CampusEnergy2026 Plenary Panel

Opening Plenary Panel: Advancing Thermal Networks

This opening panel explores what “thermal networks” mean today—from steam, hot water, and chilled water to ambient loops—and how campuses are evolving these systems to balance affordability, reliability, flexibility, and decarbonization. Panelists will share real-world lessons on emerging technologies, planning under policy and financial uncertainty, aligning utilities and sustainability missions, and what they would do differently if starting from scratch.

The discussion will also look ahead to 2030 and 2050, offering candid guidance, hard-earned lessons, and career advice for the next generation shaping campus energy systems.

Casey Collins, Director, Utility & Energy Management,
Duke University

Casey Collins serves as the Director of Utility & Energy Services for Duke University. His 65-person team is responsible for the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of district energy and water utilities for a 22 million square feet campus supporting over 40,000 people every day. This organization identifies and implements a broad portfolio of technologies and organizational solutions to help the University meet its facility performance, cost management, and greenhouse gas neutrality commitments. Prior to his work at Duke, Casey served industrial, institutional, and architectural clients with a variety of energy, engineering and project management services. He is an alumnus of North Carolina State University, a licensed Professional Engineer and Certified Energy Manager, and a lover of life with his family and community.



   

Paul A. Kempf, Associate Vice President of Utilities, Maintenance, University of Notre Dame

Paul Kempf, PE, is the Associate Vice President of Utilities, Maintenance. These two University departments are responsible for the operation of the campus’s combined heat and power plant, distribution of all centrally produced utilities as well as the maintenance of nearly 12 million gross square feet of campus facilities. The University uses its combined heat and power plant to produce steam, chilled water, hot water and electricity as well as operates its own potable water, stormwater and wastewater systems. In his role he has been responsible for leading the University’s effort to achieve carbon reductions and to ultimately be carbon neutral. Paul oversees a staff of over 100 University employees as well as another 100 plus contractor employees involved in projects, operations, maintenance and repairs.

He is a 1980 graduate of Notre Dame with a degree in Electrical Engineering and is a registered professional engineer in the State of Indiana and has worked for the University for 36 years.



   

Tess McNamara, Sustainable Buildings & Infrastructure Lead,
The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey

Tess McNamara, AIA, LEED AP, ENV SP, is the Sustainable Buildings and Infrastructure Lead at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and serves on the faculty at the Yale School of Architecture. An architect and sustainability leader, Tess advances decarbonization and climate action across complex building and infrastructure portfolios. At the Port Authority, she leads decarbonization strategy for airports, transit facilities, and other mission-critical assets, including district energy systems. Previously, Tess worked as a Senior Consultant at Arup, advising public and private clients on climate-responsive design, adaptive reuse, and retrofit of existing buildings. Tess’s research and writing explore the intersection of architecture, policy, urbanism, and climate, with a particular focus on reuse as a pathway to decarbonization.

Her work has been featured by The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Architectural Digest. She holds a Master of Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture, a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment, and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Princeton University. Tess has spent five years on the faculty at Yale, where she teaches the course “Bad Buildings: Decarbonization through Reuse, Retrofit, and Proposition.”



   

Christopher Potter, Executive Director, Utilities & Power Plant Operations, Architect of the Capitol

Christopher Potter is the Executive Director of Utilities and Power Plant Operations at the Architect of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. and is responsible for the management of the district energy system serving the buildings on and around Capitol Hill. Chris has been with the AOC since 2005. Prior to that, he worked at the General Services Administration district energy system also in Washington DC. Chris has a Master's degree in Public Administration from American University, a Master’s degree in Engineering Management from Catholic University, and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland.



      

Mary Quintana, Associate Vice-President, Facilities Management,
Brock University

Mary Quintana, MSc, MES, CEM, CMVP, LEED Green Assoc, is the Associate Vice-President, Facilities Management at Brock University, a higher education institution in Ontario, Canada. In this role, Mary provides leadership to a team of nearly 150 people who maintain and operate over $1.6B in assets. Mary has helped embed sustainability across the whole portfolio, including Capital projects, project management, utilities, maintenance, vehicles, and compliance. For over 15 years, Mary has worked in the university sector, holding roles of Director, Asset Management & Utilities and Director, Sustainability & Asset Management, Energy & Carbon Manager and Environmental Project Coordinator. 

She has been an active participant in the fight against climate change, implementing numerous energy efficiency and carbon management projects that have saved over 10 million dollars while reducing their carbon footprint. She has worked for several years working on research and development, specializing on image processing and automation to assist medical personnel in the early detection of cancer. She worked with small and medium enterprises in developing competitiveness strategies based on technology management and innovation. For the past decade, she has been involved with OAPPA (Ontario Association of Physical Plant Administrators), a professional group of leaders in the facilities management sector. 

She has been particularly involved with the Energy sub-committee, of which she became the chair in 2024. Mary holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering and a Masters degree (Technology management) from the Tecnologico de Monterrey, and a Masters of Environment and Sustainability from Western University. She is both a Certified Energy Manager and a Certified Measurement & Verification Professional by the Association of Energy Engineers.


     

      

Shantel Utton, Deputy Director, Energy & Utilities Management, University of Wyoming

Shantel Utton, PE, CEM, MS, MBA, is the Deputy Director of Engineering and Utilities Management at the University of Wyoming, a public land grant research university located in Laramie, Wyoming. A former Naval Officer, she served eight years as a Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer, completing combat deployments on both nuclear powered and conventionally powered vessels. After leaving the US Navy, she worked in energy management, overseeing major infrastructure upgrades at a combined US/Japan military facility in northern Honshu. In her present position at UW, she is responsible for managing the campus utility system, which encompasses over 7 million square feet and includes a coal and natural gas fired Central Energy Plant (for steam, compressed air and chilled water) as well as a natural gas modular boiler plant with a 1.8 million gallon chilled water thermal energy storage tank.



     

David L. Woodson, , Executive Director, UW Facilities - Campus, Energy, Utilities, and Operations
University of Washington

David Woodson, MBA, FMA, CEFP, is the Executive Director of Campus Energy, Utilities, and Operations at the University of Washington, where he is leading the decarbonization of the district heating system at the flagship Seattle campus. His work focuses on large-scale thermal systems, electrification strategies, infrastructure resilience, and managing peak energy risks during the transition away from fossil fuels. Prior to UW, David held a similar leadership role at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he helped advance campus energy and district energy system modernization efforts.

He now applies those lessons learned to UW’s long-term decarbonization strategy. David is a UW alumnus (Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering ’91) and earned his MBA from UBC in 2006. He has served on the Board of the International District Energy Association since 2017 and currently serves as Chair.