: : Board Member

Wade Byrd
President
Performance Building Consulting

Wade Byrd is the president of Performance Building Consulting, Inc., specializing in energy efficiency and electric utility regulatory issues. His current contracts include serving as energy efficiency technical consultant to the City Council of New Orleans in their role of utility regulator. Mr. Byrd formerly served as Environmental Consultant to the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and supervisor of the State Energy Program within DNR's Technology Assessment Division. In these roles, he was responsible for development of building, industrial and transportation related energy and environmental programs and the promotion of alternative and renewable energy resources.

Wade was a founding member of the board of directors of the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNet), serving on the board from 1994 to 2003, and as vice president in 2002. He represented Louisiana on the Interstate Solar Coordinating Council from 1992-95.

Wade developed Energy Rated Homes of Louisiana (ERHL - Louisiana's Home Energy Rating Entity), the Home Energy Loan Program (HELP) and the Home Energy Rebate Option (HERO). HELP and HERO are innovative loan and rebate programs to encourage residential energy efficiency. He was one of the country's first certified Home Energy Rating Instructors and trained all currently accredited Louisiana raters and numerous raters in several surrounding states. He also served as manager of DNR's building codes and standards program and as the primary instructor for training in ASHRAE/IES 90.1, IECC and IRC offered by the Department to architects, engineers, contractors and other building industry professionals.

Wade was the primary author of the New Orleans Energy Efficiency Program (NOEEP), a comprehensive and unique city-wide New Orleans energy efficiency program that was to be funded by a system-wide energy efficiency rider on utility bills. NOEEP was a casualty of hurricane Katrina. He was the primary author of Louisiana's Commercial Building Energy Conservation Code and organized the broad-based industry task force that successfully lobbied for it passage.

Wade was named 1990 Professional Conservationist of the Year in the annual Governor's Conservation Awards series sponsored by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.

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