Management Team

Michael Zimmerman, CEO: Michael has spent the last 20 years working with high growth companies and the last 12 years as an executive, board member or investor in technology start ups. Prior to BuildingIQ, Michael was a General Partner at Technology Venture Partners, a leading Australian venture capital firm focused on cross-border opportunities, where he invested and worked with internet, software and mobile companies including ThreatMETRIX, Engana (sold to Finisar), MIG33, Viator, and Eurekster. Prior to TVP, he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Altos Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and a senior executive at iOwn Holdings, one of the leading internet mortgage and real estate companies (sold to Citigroup in 2001). Previously, Michael worked with Bain & Company, Goldman Sachs and The Mentoring Partnership. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) from Amherst College and an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Peter Dickinson, VP Operations: Peter has worked as an entrepreneur and executive in the energy management and commercial property sector for the last 12 years. Most recently, he was the Operations Manager and Group Leader of the AECOM Canberra Buildings Services Group. Prior to AECOM, Peter was the Managing Director of LiveDATA, a leading Australian energy monitoring and reporting services business, which he joined as an early employee. Peter successfully sold LiveDATA to global controls company TAC (Schneider Electric), and scaled this business to over 2,500 metered points across Asia Pacific. Peter has a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechanical/Electrical/Electronic Systems from the Australian National University.

Tom Celinski, VP Engineering: Tom has 15 years of experience in the technology software and systems field and has led teams and businesses in the UK, Silicon Valley and Australia. Prior to BuildingIQ, Tom was co-founder and CEO of Avega Systems, a start up developing a world-leading software platform for networked consumer products, backed by Cisco, JAFCO and Technology Venture Partners. Tom led Avega from founding through to its expansion to the US, its partnership with Cisco and the launch of its initial joint products. Prior to Avega, Tom was the Head of Embedded Software for Linn Products, one of the world’s leading premium consumer electronics companies. Prior to Linn, Tom was a software team leader and developer in a number of organizations including Capital Networks and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation. Tom completed his PhD in Adaptive Control of Sensory Perception in Robotic Systems, as well as his Bachelor of Systems Engineering (1st Class Honours) and Computer Science at the Australian National University.

Joel Weingarten, VP of Product: Bringing a unique mix from 20 years of software, building design, and energy efficiency experience, Joel comes to BuildingIQ from EnerNOC where he was Director of Product Management in the Energy Efficiency business unit, directing the development of their EfficiencySMART product line. He was instrumental in EnerNOC being awarded a $10 million enterprise energy management system contract with the State of Massachusetts. Prior to EnerNOC, Joel was GM of 1701 Energy Group, managing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects at universities and Lawrence Berkeley Lab. Prior to 1701, Joel was a senior executive at enterprise and SaaS software companies, including Business Objects (SAP) and DemandTec with prior product leadership roles at Oracle and PeopleSoft. Joel received his BS in Architecture from MIT where he focused on the thermal performance of buildings and real estate development economics. Joel is a LEED Accredited Professional.

Board and Advisors

Will Deane, Director, (Exto Partners): William has over 14 years experience in financing and developing early-stage companies from both the company perspective and the investor perspective. As a Managing Director of Exto Partners, William assists investee companies with capital raising, corporate structuring, business development and strategic transaction negotiation. He sits on the board of several of Exto Partners’ investee companies and has advised on the formation, operation, financing, stock exchange listing (NYSE, NASDAQ and ASX) and acquisition or sale of corporations and funds management businesses of all kinds with transactions ranging in size from $1 million to $15 billion. William is admitted to practice law in Victoria, Australia and New York, USA and has a L.L.B. (Honours) from Bond University and a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Sydney.

Brian Wilson, Director: Brian has over 30 years of executive experience in strategy, operations and corporate development with growth companies. Brian is currently an active investor and director of numerous technology companies. Brian is also a member of the Global Advisory Board of Accenture. Previously Brian held numerous executive roles at Accenture, with leadership roles of strategic developments such as the firm’s IPO and the development of Accenture Ventures.

Andrew Dent, Advisor: Andrew is a visionary entrepreneur and founder of several successful enterprise software companies, with an extensive track record of creating and launching pioneering new products. Andrew is currently CTO and co-founder of Hubspan, a leading middleware company selling a Saas offering to Fortune 500 companies. At Hubspan, he led the development of the product strategy, road map and development, and led initial deployments at such leading companies as Boeing, Intel and Home Depot. Prior to Hubspan, Andrew co-founded 7 Software, a start up selling solutions B2B ecommerce solutions to the Fortune 500 (sold to Concur Technologies). Previously, Andrew was a program manager leading delivery for a range of client/ server solutions at Microsoft.

Greg Irving, Advisor: Greg Irving has more than 30 years of global experience in automation and control systems, software development and energy management. He has created systems that manage the environment and security of thousands of major buildings and industrial plants worldwide. His professional experience includes roles as the Global Vice President of Integrated Systems for Honeywell Automation & Control Systems, Global Vice President of Technology & Marketing for Honeywell’s Industrial Systems, and CEO of Honeywell Australia.

Greg Kats, Advisor: Greg is an internationally recognized leader in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green buildings. As President of Capital E, he coaches clean energy CEOs, guides VC funded cleantech start ups, and leads a national effort to scale energy efficiency financing. He recently introduced and helped negotiate a $100 million strategic investment by St. Gobain in US electrochromic firm Sage. Greg served for 5 years as Managing Director of Good Energies – a multibillion dollar VC firm, where he led investments in clean energy and green buildings. He currently serves on the board of directors or advisors for 6 VC funded clean energy technology/service companies. Greg served for 5 years as the Director of Financing for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. He is a founder of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), is a founder of the country’s first green bank (New Resource Bank), and is the Founding Chair of the National Chapter of the US Green Building Council.

Greg earned an MBA from Stanford University and, concurrently, an MPA from Princeton University. Greg was a principal author of Green Office Buildings: A Practical Guide to Development (ULI, 2005), and is the author of Greening Our Built World: Costs, Benefits and Strategies (Island Press, 2010). He is a frequent keynote speaker at real estate, cleantech and VC conferences.

Nils Kok, Advisor: Nils is one of the world’s leading thinkers in the area of economics and green buildings. Nils’ seminal work on the US market, “Doing Well by Doing Good: Green Office Buildings?” which he co-authored with Dr. John Quigley and Dr. Piet Eichholtz, demonstrated that energy-efficient buildings have significantly higher market values and rents vs. their inefficient counterparts. Nils is now working with governments, industry and non-profit organizations around the world to help them understand the implications of this work for their markets and operations. Nils is an Assistant Professor of Finance and Real Estate at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and currently a visiting scholar at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

Brett Robson, Advisor: Brett has several decades of executive experience in the commercial property industry, with a career that spans direct property management, property fund management and providing advice and guidance to the world’s leading real estate companies and funds. Brett is an Executive Director and the Global Head of Real Estate Private Capital Markets at Macquarie Bank. Prior to Macquarie, Brett spent 12 years at Lend Lease in a variety of roles including fund manager for Lend Lease Australian Prime Property Funds with $2 b of assets across the retail, commercial and industrial sectors.

Andres Wydler, Advisor: Andres has over 20 years experience working with high growth clean and information technology businesses. Andres is currently CEO at RealGreen Power, a start up biofuels company commercializing an anaerobic digestion process that produces clean energy and water, without pollution or waste. Prior to this Andres was co-founder and VP Business Development of BPL Global, a leading Smart Grid company. Previously, Andres worked with numerous technology companies including Silicon Graphics, Macromedia, and others. Andres also lectures in clean tech entrepreneurship at Stanford’s continuing education program.

Jerry Yudelson, Advisor: As one of the United State’s leading experts on green buildings, Jerry Yudelson has more than 25 years of experience in renewable energy, green building design, environmental remediation and water conservation. He is a professional engineer and serves as a National Peer Professional for the U.S. General Services Administration since 2006. He served on the national board of the USGBC, co-founded the Council’s first regional chapter in the Pacific Northwest, and for six years he chaired the world’s largest green building conference, Greenbuild. He now leads the consulting team at Yudelson Associates, where he provides global clients with expert guidance on creating, developing, designing and certifying green development projects and corporate sustainability programs.