeps current on the newest green building technologies and is able to provide knowledgeable advice to home owners wanting to make their homes as healthy and energy efficient as possible.
Nicholas Read
Nicholas Read has completed nearly 400 home assessments with City Green. He comes to his work as an energy advisor with a degree in Natural Sciences, a background in the trades building homes, and experience as an educator, having taught Industrial Education in Victoria High Schools for many years. His background in the residential sector and a rising concern for energy conservation issues motivated him to become a Certified Energy Advisor. Nicholas now enjoys sharing insights on effective home improvements with homeowners. Nicholas is raising a young family, enjoys sailing and kayaking, and is currently an MBA Candidate at the University of Victoria.
Vancouver and Lower Mainland
Peter Cho
With a keen interest in environmental issues and hands on experience in home renovations, Peter joined the City Green team with a goal to educate homeowners on how easy it is to save energy and reduce their ecological footprint on the planet.
Peter has managed to increase the EnerGuide rating of his current place of residence to an impressive 76 (on a scale of 0 – 100.) He loves sharing his expertise on energy efficient retrofits, as well as listening to and addressing any upgrade concerns that a homeowner has run into.
Being a huge fan of the outdoors (and Vancouver’s wet weather), Peter is often enjoying nature on his bicycle strolls through the city. He enjoys sports and travelling and has a keen interest in construction methods and architecture of homes from different countries. Currently enrolled in an intensive sustainable building course, Peter hopes to use the knowledge and skills he gains to live in a future home constructed with totally renewable resources that has a zero impact on the environment.
Mark Miao
With the academic background of Architectural design, Mark started his career as an Architect in mainland China. He was a passionate advocate of cultural awareness, and a fervent explorer of human and natural environments in his design world. Several years later, Mark made his career change after realizing it is the innovations in technology and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.
Mark now is an NRCan certified Energy Advisor for the ecoENERGY Retrofit program. He has helped hundreds of home owners implement energy saving projects that reduce energy-related greenhouse gases and air pollution. Mark is also a registered Home Inspector (RHI) as a proud member of Canadian Association of Home Inspectors and a BC licienced home inspector with his own building inspection company.Monte Paulsen
Monte Paulsen loves helping homeowners save energy. He listens to clients¹ concerns, and shares strategies to lower utility bills while increasing home comfort. Monte is a LEED Green Associate who lives with his family in a century-old East Vancouver home that is continually being renovated. In addition to his work with City Green, he advises developers and writes about green building for several publications.
Monte came to City Green after a career in journalism. His award-winning articles have appeared in numerous Canadian magazines, including BC Business, Canadian Geographic, The Tyee, Vancouver Magazine and The Walrus.
He has helped found two small publishing companies, was a senior fellow at The Center for Public Integrity, and is a co-author of "Beyond the Deep: The Deadly Descent into the World's Most Treacherous Cave" (Warner Books, 2002).
Vancouver Island
David Croft
Bio coming soon.
Zak Cross
Bio coming soon.
Gerry Schreiber
Bio coming soon.
BC Interior
Arno Bredenkamp
Arno Bredenkamp is an electro-technical Engineer, and has completed an MBA at he University of Stellenbosch in South Africa and a program in International Utility Management with Stanford University. He has worked on numerous projects for ESKOM, the major energy producer and distributer throughout Africa, including residential network design, low cost electrification and Prepaid/SMART/remote metering. He was instrumental in developing the Electrowise program which focused on helping electricity users in South Africa to get the best value out of their new utility connections. Included in this program were components that are very similar to the Canadian ecoEnergy Program, including grants for energy upgrades and the promotion of energy efficient appliances. After more than 15 years of working for one of the largest electrical utility companies in the world, he decided to make a big change and a fresh start.
After leaving ESKOM he worked as a consultant, created and operated a number of small businesses, and also emigrated to Canada with his wife and two children. He now lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley.
Arno likes to practice what he preaches. He personally renovated and built additions to the four homes that his family has lived in over the past 20 years and has always been interested in different construction methods. He loves to share his expertise with other homeowners, and believes that it is essential for everyone to use energy in a smarter and more sustainable way. Working as a Certified Energy Advisor, Arno has done more than 300 residential energy evaluations in the South and Central Okanagan.
Len Freeth
Experienced in home renovations and real estate, Len is a recent graduate of Vancouver Island University’s Residential Energy Efficiency program. Len's approach to assisting homeowners with their renovations is to help them to look at their homes in a different way, seeing not just the surface appearance, but how heat and energy move through the home, and ways to optimize their use. He can also share his interest in alternative energy technology. Len is pleased to be able to help people conserve energy in their homes while making them more comfortable and more affordable to run. When not doing home assessments, Len enjoys hiking, canoeing, and other outdoor pursuits in the beautiful Slocan Valley.
Mark Petry
A graduate of Thomson Rivers University’s Engineering Design and Drafting Technology program, Mark Petry has worked in the construction industry since 2001, starting out with a building material supplier in Victoria, then co-owning a small construction company, then working for the City of Penticton as a Plan Checker and Building Inspector. He has been involved with a wide variety of projects from simple renovations to large scale commercial buildings. Mark became certified as an Energy Advisor in 2008 and found that he enjoys sharing his technical knowledge with homeowners to help them reduce their energy bills with practical but effective upgrades to their home. He regularly attends building technology sessions with the Building Policy Branch, Canadian Home Builder’s Association, Home Protection Office and the Building Officials Associations of BC to stay current with new building trends and technologies.
Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau.
