Applied Energy Solutions, LLC is bringing a new concept of providing “High Performance” home designs to the select group of persons desiring to live in a “Not so Big House” of less than 2,500 square feet that should be available for purchase at less than $250,000. The homes will be certified under the Department of Energy’s “Energy Star” Program.

Applied Energy Solutions' team, Jordan Heiman,Tim Michels and Greg Polanik, are working to demonstrate to designers and builders how quality high performance homes can be built with lower monthly cost of ownership. The building designed as a whole can reduce the cost of ownership by minimizing energy consumption. We assume the first step to a least-cost home for its owner is to take all conservation / efficiency measures reasonably possible. In turn this reduces the first cost of the heating and air-conditioning equipment with reductions in the annual cost of utility services. We have achieved our goal when the combined annual cost of the home’s principal, interest, electricity, gas, and water service combined with the cost of insurance and maintenance is less than the cost of present day conventional homes.

Jordan Heiman
Jordan Heiman has had the opportunity to be the Chief Executive Officer of a major corporation that manufactures home heating and cooling equipment. He has worked for over forty years to improve the efficiency of equipment used for heating and cooling: first as a manufacturer and then as a consultant and a leader in industry standards associations, chairing the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1 “Energy Efficient Design of New Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.” This standard has become the substance behind energy codes for new construction. He also chaired the New Buildings Institute development of the Guidelines that led to an ASHRAE Guideline to improve the 90.1 Standard by 30%. Locally he is a member of the Board of St. Louis Earth Day Festival and Symposium, and a Senior Consultant to the U.S. Green Building Council, St. Louis Chapter. He was the first Chair of the Missouri Solar Energy Association... Recently he was a member of the Editorial Committee that assembled the Publication, “The ASHRAE GreenGuide.”

Tim Michels
Tim Michels has worked for over thirty years as part of Energy Solutions, Inc. a design consulting firm in Saint Louis, MO, that is focused on energy efficiency in buildings and in the proper application of renewable energy. He is committed to the development, marketing and implementation of solutions to energy and environmental problems that are capital efficient. His clients locally include the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, University City Schools and the Saint Louis ZOO, among many others. His thesis for his Architectural Master’s Degree was published with the title, “Solar Energy Utilization.” He also has chaired the Missouri Solar Energy Association, and has served on the ASHRAE 90.1 Standards Committee as well as the Technical Advisory Committee of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Research Corporation’s development of the “Building Energy Performance Standards.

Greg Polanik
Greg Polanik is an associate of Applied Energy Solutions, LLC, and makes up the third leg of the Green Team. He was a founding member of the AIA St. Louis Environment Committee and served as a Co-Chair for seven years, working to promote green building in the St. Louis area. In 1995, his firm, Polanik Architects, was established, specializing in Environmentally Appropriate Design, Planning and Consulting. In addition to numerous residential projects, Greg has done work for many commercial and institutional clients, including Shaw Nature Reserve. He was recently involved in the creation of the St. Louis Regional Green Building Council, for which he serves on the Green Homes Advocacy Subcommittee.