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Mr. Michael Holtz, FAIA

Michael Joseph Holtz, FAIA, Architect

Principal
Boulder, CO
United States
80305

Bio

MICHAEL J. HOLTZ, FAIA

Michael J. Holtz, FAIA has been at the forefront of architectural and energy research,
development and sustainable design consulting since 1972. He has been associated with
LightLouver LLC as founder and President (2004 to Present); Architectural Energy
Corporation as founder and President / CEO (1982 – 2009); the Solar Energy Research
Institute (now known as National Renewable Energy Laboratory) as Chief of the Building
Systems Research Branch, and as Acting Director of the Buildings Division (1978 – 1982);
the AIA Research Corporation as Program Manager and Director of Solar Energy
Programs (1972 – 1978); the National Bureau of Standards (now known as the National
Institute for Standards and Technology) as a research architect (1972); and, since 1976,
his own architectural practice.

Mr. Holtz possesses broad experience in architectural and energy research and design.
He is a registered architect in Washington, D.C., Colorado and Tennessee, and is a holder
of a National Council of Architectural Registration Board certificate. He is a member and
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Northern Colorado Chapter of AIA
where he served on the Board, the National Committee on the Environment of AIA, the
Association of Energy Service Professionals, the U.S. Green Building Council, the
American Solar Energy Society, and the International Solar Energy Society. He was a
founding member of the Home Energy Rating Systems (HERS) Council and served on its
Technical Committee, responsible for developing the national HERS Guidelines. He
served for 10 years as a Board Member of RESNET, a national Home Energy Rating
Industry Association, as well as Chairman of its Standards Committee; and was an elected
member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s ( USGBC ) Research Advisory Committee
and was recently appointed to the USGBC Research Advisory Committee. He has
designed or consulted in the design of hundreds of residential, commercial, and
institutional buildings, including numerous energy conserving, sustainable buildings.
In the field of energy, environmental, and architectural research, Mr. Holtz has made major
contributions to flood plain residential construction specifications, building codes and
standards, and energy conservation, solar energy and sustainable design. While employed
at the Buffalo Organization for Social and Technological Innovation (BOSTI), he was a
member of a Project Team that recieved a Progressive Architecture Award for Applied
Research, and the same award while employed at the AIA Research Corporation for an
AIA/RC sponsored research project. For his accomplishments in the field of energy and
architecture, Mr. Holtz received the 1983 Distinguished Alumni Award from Ball State
University and in 2001 received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Ball State
University College of Architecture and Planning Alumni Society. Together with his
business partner (Mr. Donald Frey P.E.), Mr. Holtz received the 1996 Technical Merit
Award from the Energy Efficient Building Association for the development of the
REM/Design software, and an EPA Energy Star Homes and a RESNET Industry
Innovation awards in 2007 for the REM/Rate home energy rating software. Architectural
Energy Corporation received the 2007 Firm of the Year Award from the North Chapter of
the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Holtz is a Fellow of the American Institute of
Architects and a Fellow of the American Solar Energy Society. Both fellowships were in
recognition of the Mr. Holtz’ significant contributions to the profession in the areas of
energy and environmental research and development, and sustainable des

Mr. Holtz is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in the field of energy and
architecture. In 1975, he authored the first major U.S. publication on solar energy and
housing design, Solar Dwelling Design Concepts. He established and managed
comprehensive research programs involved in all aspects of solar energy including solar
access (three dimentional zoning for providing and maintaining sufficient solar exposure of
building surfaces in surburban and urban environments), sustainable community planning,
passive solar heating and cooling, daylighting design and analysis, design tool
development and evaluation, urban applications, and federal program planning and
analysis. He conceived and implemented major national programs for the U.S.
Department of Energy in manufactured buildings, commercial buildings, building energy
design tools, and performance analysis and testing, such as the Class A, B and C Passive
and Hybrid System Performance Evaluation Program, the Denver Solar Homebuilders
Program, the Passive Commercial and Manufactured Buildings Programs and the Building
Energy Analysis and Design Tool Program. These programs were undertaken in
cooperation with the U.S. building industry and resulted in significantly advancing the
design and construction of energy-conserving, climate-adaptive residential and commercial
buildings.

Mr. Holtz edited and supervised the production of the first volume of the Passive Solar
Journal, the official journal of the Passive and Construction Division, American Solar
Energy Society (four volumes, sixteen issues were published between 1982 and 1987) and
served on the Editorial Board during this time. He served on the Board of Editors of the
International Journal of Solar Energy published by the Commission of European
Communities.

Mr. Holtz is a member of the Energy and Architecture Working Group of the International
Union of Architects. He has been central to planning and managing numerous
international programs in passive and hybrid heating and cooling and building energy
analysis tools, including the SOLERAS U.S.-Saudi Arabia Program, the NATO/CCMS pilot
project on passive systems, and the U.S.-Italy Passive Multi-Family Housing Program. Mr.
Holtz served from 1980 to 1989 as the Operating Agent for the International Energy
Agency (IEA) Task on Passive and Hybrid Solar Low Energy Buildings, a major
international cooperative research program involving 14 countries. From 1989 to 2005, he
served as the Operating Agent on IEA Task 12, entitled “Building Energy Analysis and
Design Tools for Solar Applications;” and as the Operating Agent of IEA Task 22, “Building
Energy Analysis Tools.”

At Architectural Energy Corporation, Mr. Holtz served as the Principal-in-Charge / Lead
Sustainable Designer on many award winning architectural design and community
planning projects where Architectural Energy Corporation served as the energy,
daylighting and sustainable design consultant.
Representative projects managed by Mr. Holtz while at Architectural Energy Corporation
include: preparation of over twenty-five Residential Energy and Economic Evaluation

Manuals for turnkey U.S. Air Force housing projects worldwide; development of home
energy rating system software in use in over 45 states and several foreign countries; an
assessment of the quality and cost differences between military and private sector housing
worldwide; editing of an eight volume series of passive solar design information booklets
for the International Energy Agency; preparation of operation and maintenance manuals
for active solar heating and photovoltaic systems for the U.S. Department of Defense;
preparation of a three-volume Passive Solar Handbook for the U.S. Air Force; analysis of
energy efficiency features in residential and commercial buildings for utility-sponsored
demand-side management programs; analysis of electricity saving opportunities in
Swedish office buildings; and energy/daylighting/sustainable design consulting on the new
Denver, Indianapolis and Los Angeles International Airports, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention Laboratories in Atlanta and Fort Collins, NREL’s Solar Energy Research
Facility, Science and Technology Facility, and Research Support Facility, Corporate
Express World Headquarters, Missouri Historical Society Museum, Xilinx Development
Center and many other energy efficient, award winning sustainable buildings.
Mr. Holtz has been instrumental in developing several innovative products/systems for
diagnosing operation performance problems in commercial buildings and for enhancing the
daylighting potential in commercial buildings. He was a major contributor to the
development of a commercial building diagnostic testing and commissioning system –
ENFORMA® Building Diagnostics – consisting of diagnostic software and portable data
acquisition equipment – AEC’s MicroDataLogger® Data Acquisition System. The
ENFORMA hardware-software solution received a U.S. Patent in 1996. He led the
development team which created a new optical daylighting device – the LightLouver™
daylighting system. This product has received three U.S. Patents, and was awarded an IQ
Award in 2004 by The Boulder County Business Report for innovation in a commercial and
industrial product or service.

At LightLouver LLC, Mr. Holtz oversees business operations while primarily focusing on
business development and product research and development. He is currently establishing
a LightLouver Daylighting Partnership Program which will coordinate efforts among
numerous companies with products essential to an optimal, integrated daylighting / electric
lighting system.

Mr. Holtz’ management experience involves all aspects of business development, proposal
preparation, project planning, contract negotiation, personnel assignments, performance
appraisals, promotions and subcontract management. He has managed a professional
staff of over 100 with an annual operating budget of over fifteen (15) million dollars. He
has established budget management systems to control costs and task management
systems to control schedule compliance.

He holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana,
and a Master

Specialties

Architectural Design, Building Measurement, Commissioning, Economic Feasibility Studies, Energy Analysis and Design, Environmental Studies and Reports, Facility Evaluation Services, LEED Certification Services, Lighting Design, Postoccupancy Evaluation, Program Management, Research Services, Start-Up Assistance, Sustainable Building Design, Energy and Environmental Research and Development, Energy Master Planning, Daylighting Design and Analysis,

Affiliations

National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), RESNET, American Solar Energy Society, International Solar Energy Society, Society of Building Science Educators

Interests

Sports of all kinds -- baseball,, basketball, tennis, skiing, etc...., hiking / camping / fishing, reading, traveling,

Education

State University of New York

Buffalo, New York, United States
Master of Architecture, 1974
Architecture
1972 To 1974
Dissertation: The Standards Making Process
Advisor: John Eberhard, FAIA

Ball State University

Muncie, Indiana, United States
Bachelor of Architecture, 1971
Architecture
1966 To 1971
Dissertation: YMCA - YWCA: A Joint Facility
Advisor: Robert Fisher
©2012 The American Institute of Architects