Current Board Members

Learn more about the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild's current Board members

Board Officers
President Michael Niall \| Ecova Seattle, WA Michael Joined the Board in 2016 and served on the Executive Committee as Vice-President. He started in construction in the late 80's as a framer, then as a home builder of Single Family, Multi Family, and commercial projects across Arizona. As a VP of construction, he was actively involved in design, land development, and construction for thousands of homes. Later his own company focused on improving green features, working with alternative wall materials and products for health and energy efficiency. Niall now serves as a senior program manager for CLEAResult managing a new construction program, field operations and outreach for the retrofit program in Washington State.
Vice-President Helen Biersack \| Balderston Associates Helen Biersack is an East Coast Transplant who found her home in the PNW almost 15 years ago. She is partner alongside Tom Balderston at Balderston Associates, a sustainable building consulting company. She believes the strength of sustainable building is deeply rooted in equity, education, and community. Each one of us deserves the opportunity to be healthy, starting with where we live. Sustainability has to include each and every one of us; sharing & collaborating in order to create a future that lasts for generations to come. In her spare time, Helen spends as much time as possible with her nieces and nephews, and as many weekends as possible in the mountains with her partner, building their off-grid mini-cabin. (Email)
Treasurer (Acting) Laura Elfline \| Mighty House Construction Seattle, WA Laura is co-founder and managing partner at Mighty House Construction and Mighty Energy Solutions. For over 20 years, Laura has utilized education and outreach to influence positive change towards sustainability. She believes that an open mind, a willingness to learn, and the commitment to take action on lots of small, sticky, positive choices will result in healthy homes for us and the environment. Outside of her business and volunteer efforts, Laura spends downtime with precocious identical twin daughters and her business partner husband sailing and adventuring around the Northwest. (Email)
Secretary Gayle Palmer \| Grantwriter Portland, OR Gayle Palmer is a Fundraising and Grants Specialist with a passion for sharing her skills with nonprofit Boards and Volunteers. Using the abilities and understanding of fundraising gained over fifteen years, she works to help organizations develop a fundraising plan that is simple but effective, providing enduring and sustainable operational funding. Currently, she does freelance grant writing, grants training and fundraising consulting in the Pacific Northwest region. (Email)

Board Members
Wayne Apostolik \| 3BLC Construction Seattle, WA Wayne is a remodeling contractor in the Seattle area and his company Northwest Homecrafters remodeled area homes since 1989 until he joined the team at Batt+Lear Design Build in 2016. He has now started a new company as a worker-owned cooperative, Triple Bottom Line Construction or 3BLC for short. He is certified as a Building Analyst Professional, an Energy Star verifier, a HERS rater, and an Aging In Place specialist, and has also received Passive House and Permaculture training. Wayne has been an active member of the Master Builders Association Remodelers Council and served on the board for Home Performance Washington and Passive House Northwest. (Email)
Greta Tjelveit \| Evergreen Certified Seattle, WA Greta first found her passion for sustainable building while doing a research paper on the work being done to rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Since then she’s continued to learn more about green design, residential construction, and cultural and historical preservation while studying architecture at the University of Washington. After obtaining her B.A. in Architectural Studies, she spent two years gaining construction experience at Habitat for Humanity. She now serves on the Guild Board as our Membership Chair, coordinating Membership Ambassadors and outreach. (Email)
Janie Bube \| Graduate Student - UW Landscape Architecture Seattle, WA Janie is currently enrolled at the University of Washington Master of Landscape Architecture program where she is developing her design knowledge. Her passion involves working collaboratively with multiple fields to design innovatively as well as to educate through design. She has been involved with the NW EcoBuilding Guild in the past as the Education Committee’s Director of Outreach and Communications. She has had the opportunity to work in landscape architecture internationally through an internship in Germany and on the Biophilic Cities Network Initiative in Virginia. She believes in blurring the line between the built forms of architecture and landscape architecture and she seeks to apply the principles of sustainability to her work. (Email)