GreenHomeGuide Team
Willem Maas, Founder & Publisher
GreenHomeGuide was founded by Willem Maas in 2004. Willem, who has a degree in mathematics, brings a zeal for analysis and clear thinking to GreenHomeGuide.
Science offers few conclusive answers—yet we know that some choices are more environmentally sound and healthy than others. In the spirit of doing what’s good, Willem has woven both scientific and community knowledge throughout GreenHomeGuide. GreenHomeGuide's product directories are juried by unbiased, highly experienced green builders, architects and consultants. Each decision to list a product in the directory is supported with both community reviews and citations of credible, science-based green certifications. Likewise, the Know-How series integrates interviews with scientists, tips from building professionals and homeowner case studies. A three member Scientific Advisory Council provided expert advice on the development of GreenHomeGuide's publication standards and meets semi-annually to keep them up to date.
Willem believes that while the 100-percent perfect green home solution does not exist, there are dozens of steps we can each take to feel better about the homes we live in. By choosing green alternatives to conventional building, cleaning, pest control and landscaping, we discover that we can have more, not less. Our homes can be better designed and more attractive; warmer and brighter in the winter and cooler in the summer. They can also offer us more of the well-being and comfort we need and seek. And with better homes, we move one step closer to creating a better planet.
Willem spent more than a decade leading sales and marketing programs in the enterprise software market. In his last technology role, Willem was Vice President of Product Line Management at Fair Isaac Corporation (NYSE:FIC). After years of pushing his values to the back burner, Willem decided to leave the technology industry to start his own business, blending social and environmental purpose with entrepreneurship. Willem received a B.S. in Applied Math and Psychology from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Hope Richardson, Editorial Assistant
Hope grew up in a turn-of-the-century Victorian "fixer-upper" that her mother and father were hired to renovate in a historic district of St. Louis, enabling them to spend long hours at home with their young daughter. Over the years, Hope has been a more or less willing accomplice in her family’s frequent home renovation projects, ranging from the usual painting, plastering, and flooring to upgrading a small bathroom and planning a kitchen remodel. While enjoying the work immensely, she has also seen the dark side of the typical home remodel, which generates a lot of waste and involves countless angst-filled hours wandering around "big box" stores.
Hope enjoys working at GreenHomeGuide and learning more every day about greening the home. She is discovering that the burgeoning green home movement offers the opportunity to practice many of the skills and values she learned from her do-it-yourself mom and dad: curiosity and creativity, hands-on learning, a reverence for the environment, and a passion for preserving and recycling beautiful old things.
Hope holds a BA in English Literature from Wellesley College.
Mitchell Kimbrough, Principal Partner, Solspace
Solspace is a web development company that designs and builds websites for non-profit groups, political campaigns, start-ups, &c. Solspace and Mitchell are pleased to be a part of such an important and useful project as GreenHomeGuide.
Sandra Stewart and Carolyn McMaster, Consulting Editors
Real Edit (www.realedit.com) is a San Francisco–based editorial services and consulting firm that helps nonprofits and growing businesses communicate more effectively with key audiences. Founders Sandra Stewart and Carolyn McMaster are journalists with extensive experience in consumer, trade, and custom publications. They’ve helped create print and Internet publications, written for and edited everything from national magazines to newspapers to newsletters, and trained business professionals in editorial skills.