Board of Directors
Emmett Leffel – PRESIDENT
Palmer, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Tyler Boyes – Vice President
Anchorage, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Tyler is an energy specialist at Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) and manages the building monitoring program. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in Earth Science from UC Santa Cruz, a certificate in renewable energy from the University of Alaska, and a Master’s degree in Building Science from Appalachian State University. As a student, he designed the building envelope for his school’s winning entry in the 2016 US Department of Energy Race to Zero competition. Tyler has worked as a carpenter, truss designer, field scientist, and building consultant and is passionate about energy efficiency and net zero construction. His work with energy monitoring uses low cost sensors and free software to track energy usage on virtually any building system. Tyler believes in using today’s technology and common-sense design to minimize energy use and maximize the lifespan of the buildings we rely on. TERM EXPIRES: 2023
Michelle Wilber – Treasurer
Anchorage, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Michelle passes along her personal enthusiasm for energy efficiency as Outreach Coordinator for Alaska Craftsman Home Program (ACHP). A life-long learner, she has a BS in Astronomy from Caltech and has studied graduate level geophysics at CU Boulder and UC Berkeley and Civil Engineering at UAA. Michelle was raised in Alaska and has been providing outreach on energy efficiency and renewable energy for years as staff and volunteer for local non-profits including Renewable Energy Alaska Project and ACHP. She has managed the content of the State’s energy efficiency website, akenergyefficiency.org, for most of its life. Michelle also upgrades her ‘eco’ 4-plex in Anchorage in her spare time, creates edible food forests and community gardens, and commutes mainly by bike.TERM EXPIRES: 2024
Mark Masteller – Secretary
Palmer, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Mark is an assistant professor in the Renewable Energy Program at the Mat-Su College. Previously, he worked as the Alaska Director for Cascadia Green Building Council, a not-for-profit chapter of both the US and Canada Green Building Councils. Mark has worked in Alaska for 29 years, in both urban and rural areas. He worked for 19 years as a wildlife biologist, and 8 years as director of the Alaska Center for Appropriate Technology. He is dedicated to developing ecological sustainable communities, and helping people address the significant challenges found across this geographically and culturally diverse and beautiful state. Mark graduated from Colorado State University with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Wildlife Biology. TERM EXPIRES: 2024
Mark Houston
Anchorage, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Mark D. Houston is a former contractor, Alaska Energy Rater, the first PHIUS certified Energy Rater in Alaska, Instructor in the UAA Construction Management program, instructor for ACHP and a founding board member of the Alaska Association of Energy Professionals. He has been a Four Seasons Sunroom franchise operator for 7 years, as well as an advocate for recycled building materials as the contractor liaison for Second Use Building Materials in Seattle, diverting millions of pounds of useable building materials from landfills over a 7 year span. Mark is passionate about the path to Net Zero, and reduction of energy and building materials waste.TERM EXPIRES: 2022
Mark Masteller – Secretary
Palmer, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Mark is an assistant professor in the Renewable Energy Program at the Mat-Su College. Previously, he worked as the Alaska Director for Cascadia Green Building Council, a not-for-profit chapter of both the US and Canada Green Building Councils. Mark has worked in Alaska for 29 years, in both urban and rural areas. He worked for 19 years as a wildlife biologist, and 8 years as director of the Alaska Center for Appropriate Technology. He is dedicated to developing ecological sustainable communities, and helping people address the significant challenges found across this geographically and culturally diverse and beautiful state. Mark graduated from Colorado State University with Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Wildlife Biology. TERM EXPIRES: 2024
Erin McKittrick
Anchorage, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Erin McKittrick is a writer, adventurer, and former scientist living just beyond the end of the road system in Seldovia, Alaska. She has written for various publications and is the award-winning author of four books: Mud Flats and Fish Camps; A Long Trek Home; Small Feet, Big Land;and My Coyote Nose and Ptarmigan Toes. She enjoys multi-month treks through harsh terrain with her husband and kids. She has an MS in molecular biology from the University of Washington. TERM EXPIRES: 2023Alan Mitchell
Anchorage, Alaska
email: info@acat.org
Alan is owner of the energy consulting firm Analysis North. He is the primary software developer of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation AkWarm Energy Rating software. Other energy work includes designing, installing, and analyzing data from building energy monitoring systems, and performing economic analyses of energy efficiency and energy supply projects. Alan has held energy-related positions at RurAL CAP, the UAA Institute of Social and Economic Research, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Alan’s hometown is Palmer, Alaska, and nearly 50 years of Alaskan residency has given him an understanding and appreciation of our great state. Alan has a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in Energy and Resources from the University of California, Berkeley. TERM EXPIRES: 2024
Kate Wedemeyer
Anchorage, Alaska
Over the last 40+ years I have engaged in a variety of Alaska-based training and experience in energy conservation, residential building and energy retrofitting, including multiple Cold Climate Housing courses. In the distant past, I was employed as a log house carpenter. Currently, as a retired fisheries oceanographer, I spend much of my time and energy monitoring renewable, technology, and climate scientific research with particular attention to environmental issues in their development, manufacture and disposal. TERM EXPIRES: 2024
Eric Visser
Anchorage, Alaska
Eric Visser is the founder of Visser Construction. His history of growing up in the construction industry and working for the family business in the Midwest ultimately led him to home building in Alaska. Originally born in Florida and growing up mostly in Iowa, Eric came to visit Alaska in the winter in 2008 and never left. Construction and home design are in Eric’s blood. His father has owned a paint contracting business in Iowa for almost 30 years. Sister, Marie, owns an interior design firm also located in Iowa. Little brother owns a carpet installation business in, you guessed it, Iowa. One of his uncles even owned a construction company on the Caribbean island of Grand Cayman. Eric is a member and on the board of directors for the Anchorage Home Builders Association. He helps support community volunteer projects through the Anchorage Home Builders Endowment Fund. He also advocates for intelligent regulation by participating in Anchorage assembly meetings and works to improve building practices through constant education and research into the most advanced building techniques. TERM EXPIRES: 2023