March 20, 2017

Home Performance Guild Stakeholders,

I am delighted to tell you that our very own Executive Director of 6 years, Don MacOdrum, has won the prestigious Tony Woods Award for Excellence in Advancing the Home Performance Industry!  The award was presented today at the HPC National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee for Don’s significant achievements in in 2016 and for his years of productive service to our industry. Every year this award recognizes one individual across the country who has contributed significant advancement to the home performance industry over the past year and who has demonstrated dedication to and activism in the industry. We are so proud to have Don representing Oregon in this elite group of Home Performance leaders. Congratulations Don!

Check it out:  http://www.bpi.org/news_expansion.aspx?selectedID=2457

 

Don was nominated by the Guild Board and he was selected by an independent panel of impartial judges (made up of past Tony Woods Award winners and inductees into the BPI Hall of Fame) for his tireless efforts promoting public policies that achieve energy efficiency and non-energy benefits of home performance for consumers. In 2016 those efforts paid off in helping secure the passage of the City of Portland’s Home Energy Score Ordinance which requires all homes listed for sale in Portland to obtain and display a US Department of Energy Home Energy Score. The reporting of those scores will also have to conform to the report standards of 2013’s House Bill 2801 – another home energy scoring policy for which Don played a lead role in drafting and securing passage. In addition, over the years he has brilliantly employed his endless positivity and astute diplomacy to uncover and exploit synergies between allies and competitors to form a cohesive and formidable community of support for the Home Performance industry in Oregon. In helping professionalize our industry, Don has gained the respect of state and local government leaders, programs and utilities, giving the Guild an influential and credible voice, and enabling it to be viably funded well-after all ARRA funds were spent.  We will miss Don when he moves on, but knew that nominating him for this prestigious award was one way we could express our appreciation for all that he has done for us.

When Don told us two months ago that it was his intention to seek out new challenges in 2017, he simultaneously recommended and laid out a plan for ensuring that the Guild would be well positioned with a new, fully-on-boarded Executive Director prior to relinquishing his responsibility for our organization. Don organized and guided the Board through a strategic planning process that produced an updated operating plan for the Guild, and solid transition plan, leaving us well positioned to move forward with the next chapter in our organizational history.  While it’s hard to imagine the Guild without Don at the helm, we are all very thankful for his thoughtful planning now, as well as his excellent leadership and friendship over the years.

What’s next for Don?  Many want to know.  Now that his plans are public, he has begun exploring opportunities to effect positive change for our industry through a new role. I asked him to share his thoughts on his next step in his own words:
“It has been such an honor to represent the Home Performance Guild and this remarkable industry. We’ve done some great things for our local home performance sector over the past 6 years. And we’ve done it as a collaborative community – that doesn’t shy away from a meeting or 10. I will never be able to fully communicate how much it has meant to me. Thanks to each and every Board member, member, sponsor, and partner that shared their time, insights and resources to help me understand and lead this community.

But I am ready for a new challenge. One that allows me to continue fighting climate change, building the energy efficiency industry, and empowering consumers. I love bringing together people, technology and policy to effect positive change. That’s my passion. So I now aim to bring my brand of problem solving to a local organization, or a national organization aiming to operate locally, that is in the business of effecting positive change for our built environment. Ideally it will be a role that allows me to feel part of a high functioning team. One that both leverages my network and my networking super powers. More than anything, I want to contribute to projects that demonstrate the full potential of the efficiency sector, and that empower the broader population to feel part of the solution set of climate change mitigation.”  Don MacOdrum
Please join me in celebrating Don’s award and thanking him for his years of dedicated service to Oregon’s Home Performance sector!

Kris Grube, Vice President, Home Performance Guild of Oregon