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Tommy Linstroth

Tommy is the head of Sustainable Initiatives for Melaver, Inc. His career has spanned the private, academic, and non-profit sectors from the west coast to the east, where he presently oversees the scope of Melaver Inc.'s sustainable vision. He develops sustainable property management practices for properties within the company's portfolio, as well as facilitating management of new and existing properties according to the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system.

Tommy has been involved with 15 certified LEED projects with a market value nearing a quarter billion dollars. Some of the finalized projects include the first building in the southeast to be LEED certified and on the National Register of Historic places, Abercorn Common - the first all-retail LEED shopping center in the nation, the first LEED McDonald's restaurant, and Sustainable Fellwood, one of the largest green affordable housing developments in the nation, and part of the LEED for Neighborhood Developments pilot program.

Tommy is the founder and chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council, Savannah Chapter. This non-profit group is dedicated to improving the quality of the built environment in the southeast coastal region. He develops programming for sustainable design issues within the area, and facilitates education, outreach and information sharing among the green building community. He also works to educate local officials on pertinent issues in green building, sustainability and recycling.

As a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Platteville Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Tommy went on to earn his Masters in Science (MS) degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Charleston, with concentrations on sustainable development, environmental policy, and municipal greenhouse gas emissions. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Conservation of Voters and the Live Oak Public Libraries.

Tommy is a frequent speaker on green building throughout the country, and co-authored the book Local Action: The New Paradigm in Climate Change Policy published in November 2007. He currently resides in Savannah, Georgia. He was the recipient of the 2006 Melaver Core Value Award for Ethical Behavior and is LEED 2.0 and 2.1 accredited. Favorite Quote:

"Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast…a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious an awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and theirs eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards." – Edward Abbey