Austin Van Heusen
Sustainability Projects Manager
With EnergyLogic since March 2021
Professional Experience
Austin is the Energy Efficiency Specialist for EnergyLogic's newest division, Green Building Hawaii (GBH), and a graduate of the University of Hawaii-Maui College (UHMC) Liberal Arts program. He is one of two Certified Building Commissioning Professionals (CBCP) in the state and a RESNET® certified HERS Rater. Both certifications are through the well-respected Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Austin has LEED AP accreditation and is the only Certified Energy Auditor (CEA) in the County of Maui.
When attending UHMC, Austin also had the opportunity to work with the HTDC/Innovate Program via SLIM as an instructor and coordinator for the manufacturing energy auditing internship program. He taught students to audit manufacturing companies and develop recommendations to reduce energy and resource use in the local manufacturing business.
Through years of collaboration with Hawaii Energy, Austin has a great relationship with our local representative Walter Enomoto and representatives State-wide. Austin has processed over $250,000 worth of Hawaii Energy rebates for our satisfied customers in the last few years. He has performed financial grade audits on over 250 buildings covering over 3 million square feet of building area, managed the installation of over 45,000 LED lamps or fixtures in over 20 different facilities, and worked with over 30 interns in green training programs.
What passions, talents, or interests do you bring to your position at EL?
I am very passionate about energy efficiency. It is such a huge subject and with technology it is always changing and growing. My talent as an energy auditor and building commissioner/retro-commissioner will hopefully be a new asset to Energy Logic and help bring in work on existing commercial building projects.
What excites you about working with the EnergyLogic team?
I'm excited to finally have a community of people to work with who are passionate about the same issues that I am. Sustainability, building science, energy efficiency and working to make the world a healthier place through our work.
Where/what did you study in school?
I attended the University of Hawaii Maui College for four years. I graduated with a liberal arts degree in which I studied renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable science management. During my college career I took several internships including home energy surveying, renewable energy permitting at the utility, LEAN/Green manufacturing efficiency and working for Green Building Hawaii (GBH). I ended up running internship through the Sustainable Living Institute of Maui (SLIM) and working full time for GBH
Do you have any unique hobbies?
Making tropical bouquets with the flowers from our property.
Who & what makes up your home?
I live with my mom, Deb Brigley, and my best friend, Aaron Holmes, on our one acre flower farm in Haiku Maui.
My sister Katrice also lives right down the road.
We have 9 chickens and two dogs, Hunter (my dog) and Zipper (my mom's dog). We have a very productive property with 5 avocados, 3 mangos, 1 starfruit, 1 lime, 1 breadfruit, 1 jaboticaba and some sornum cherry trees as well as a vegetable garden and a lot of tropical flowers.
Where have you lived?
My family traveled around the US when I was young, following my father in his career at Bechtel engineering. I spent elementary in Spokane Washington, Middle and High School in Sandpoint Idaho and ended up on Maui in 2004 and have never considered leaving.
