Party Walls

Home Energy magazine debuted a new interview series on their blog this month titled “The Real Women of Home Performance,” aimed at showcasing the work of women who make significant contributions to the residential energy industry. The first installment of this recurring series features SWA Senior VP and Director of Sustainable Housing Services, Maureen Mahle.

Below is an excerpt of the Q&A session; the full interview is available on Home Energy magazine’s blog.

HomeEnergy: What is the most rewarding thing about your job?

Mahle: There is absolutely always something new to learn. Being there for the ‘aha!’ moment when a builder connects the dots about air sealing during a blower door test, or seeing a design team propose a totally new strategy that starts a frantic email chain among the building science geeks at the office—it’s all about refusing to accept the status quo, and believing that we can make buildings better.

HomeEnergy: When you started out, what was your biggest obstacle? How did you overcome it?

Mahle: While many of the principles have been around in various forms for a long time, green building was barely recognized in 2005. Around 2008, I noticed a definite shift in public awareness, and telling strangers on an airplane that I was a green building consultant suddenly made sense. Mainstream industry professionals started to talk about incorporating resource efficiency, human health, and environmental ‎stewardship into their practices. In this instance, patience and a lot of preaching were the keys to overcoming a lack of awareness about green building.

Read the full interview here: Home Energy Magazine – Blog