Ackerstein Sustainability works to help building owners and managers operate more sustainably. We collaborate with building operators, property managers, ownership groups, facility engineers, and corporate leadership to:
Understand the impacts of building operations on the environment and on occupant health
Create systems to measure and track those impacts
Implement programs to reduce those impacts, and
Document their successes via sustainability certification programs
Meet the team
Dan Ackerstein, Principal
LEED Faculty, LEED AP - O&M
Dan Ackerstein has based his professional career on making the concept of sustainability accessible, useful, and meaningful in the business world. For the last decade that pursuit has been focused on sustainable building operations and the development, implementation, and application of the LEED for Existing Buildings.
In 2008, Dan formed Ackerstein Sustainability, LLC providing sustainability consulting, training and LEED certification project management for a wide variety of clients including commercial properties, municipalities, private companies, and educational institutions.
Dan has been involved with LEED for Existing Buildings at every level since the program's origination. In addition to assisting the US Green Building Council in the implementation of the LEED-EB Pilot Program, Dan also worked with the USGBC to complete the draft and finalization of the LEED-EB Version 2.0 Rating System and Reference Guide as well as a host of additional guidance documents and support materials. Dan provided technical support and project consultation to many of the original EB Pilot projects and was the lead certification reviewer for 35 of the first 45 certified LEED-EB projects, including the first 30 projects to achieve certification.
When Dan isn't saving the environment, he is likely to be found surfing at Cowell's with his daughters, running the mountain trails outside Santa Cruz, or reading about sustainable seafood.
Risto Beatty, Sustainability Consultant
Risto Beatty is a sustainability consultant and decarbonization specialist based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Driven by his love of the outdoors and a compulsion to protect the natural environment, Risto leverages his expertise in architectural engineering, data analysis, and sustainable building design to daylight zero-carbon pathways for buildings, campuses, and portfolios.
Versed in all aspects of sustainable building design, Risto specializes in energy efficiency and decarbonization strategy. As a Certified Energy Manager and LEED BD+C Accredited professional, Risto has a deep understanding of the technical, economic and legal aspects of decarbonization, and is passionate about helping clients achieve their sustainability goals. He is committed to working with clients to develop and implement long-term, cost-effective solutions that will reduce their carbon footprint and improve their environmental performance.
Prior to joining Ackerstein Sustainability, Risto spent 8-years cutting his teeth at leading international sustainability consulting firms, Arup and Atelier Ten. He has supported a wide range of projects across a multitude of sectors and has lent his expertise to many of the nation’s preeminent corporations and universities including Google, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Harvard, Yale, and NYU.
Outside of work, Risto is likely to be found deep in the backcountry, exploring the mountains and rivers of Wyoming on his skis or in his kayak.
Kelly Douglas, Sustainability and Visual Communications Consultant
Kelly Douglas is a sustainability and visual communications consultant based in Seattle. She blends her experience in urban ecology and sustainable design with her background in fine arts and writing to drive sustainability outcomes in the built environment.
Kelly started her career in sustainability at the University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab, where she contributed to research on the health impacts of high-performance buildings and orchestrated all graphic communications. During her time at the Integrated Design Lab, she was awarded a grant to create a masterplan for sustainable exterior lighting for the UW Seattle campus. Collaborating with stakeholders from the lighting design industry and Seattle City Light’s Lighting Design Lab, Kelly developed a roadmap to sustainable lighting that integrates user experience, wildlife impacts, and energy efficiency.
Prior to joining Ackerstein Sustainability, Kelly worked with Google’s Real Estate sustainability team on a range of initiatives, encompassing topics from climate resilience to healthy materials. Her accomplishments include establishing a process for achieving the Living Building Challenge’s Red List imperative on a major ground-up office development and publishing a public-facing booklet on Google’s Urban Ecology Program.
Kelly is a graduate of Whitman College and holds a master’s degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Washington. Outside of work, Kelly can be found exploring the endless landscapes of the Pacific Northwest or happily immersed in an art project.
Shantala Gurjar, Sustainability Analyst
Shantala Gurjar is an analyst and researcher based out of Bangalore. Shantala is an engineer with a Masters degree in Systems and Industrial Engineering from the University of Arizona, Tucson. Prior to joining Ackerstein Sustainability, she worked in the manufacturing and supply chain software sector; her primary area of expertise is process efficiency and analytics. Her current work extends to a range of projects for commercial and institutional building operators. Shantala is an enthusiastic supporter of green and clean causes. She spends her weekends and holidays amidst nature photographing wildlife, birds and insects along with her husband and 14 year old son.
Elisa Jimenez, Sustainability Intern
Elisa Jimenez is a current undergraduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz working on a combined Environmental Studies and Economics degree with a minor in Politics. Passionate about nature and the outdoors, Elisa has dedicated her academic and professional efforts to promoting sustainability and environmental stewardship. She has hands-on experience in restoration projects and actively contributes to research and other initiatives at Ackerstein Sustainability. Outside of work and school, Elisa enjoys running and going for hikes in the redwoods near her home.
Hannah H. Sokol, Sustainability Consultant
Hannah H. Sokol is an independent urban planning and sustainable real estate management consultant. Hannah previously spent five years with U.S. Equities Realty where she oversaw the firm’s Sustainability Program for their Asset Management Group. As part of this work she directed the implementation of best practices in sustainable building management & operations for the portfolio and partnered with the City of Chicago on their sustainable initiatives for the commercial real estate sector.
Additionally, Hannah has applied her multi-disciplinary background on a variety of real estate, development, and planning projects, including project management for LEED Certification, land use planning analysis, master planning and redevelopment studies for public, private and non-profit agencies. Together with U.S. Equities’ Argentina office Hannah has consulted on LEED Certification projects in Buenos Aires, working with colleagues there to overcome the challenges of an emerging green building market and to advance environmentally sound practices in real estate.
Prior to joining U.S. Equities, Hannah worked as a researcher with the U.S. EPA Region 5, the Delta Institute, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, collaborating on projects that examined sustainability and the built environment through the lens of market and policy influences. Her work on Market Analysis for Construction and Demolition Material Reuse in the Chicago Region has informed policy decisions related to C&D waste diversion in the City of Chicago and Cook County and is referenced by a number of similar studies for other cities and regions.
Hannah is a graduate of Earlham College and went on to receive a Master’s in Urban Planning and Policy with a focus in Environmental Planning from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her free time she enjoys time outside with her family, traveling, and exploring the streets of Chicago – and other cities - by bike.
Emma Taylor, Sustainability Program Manager
Emma Taylor is a Sustainability Program Manager based in Redwood City, California. Her work in the built environment is driven by her love of the natural world. She's most inspired when engaged in projects that enable people to live and work in joyful, sustainable environments.
Before joining Ackerstein Sustainability, Emma worked with Google’s Real Estate Sustainability Team. Her primary function was to ensure that construction design teams, and building facilities teams, participated in Google's sustainability standards program. She led dozens of training sessions with global stakeholders and supported teams throughout the life cycle of project delivery. Emma also worked on initiatives involving indoor environmental quality research and sustainability data analysis. Previously Emma was a Project Coordinator for CBRE where she supported environmental compliance and wildlife preservation projects at Moffett Federal Airfield.
Emma received a degree in Environmental Studies from California State University Monterey Bay. When Emma is not hard at work driving sustainability initiatives in the built environment, she's likely on a hike, visiting a local coffee shop, or training at her Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym.
Jack Turner, Sustainability Intern
Jack Turner is an undergraduate student at San Diego State University, where he has crafted an interdisciplinary degree in sustainability, sociology, and communication with a focus on renewable building. He combines his project engineering experience in the construction industry with his current environmental studies to promote a sustainable future. At Ackerstein Sustainability, Jack is involved in the LEED recertification of the Aztec Recreation Center and Student Union as well as the EBOM project for the GMCS building. Jack conducts technical analysis and calculations for the performance of facilities and ensures that sustainability practices are congruent with an organization's declarations. Outside of work, Jack can be found mountain biking in the San Diego hills or sailing in Mission Bay.
Alumni
Dior Meyers, Sustainability Intern
Dior Meyers is an undergraduate student at San Diego State University majoring in Sustainability and minoring in Business Administration. In her current position at Ackerstein Sustainability, Dior is responsible for providing the necessary research, tools, and data to advance the sustainability goals of our clients. Dior collaborates on larger-scale projects, including compiling data to understand corporate facility performance, updating issue briefs and slide decks, conducting research into sustainable furniture production and working with stakeholders to ensure that their sustainability practices are aligned with company goals. In addition, Dior manages a number of operational tasks at Ackerstein Sustainability, including building and managing tracking tools for internal projects as well as marketing and communications initiatives.
Adrienne Johnson, Building Performance Lead
Adrienne is an engineer and building energy professional working towards equitable building decarbonization. Adrienne joined Ackerstein Sustainability after working with Google’s Real Estate Design Performance team developing systems to ensure Google’s portfolio of ground-up buildings and development districts meet performance targets for energy, carbon, water, ecology, and circularity. She holds a BS and MS degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford, and is a licensed professional Mechanical Engineer.
Adrienne is also one of the GreenBiz 30 Under 30, ES Magazine’s 20 to Watch: Women in HVAC, and an Environmental Leadership Program Senior Fellow.
Iunona “June” Harris, Sustainability Analyst
June was a part of our team from 2015 to 2018 as the student lead on multiple projects with the City of Chula Vista’s City Hall and San Diego State University’s Aztec Student Union, the Children’s Center and the Viejas Arena while completing her degree in Environmental Biology with emphases in Sustainable Tourism Management and Anthropology. Her passion for the environment led her to join the Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Management Team with the National Park Service as a Biology Technician in 2018. Today, she is pursuing LEED AP accreditation and works as Physical Scientist/Oceanographer at NASA’s Stennis Space Center.
Michelle Perez, Senior Engineer
Michelle was an engineer, project manager, and lead consultant for Ackerstein Sustainability from 2013-2016. While leading projects at AS, Michelle worked with clients like UCSD, SDSU, and the County of Ventura. In 2016 Michelle departed AS to return to UCSD, where she is presently the Interim Director of Campus Sustainability & Carbon Neutrality.
Norberto Ruvalcaba, Sustainability Intern
Norberto Ruvalcaba was a Sustainability Intern at Ackerstein Sustainability from 2013 - 2015 while completing a degree in engineering at San Diego State University. Norberto was the student lead for SDSU’s LEED-EB:O&M certification project at the Aztec Recreation Center, and a key member of the team completing the certification of the Mission Bay Aquatic Center. Norberto's work extended to a variety of Ackerstein Sustainability projects, including work on certifications for CAC Real Estate Management company in San Francisco as well as an EBOM Feasibility Study for a hotel in Santa Monica. In 2015 Norberto accepted a position as a Project Engineer with Rudolph and Sletten.
Patrick Baylis, Sustainability Analyst
Patrick Baylis worked with Ackerstein Sustainability from 2009 to 2011 as a Research Consultant. His experience included on a variety of LEED-EB: v2.0 and EB:O&M 2009 projects including 650 California, 555 California, 315 Montgomery, the County of Ventura Vanguard Building, and UC Davis Housing Services projects. Patrick provided documentation support, technical research, and administrative oversight for the project team.
Patrick received his LEED Green Associate accreditation in 2011 and is now in the final year of his pursuit of a doctorate in environmental economics at UC Berkeley.
Patrick Patrick received his LEED Green Associate accreditation in 2011 and a doctorate in environmental economics at UC Berkeley in 2016. Patrick is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, where his work focuses on the economic impacts of climate change and electricity consumption.
Sharmila Krishnamurty, Sustainability Consultant
Sharmila Krishnamurty joined Ackerstein Sustainability in 2015, and was an essential part of our team for 8 years. At Ackerstein Sustainability, Sharmila led LEED projects for a variety of clients and building types and managed a host of unique projects for clients including San Diego State University and the City of Chula Vista. Sharmila is now a senior sustainability consultant at WSP, where her talents and exceptional commitment to sustainability are shared with clients around the world.
Charlotte Roberts, Sustainability Analyst
Charlotte interned for Ackerstein Sustainability from 2020-2021, while completing a degree in Sustainability with a minor in Business at SDSU. As an intern, Charlotte supported multiple existing buildings projects via resource use tracking and management of documentation for LEED and BIT certifications as well as waste diversion strategies aligned with the TRUE Zero Waste rating system.
As an Analyst, Charlotte contributed to the team’s comprehensive exploration of sustainable building certifications available in today’s market, and researched current methods of quantifying the Social Cost of Carbon. After graduating, Charlotte joined NORESCO as an Associate Sustainability Consultant, and is currently working on LEED, WELL, fitwel, and TRUE projects.
Jennifer Pahua, Sustainability Intern
Jennifer Pahua is a current San Diego State University undergraduate completing her geography degree with an emphasis on the environment, sustainability, and policy. As an active member of the Geography Club she encourages responsible outdoor recreation amongst the student body. Her passion for environmental sustainability has led her to join Ackerstein Sustainability as a LEED-EB O+M Intern assisting in LEED recertification for SDSU’s Student Union, Aztec Recreation Center, and the Mission Bay Aquatic Center. Outside of her academic and professional endeavors she enjoys camping across National Parks and hiking with her Australian shepherd in tow.