Meet the Team

Russ Hellem – Owner, Building Science and HVAC Expert

[Biography]

Gary Mazade – Founder and Executive Consultant

[Biography]

Tom Hellem – Energy Efficient Construction Specialist

[Biography]

Andy Lemann – Green Building and Design Specialist

[Biography]

Jeanne Rothenbuecher - Finance & Administration Manager

[Biography]

Skander Spies – Commercial Building Specialist

[Biography]

Russ Hellem

Russ Hellem

RUSS HELLEM

Owner – Building Science and HVAC Expert

Russ Hellem is an expert in energy and environmental construction practices, with a long history in the building industry. Russ grew up building energy efficient houses under the direction of his father, Tom, in Colorado and Wisconsin. His work in building continued with a custom builder in Missoula while he finished his undergraduate degree in forestry.

After completing his degree, Russ took his passion for building science and energy conservation to the next level, building and consulting on energy efficient home projects. His desire to help people create the best indoor spaces possible led him to acquire Energetechs in 2006. Energetechs provides a full menu of services for energy and environmental construction, including whole-house energy audits, complete energy upgrades, HVAC system design and installation, and training services.

Russ Hellem is an expert in energy and environmental construction practices,
with a long history in the building industry. Russ grew up building energy
efficient houses under the direction of his father Tom in Colorado and
Wisconsin. His work in building continued with a custom builder in Missoula
while he finished his undergraduate degree in forestry.

After completing his degree, Russ took his passion for building science and
energy conservation to the next level, building and consulting on energy
efficient home projects. His desire to help people create the best indoor
spaces possible led him to acquire Energetechs in 2006. Energetechs provides
a full menu of services for energy and environmental construction, including
whole-house energy audits, complete energy upgrades, HVAC system design and
installation, and training services.

Jeanne Rothenbuecher

Jeanne Rothenbuecher

Finance and Administration Manager

Jeanne Rothenbuecher is a seasoned professional in Finance & Administration. She has over 25 years experience in accounting and office management in small, mid-size and Fortune 500 companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and Montana. She previously worked for Energetechs as a contracted full-charge bookkeeper providing accounting support for Energetechs for 1 1/2 years before joining the management team as an employee. She strives to provide a high level of service and support to our clients, which includes the goal of reducing our carbon footprint and saving energy for the future of our planet. Jeanne’s outside activities include a passion for handcrafts, camping, kayaking and gardening.

Skander Spies

Skander Spies

Andy Lemann

Andy Lemann

ANDY LEMANN (B.Sc. Arch – LEED AP)

Green Building and Design Specialist

Andy was born in Australia and studied architecture at the University of Sydney. He has been involved in energy efficient design and Green Building since 1988. He moved to Montana in 1992 and to Missoula in 2004.

Andy is an expert on Passive Solar Design and specializes in all areas of Green Design and Construction. In the past he has owned and operated his own design-build firm and has worked for General Contractors and Architects as a project supervisor.

Andy has a real passion for Green Building in general and Energy Conservation in particular. When he’s not helping helping people improve their buildings he enjoys music, surfing, sailing, camping, and soccer.

Tom Hellem

Tom Hellem

TOM HELLEM

Project manager

Energy Efficient Construction Specialist

Tom has 35 years experience in residential construction & carpentry with 10 years as an Energy Star builder partner. He is an expert in Energy Efficient Building Construction, spray foam, and Passive House Consulting. Tom completed the Passive House consultants training course in June 2009: He was and still is the only Passive House Consultant in Montana. He is excited about taking energy efficient construction to the next level. Tom is Passionate about designing and constructing air-tight and energy efficient buildings.

Outside of work Tom enjoys outdoor recreation, camping, and amateur radio.

Gary Mazade

Gary Mazade

GARY MAZADE

Founder and Executive Consultant

Gary graduated from Michigan State University in 1975 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Sciences.

He moved to western Idaho in 1977 and began working with a building contractor. During this time he noticed several recurring problems with the homes they were building and, being a man of science, he wanted to know why these were occurring. So he began to study “Building Science” which was in its infancy in Canada at the time. Spurred on by their early successes and failures, Gary continued to build his understanding of this “new” science until it became second nature to him.

In 1987 he moved to Western Montana and began applying his passion for building science to the construction of super insulated homes. However he became frustrated with the lack of availability of specialized building products such as HRVs, vapor barriers, and high performance windows. As a result, in 1988 he founded Energetechs Inc.

Fortunately for us Bonneville Power kicked off their “Super Good Cents” program around that time and we were able to win their “Outstanding Performance” award two years in a row.

Over the next 21 years Energetechs grew and gained in knowledge and experience giving us the tools to qualify and quantify the benefits of practicing good building science.

In 2006 Gary handed the ownership of the company to Russ Hellem, and continues to use his vast store of knowledge and scientific understanding to assist us with our work in building energy efficiency.