Building Energy Consultants -   

Education, Analysis and Assessment  

 

Britt/Makela Group, Inc is comprised of husband and wife team Eric Makela and Michelle Britt.  Building on experience in high performance buildings,  code development, training, data analysis, land use and transportation and project management, we brought our individual expertise and shared interests in architecture, building science, and low-impact energy efficient building design together to form Britt/Makela Group, Inc.  Teaming with other subject matter experts on occasion, we delight in working with our clients to develop new understanding of the sustainable design, above code-programs, codes, building practices in their locale, or helping a frustrated client solve a code compliance issue. 

Eric has over 20 years of experience in working with both residential and commercial building energy efficiency for both code and high performance building programs.   He has a national reputation for his expertise on building energy codes for both residential and commercial buildings and is often consulted by industry on issues dealing with new construction practices and their acceptance with the energy code. Through Britt/Makela Group, Eric has conducted “brownbag” and half-day trainings on high performance building to the building, design and engineering industry. He also participated in the development of the National Association of Home Builders Green Standard where he helped develop an insulation installation guideline.  Eric collaborated with the Nevada Energy Star Partners on the roll out training for EPA’s Thermal Bypass Checklist requirements in Southern Nevada.  Eric has co-managed residential and commercial energy code baseline studies in Nevada, Iowa and Indiana and currently collaborates with national evaluation firms that assess the impact of energy efficiency programs on residential and commercial new construction. 

 Eric’s building energy codes expertise spans over 20 years and several states. Through Britt/Makela Group, Eric has conducted energy code related training for both residential and commercial buildings in over 27 states.  The training sessions have focused on code and better building practice with target audiences ranging from field inspection staff to design engineers.  As part of the national codes work, he provides energy codes technical assistance in Idaho, Nevada and Utah in addition to the building materials industry.  Eric also serves on the ICC IECC Code Development Committee and has been a member since 2003.
Before joining Britt/Makela Group, Eric was the Senior Educational Programs Administrator for the International Conference of Building Officials, providing energy code support services including acting as the ICBO liaison to the ICC IECC Code Development Committee.  He also served as Training Coordinator for the Building Standards and Guidelines Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory responsible for training efforts for the implementation of national energy codes.  Eric has a BA degree in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University and an MA in Education from California State University, Sacramento.
Michelle Britt has a background in land use, transportation, and energy,  with extensive experience conducting technical studies, energy code compliance documentation, plan review and as a project manager of multidisciplinary studies.   She is a LEED Accredited Professional.

In the past years, she has managed the energy code compliance analysis for the residential baseline studies conducted by International Conference of Building Officials in Nevada  and Iowa, the commercial baselines study in Indiana.  She co-authored and coordinated the production of curricula which was used in the states of Maryland and Texas and has been developed into the primary seminar books used by ICBO/ICC.

Michelle was formerly a project manager with a major west coast environmental consulting firm,  and a planner with a regional council of governments. She has conducted technical energy and transportation studies and managed multidisciplinary environmental impact studies in several western states.  She received her MS in Architecture from the University of Idaho in December of 2008.  She has a BA degree in Environmental Studies from Sonoma State University.

 

 

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