SPEAKERS CO-CHAIR:

ERIC FEISS Principal / GWWO Architects

A principal at GWWO, Eric Feiss, AIA, LEED AP skillfully leads large and multi-faceted design teams fostering creative design processes that result in elegantly detailed buildings for GWWO’s educational and cultural clients. Eric keeps a constant pulse on the construction marketplace and is dedicated to helping clients achieve their monetary, scheduling, and programmatic goals. He is an active member of COAA and currently serves as an instructor for their Owner’s Training Institute and on the education committee. He holds a Master of Architecture degree from Morgan State University, where he previously served as an adjunct faculty member, and a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin & Marshall College.

Sarah Berseth, PE, is a Mechanical Engineer at HGA, where she directs mechanical infrastructure and energy systems for corporate offices, historic renovations, and office tenant improvements. She specializes in energy modeling and sustainability in coordination with the firm’s architecture and engineering teams to develop high-performance buildings and facades that contribute to occupant wellbeing. Among her notable public projects are the , in progress in Baltimore County, Maryland, with GSA; the Ramsey County Library-Shoreview in Minnesota, which won a national First Place Technology Award from ASHRAE; and the B.H. Whipple Federal Office Building Modernization in Minneapolis, which won a GSA Citation in Engineering Design Award. Additionally, Berseth serves as Minneapolis Office Director, overseeing daily administrative and operational functions of the 240-person office. Berseth has a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She joined HGA in 2004.

ED CLEMENTS Engineering Department Leader / HGA

Ed Clements, PE, LEED AP is a Mechanical Engineer and Engineering Department Leader in HGA’s Washington, DC, office. His expertise includes high-performance energy systems and sustainable strategies for healthcare, higher education, performing art centers, auditoriums, and related performance spaces.

Doug Gerlach, AIA, LEED AP, CPHC design work is rooted in a deep curiosity about the physical, cultural, and organizational context of the work. Through a research-driven and iterative process, Doug seeks holistic design solutions that mine this context and find design opportunity in technical, budgetary, and site constraints. His past projects demonstrate a commitment to the careful execution of these solutions through a tireless refinement of construction detail, and collaborative integration of building systems into a cohesive whole. Doug’s professional experience is diverse in scale and use, ranging from single family residences to complex governmental, educational and arts facilities. Past projects include Northrop Performing Arts Center at the University of Minnesota, Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center at Macalester College, Marlboro Music Festival Musician’s Cottages, Huss Center for the Performing Arts at Saint Paul Academy, and the Café/Entry Expansion of the Walker Arts Center. Doug’s work has been published nationally and recognized with multiple AIA Minnesota and AIA Wisconsin awards, and an AIA National Interior Award.

Laura Grafel, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C is an Associate Principal at Fentress Architects. She has been an architect for over 15 years and is involved in all phases of a design; from preliminary concepts and Programming through Construction Administration.

MARIUSZ KLEMENS Associate Principal / Krueck Sexton Partners

Mariusz is a designer, teacher, and entrepreneur. He values the knowledge he has acquired from the crossdisciplinary teams he works with—from clients to consultants, contractors to teammates. He believes greater results are achieved through idea sharing and open communication. With his education and work experience in Architecture, Urban, Landscape, and Digital design, Mariusz approaches complex problems from a holistic perspective. Throughout his work, he integrates technology in design and delivery.

CARL KNUTSON Design Director / Perkins&Will

Carl Knutson is a Principal and Design Director at Perkins&Will’s Washington, D.C office. Raised in Central and North America, Carl was exposed to a number of different cities growing up: From his earliest years in Mexico City–where he was born–to his grade school years outside of Detroit, Michigan, to his university studies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Carl began with the firm in our Chicago studio, where he spent many years before relocating to our nation’s capital, but has called Washington, DC home for the past five years. He, his wife, and their three daughters enjoy exploring new areas around the city in their free time.

ERIC LACROIX Director, Strategic Accounts Construction / STI Specified Technologies

Eric Lacroix in consistently recognized throughout the design community and construction industry for his firestop expertise, especially in terms curtain wall perimeter fire barrier systems where he is considered the “Industry Specialist”. Eric has over 20 years of real world experience serving as an invaluable resource on many of largest, most complex high profile projects around the world. Prior to his role as Director of Strategic Accounts, Eric was the STI Firestop Regional Manager, covering the Southeastern United States, Latin America, the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico.