Nick Artim, PE
principal, Heritage Protection Group

Nick currently serves as the director of the Heritage Protection Group, a Middlebury, Vermont based collaborative of fire protection and security consultants and engineers that specialize in the protection of cultural heritage facilities. With more than thirty years of fire protection engineering experience his projects have included sites in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Poland. His projects have included the United States National Park Service, President George Washington’s Mount Vernon, State of Vermont, President Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, National Library of Scotland, United States Marine Corps, and the Canadian Museum of History.

Sean Denniston
sr. project manager, New Buildings Institute

Sean earned his bachelor’s degree in architecture at the University of Oregon, and a master’s degree in historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. Sean is a senior project manager at New Buildings Institute where his work focuses on energy issues in building codes and policies and the technical development of energy efficient strategies for new and existing buildings. In all of these areas, he has a particular focus on the issues relating to historic and other existing buildings. Sean also serves on the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission and Clark County Historical Museum Board of Trustees.

Melvyn Green
structural engineer, Melvyn Green & Associates, Inc

Mel Green is a structural engineer specializing in historic structures, materials, and preservation. Much of his work involves seismic retrofit. This includes several Frank Lloyd structures as well as California Missions and the Golden Gate Bridge. He continues to work in the building code field and has been building official. His recent book is titled Building Codes for Existing and Historic Buildings.

Marilyn E. Kaplan, FAPT
principal, Preservation Group

Marilyn Kaplan founded Preservation Architecture in 1990. Trained as an Architect and Building Scientist, Ms. Kaplan is an expert in the application of codes (fire, building safety, and energy) to historic structures. Ms. Kaplan has directed scores of projects, many of which are publicly funded, ranging from project planning through construction, and has served other design professionals as a historic preservation or code consultant. Volunteer efforts include consistent service to a local, neighborhood housing corporation and other community efforts.

Mike Jackson, FAIA
principal, Mike Jackson, FAIA

Mike Jackson, FAIA is preservation architect in Springfield, IL and a partner in the Upstairs Downtown training program active in Main Street’s across the country. He was the deputy state historic preservation officer in Illinois from 2009–2013 as part of a 31 year career in public service. He was a visiting professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1993-2013. He is an active member of the Association for Preservation Technology (APT) and currently directs the Building Technology Heritage Library and is a co-chair of the Codes and Standards Technical Committee. He has been active in the field of historic preservation throughout his career and has been a leader in the areas of Roadside Architecture, Main Street, Modern Heritage and Sustainability.

Helen Kessler DiFate, AIA
president, DIFATE GROUP, PC

Helen Kessler DiFate, AIA, is President of DIFATE GROUP, PC, an architectural firm which enjoys a diversity of projects for private and public clients. Born, raised and educated (B.Architecture, The Cooper Union) in and around New York City, Helen established her own firm there and later moved it to Missouri. She has long been active in AIA and was appointed to AIA National’s Codes & Standards Committee (2017, 2018 and 2019 Chair). She also serves as President of the St. Louis Professional Chapter of ICC And AIA St. Louis Building Code Committee where she has implemented an on-going series of one-hour noontime seminars addressing code questions. She was elected Secretary of the state ICC chapter. Helen has been actively involved in the ICC code development process serving on ICC Code Development Committees since 2006. In 2016, she chaired the IECC-RE Code Development Committee. She has served on the Board of AIA Missouri. Her appointment to the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards afforded her the opportunity to work with architects across the US and Canada and to chair the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) Committee.

Amanda Webb, PhD
assistant professor, University of Cincinnati

Amanda Webb is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management at the University of Cincinnati, where her research focuses on the energy performance of historic buildings. She was a committee member of ASHRAE's Guideline 34, Energy Efficiency Guideline for Historic Buildings, and is a U.S. Task Expert for the International Energy Agency's Task 59, "Renovating Historic Buildings Towards Zero Energy." She holds a PhD in architectural engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, a master's degree from MIT’s Building Technology program, and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Yale University.