CSI DENVER CHAPTER - 2026 BUILD DENVER
SPEAKERS:
Aaron Johnson
Aaron Johnson is one of the two Wildland Urban Interface Professional Development Educators with the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC). In this role, Aaron supports jurisdictions across Colorado in adopting and implementing the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC) by providing training, technical assistance, and implementation resources.
Before joining the DFPC, Aaron worked closely with Colorado communities to advance wildfire mitigation and resilience efforts. His background includes over 20 years of experience in firefighting along with extensive work supporting local wildfire mitigation programs and partnerships, including program development, home assessments, community wildfire planning, code adoption, and workforce training for mitigation professionals. Aaron lives in Montrose and is excited to continue supporting communities across Colorado as they strengthen their wildfire resilience.
Kim McDonald
Kim McDonald is one of the two Wildland Urban Interface Professional Development Educators with the Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC). In this role, Kim supports jurisdictions around Colorado in adopting and implementing the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code (CWRC) by providing education, training, technical assistance, and implementation resources.
Before joining the DFPC, Kim worked for Summit Fire & EMS as a Division Chief/Fire Marshal. His background includes over 25 years of experience in firefighting, including code adoption, code enforcement, program development, fire inspection, fire investigation, education, medical response as a paramedic, and all other aspects of being a firefighter. Kim lives outside of Alma below Hoosier Pass and is excited to continue supporting the Colorado Wildfire Resiliency Code in communities across Colorado and the difference it will make in the future.
Peter C. Elliott, CSI, CDT, CCPR
President, Elliott Associates
Golden, CO
Peter Elliott is a respected construction industry professional with more than 30 years of experience serving the architectural, design, and construction communities throughout the Rocky Mountain region. As President of Elliott Associates, the manufacturers' representative agency he founded in 1994, Peter has earned a reputation for providing exceptional customer service, technical expertise, and specification-driven building product solutions. His collaborative approach and deep industry knowledge have made him a trusted resource for architects, designers, contractors, distributors, and building owners alike. A graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder, Peter is actively engaged in numerous professional organizations and industry associations. He is a past president of both the Construction Specifications Institute Denver Chapter and the Door and Hardware Institute Rocky Mountain Chapter, reflecting his longstanding commitment to advancing professionalism within the construction industry. Outside the office, Peter enjoys taking advantage of Colorado's outdoor lifestyle. Whether skiing, hiking, cycling, golfing, or exploring the mountains, he values staying active and spending quality time with his family and his Australian Shepherd, Pepper.
Cole Howard
Shums Coda
Cole has over two decades of experience in construction and code management. His career started in Utah working as an eight-way certified building inspector across the State. He has transitioned to work in the State of Colorado, first with a jurisdiction and now through a role with SCA in Colorado. He has spent the past year preparing for a transition to take over the reins as the Colorado Regional Manager and has been actively involved with more customer outreach related to the codes across the State, with an active involvement with the Colorado Code Chapter of ICC (CCICC), assisting with technical training and organizational goals. Cole has extensive experience in both residential and commercial building codes, being able to review, inspect or teach both.
Laura Perez, AIA, LEED AP, BD+C, LFA
Sr. Regenerative Design Advisor – Associate
Laura is a sustainability leader committed to harnessing the built environment as a powerful tool to address the global climate crisis. At Perkins & Will, she supports teams in delivering high-performing projects that achieve ambitious sustainability goals, including LEED Gold certification and beyond. Laura was a contributor to Perkins & Will’s Embodied Carbon Benchmarking effort and is an expert in whole building life cycle assessments (WBLCA). She leads the Denver studio’s material standards and the Common Material Framework education series, helping to advance low-carbon material decision-making across the practice. Laura is also actively engaged in shaping the future of policy through her volunteer work with the City of Denver’s code updates on the Embodied Carbon subcommittee, the Colorado Embodied Carbon Collaborative, and Carbon Leadership Forum. She brings a strong design foundation and a systems-thinking approach to her work advancing a more regenerative, climate-conscious future.
Amanda Spice, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Embodied Carbon Specialist | Sustainability Project Manager
Amanda brings design and technical performance together to reduce embodied carbon in buildings. With a decade of experience as an architectural designer, she understands how early decisions shape long-term outcomes. Her work supports clients in aligning material choices with embodied carbon reduction targets, meeting regulations, reducing building impact, and advancing decarbonization goals. As a project manager at Group14, Amanda helps teams define sustainability goals, streamline documentation, and integrate carbon-reducing strategies. She's an expert in life cycle assessment (LCA), embodied carbon analysis, and Buy Clean Colorado compliance. Amanda regularly supports design teams and public owners navigating policy requirements with clarity and confidence. Amanda is instrumental in statewide conversations on policy readiness, material transparency, and embodied carbon strategy. She is a key contributor to the Colorado Embodied Carbon Collaborative and active in several Carbon Leadership Forum hubs. She speaks often on decarbonization through both performance-based and policy-driven pathways. Her focus is always on actionable solutions that move the industry toward a more resilient, low-carbon future.
Bob Redwine, Retired Structural Engineer
Director, Colorado Embodied Carbon Collaborative (CECC)
Bob Redwine practiced structural engineering for 45 years before his retirement. As a structural engineer Bob was involved in a broad field of engineering, including bridge engineering, building design, coal-fired power plants, underground mining and surface facilities, teaching, data processing, and project management. Bob received his BSCE from Texas Technological University, and his MSCE from the University of Texas, Austin. He started a commercial structural engineering firm in 1983, and merged with KL&A in 2015, where he helped start Team Carbon in 2019 to focus on Life Cycle Assessments and embodied carbon reductions.
Upon retirement in January of 2021, Bob started CECC, a non-profit organization focusing on the reduction of embodied carbon in buildings. CECC currently has a membership of 15 architectural firms, an environmental firm, and a general contractor. CECC conducts research on how to reduce embodied carbon emissions in all building systems including structure, enclosure, interiors, MEP (Mechanical Electrical and Plumbing), FF&E (Furniture Fixtures and Equipment), and site. This work requires a knowledge of all of the components that go into each building system as well as understanding the development of innovative materials that can help reduce embodied carbon emissions.
Libby Coleman
Group 14 Engineering, PBC
Libby is a Professional Engineer specializing in building energy codes, high-performance building design, and energy modeling. She regularly trains architects, engineers, and building professionals on evolving energy code requirements, including the 2024 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), the Colorado State Low Energy and Carbon Code, and electrification strategies. Through her work with project teams across Colorado, Libby helps translate complex code requirements into practical, cost-effective design solutions that support energy efficiency, decarbonization, and long-term building resilience. Her expertise includes code compliance pathways, building performance analysis, and the implementation of electric- and solar-ready building requirements.
Jared Seeman, LEED AP, CDT
Senior Estimator | Saunders Construction
With more than 25 years of experience, Jared Seeman has built a reputation as one of Saunders Construction's leading experts in building enclosure systems and exterior skin assemblies. Having spent his entire career with Saunders since joining the company in 2001, Jared has contributed to multiple projects across Colorado spanning recreation, municipal, education, healthcare, commercial, and mixed-use sectors.
At the Trail Winds Recreation Center in Thornton, Jared helped deliver an 88,260-square-foot recreation facility featuring ceramic glazed face brick, stone masonry veneer, CMU, Nichiha panels, fiber cement cladding, translucent wall panels, storefront systems, curtainwall assemblies, and a spray-applied air barrier system. He also completed the Southeast Aurora Recreation Center, a 51,170-square-foot facility incorporating brick veneer, insulated metal wall panels, Prodema wood planks, translucent panels, storefront systems, and spray-applied air barriers. Additionally, Jared worked on The Amble, a 109,438-square-foot luxury mountain residential development showcasing Cupaclad slate cladding, Nichiha fiber cement panels, Morin metal panels, Hardie fascia and soffit systems, curtainwall and storefront glazing, Innotech windows, and a fluid-applied air barrier.
As a panelist for CSI's BUILD Denver discussion on exterior building skin, Jared will share practical insights into modern facade systems, material selection, air and water barrier integration, constructability considerations, and lessons learned from delivering some of Colorado's most complex and visually distinctive building envelopes.
Kade Gromowski
Senior Engineer | Facilities Department in Terracon
Ms. Kade Gromowski is a Senior Engineer with the Facilities Department in Terracon’s Denver office. After graduating from the Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelors and Masters of Architectural Engineering, Ms. Gromowski began her building repair/restoration consulting career in Houston before relocating to the Denver area in 2014. She has worked on hundreds of projects involving the assessment and repair of roofing systems (steep-slope and low-slope), wall claddings, waterproofing, plazas, and building enclosure testing and diagnostics. In addition, Ms. Gromowski works in the new construction enclosure sphere, providing design-assist consulting, building enclosure commissioning, and building enclosure testing on a wide variety of project types.
The presentation is titled "Specifying to Prove Performance", and is AIA -accredited.
Alex Kosis
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Alex is an Associate Principal with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger. He brings more than fifteen years of experience in the industry, specializing in roofing and waterproofing system design and repair, and thermal analysis for optimal building performance. Alex is a mentor and leader, dedicated to sharing his experience and expertise with project partners. He has served on ASTM International’s ASTM D08 Committee on Roofing & Waterproofing, has volunteered as an instructor for Engineer’s Alliance with the Arts, and lectured on building failures and forensic investigations at Pennsylvania State University.
Suzanne Miner
Anderson Mason Dale Architects
Suzanne Dupée Minear, AIA, CSI, CDT, CCS is a Principal Architect with Anderson Mason Dale (AMD), and the firm’s Technical Design Director. She has 30 years of experience in architecture and design and has developed extensive knowledge and expertise in building materials, applications, and performance capabilities. At AMD, Suzanne oversees specifications and project execution, working with a variety of groups to ensure that the firm produces documents of exceptional quality—and stays on top of both current trends and innovation in building science. Recently, she led the execution of the highly technical United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs.
Suzanne is also passionate about historic preservation, and she guides AMD’s project teams in the stewardship and treatment of historic properties and materials, and the application of historic guidelines. Recent projects include the renovation of Farrand Hall on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, the transformation and adaptive reuse of Machebeuf Hall as the new Loretto Heights Community Center, and the renovation of the Old Main and Engineering Halls at Montana Technological University.
Suzanne is currently Immediate Past-President of the CSI Denver Chapter.
Bryce Ballew
Certified Energy Manager
Commercial General Contractor
Co-Founder, CleanTech Engineering
Founder & CEO, Tradecraft Industries
Bryce Ballew is a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Class B General Contractor, and the founder of CleanTech Engineering, an energy efficiency consulting firm he helped launch in 2020. CleanTech began with the goal to help commercial and industrial clients reduce energy consumption, lower operating costs, and meet sustainability goals through efficient mechanical engineering and financial feasibility.
Bryce's path into energy efficiency runs through more than 20 years in commercial construction. He spent years managing projects for firms including GE Johnson and Jordy Construction before founding his own construction management firm, Construction Incorporated, LLC, in 2010. That background gave him a ground-level understanding of how buildings are designed, built and operated; knowledge he now applies to identifying energy and efficiency opportunities that are often missed by consultants without a construction background. Through CleanTech Engineering, Bryce works directly with clients on energy audits, system upgrades, and efficiency strategy, and energy & financial modeling, bridging the gap between engineering recommendations and real-world constructability.
In addition to CleanTech Engineering, Bryce is the founder and CEO of Tradecraft Industries, the nation's first Construction Flex-Office space, where he applies the same practical, industry-informed approach to serving construction and design companies in the Denver market. Across his ventures, Bryce is known for pairing technical expertise with straightforward, no-nonsense communication, a style shaped by two decades of working alongside contractors, engineers, and building owners.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Bryce enjoys snowboarding, sailing, freediving, and international backpacking.
Kristine Sullivan
Principal of Short Circuit, LLC
Kristine leverages her experience as an Engineer of Record and as a Plans Examiner to elevate industry professionals so they can achieve excellence in every build. As a licensed Engineer and later, as an electrical Plans Examiner for a large building department, Kristine was responsible for ensuring code compliance for a wide range of project types. Now she brings that experience from both sides of the permit counter to Short Circuit, LLC to help industry professionals reduce risk and navigate the construction process with confidence.
Since founding Short Circuit, LLC, Kristine has supported building departments, engineers, and contractors, with electrical and energy code compliance, tools, and training to expedite their processes without sacrificing safety. In a world of constantly evolving codes and increasing demands on industry professionals, Kristine is passionate about making code compliance easier for industry professionals and improving life safety in the built environment through mentorship, training, and tools.
Chris Murdy
Formativ Development Company
Chris Murdy has enjoyed a 30+ year career in design, construction and development. He has developed multi-family, senior housing, office, and multi-purpose projects in multiple states working with a variety of municipalities and codes. Currently, Chris is the SVP of Business Development for Formativ Development Company, launching a senior focused strategy across the Front Range. Chris has worked on all aspects of the development process, from strategy, site identification and acquisition, entitlements, design, construction, operations, and disposition. He currently lives in Bow Mar with his wife and two dogs. Their three adult children all still call Colorado home.
Chris Murdy
Formativ Development Company
