About Us

Jeffrey Crouch, President and COO, Licensed Architect, MT License #1969, AIA, LEED AP- jcrouch@sbslink.com
Jeff is one of the four owners of Sustainable Building Systems and serves as it’s President and Chief Operating Officer. At SBS he has been directly responsible for the design and implementation of over thirty energy conservation projects. He has worked in Montana as a licensed architect since 1994. Starting in 1995 he worked at Kibo Group Architecture in Missoula, Montana. As Senior Managing Architect Jeff was involved in all phases of the firm’s work and led the firm’s growth from four to twenty five employees. Jeff has managed, designed and overseen projects varying in size from $10,000 to $9,000,000 with a total portfolio of delivered work at over 100 million dollars of completed projects. He is well versed in all aspects of design, construction documentation and construction administration. Jeff has served as the lead manager on energy related projects varying from design retrofits on 15,000 SF commercial heating and cooling systems to the design and installation of small residential Solar PV systems. He directs all aspects of permit, code research and CC&R submittals for restrictive conditions as they relate to each project. He is a member of the AIA and is NCARB registered. He is also a LEED AP certified designer with the US Green Building Council. Jeff has a Bachelors in Architecture and a Bachelors in Environmental design from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.


Lisa R. McFarlane, Project Engineer, Licensed Professional Engineer, NSPE - lmcfarlane@sbslink.com
Lisa joined Sustainable Building Systems in February 2010 and brings 25 years of professional engineering experience to the SBS team. She worked for the past twenty five years at the Missoula pulp and paper mill from the time it was owned by Champion International through the final years as Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation. Lisa worked in the capacities of Senior Project Engineer, Maintenance Engineer, and as a private contracting engineer. She has worked with the non-profit organization Engineers Without Borders-USA out of both the Denver Professional Chapter and The Montana State University Student Chapter. She has also volunteered her services on a water and sanitation improvement project in Agou Avedze, Togloese Republic. Since 2001 Lisa has been the owner and consulting engineer for Granite Peak Engineering LLC. In this capacity Lisa has worked with clients on industrial and manufacturing projects at various phases from inception to start-up. Project costs ranged from $5,000 to $7,000,000. Lisa holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University.


Alexander J. Sievers (Zandy), Energy Technician, RESNET Home Energy Rater, NorthWest Energy Star Homes Verifier, NAHB Green Building Verifier - zsievers[a@]sbslink.com. Zandy is an Energy Technician for Sustainable Building Systems.  He began working in the building industry as a handyman, doing everything from plumbing and electrical work to carpentry, while finishing his undergraduate degree.  After working in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) field for a couple years, Zandy was hired in 2006 as a Structural Draftsman for Eclipse Engineering, Inc.  In 2008 he become a NAHB Green Home Verifier for that company.  After completing his Energy Star Verifier and Home Energy Rater training, his interests in ecology and building science led him to SBS   Since working for SBS he has been noted by the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) as one of the top 15 most active verifiers in the country and has assisted the NAHB research center in developing the scoring tool for the ANSI approved ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard.   In May of 2010 he was appointed to the Missoula City Greenhouse Gas & Energy Conservation Team, helping lead the City in conservation measures.   Currently Zandy is studying to be a consultant for the most stringent energy standard in the world, Passive House.  Literally meaning "home that conditions itself," homes certified to the Passive House Institute standard use a tenth of the energy of conventional code built homes. Zandy has a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Montana.


Greg GuscioRenewable Energy Specialist - gguscio@sbslink.com
Greg is a Renewable Energy Specialist for Sustainable Building Systems and acts as a project analyst and renewable energy designer in this capacity. Although his primary emphasis and expertise lies in Solar Thermal design and implementation he has a broad level of expertise in all aspects of Green Energy Technologies and Energy Efficiency work.  He received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Ecology from Sierra Nevada College in 1996. In the years that followed, he worked on numerous ecological research projects and studied everything from butterflies and bats to snakes and sea turtles. In 2004, Greg returned to school at the University of Montana where he earned a Master’s degree in wildlife biology studying how toads respond to wildfires.  Before coming to SBS, he worked for 2 years at Solar Plexus, a small renewable energy company in Missoula, designing and installing solar systems (both PV and hot water.) Greg is currently working toward NABCEP certifications in both PV and solar hot water.


Deb Poteet, Operations Manager and CFO - dpoteet@sbslink.com
Deb is co-owner of Sustainable Building Systems with Jeff Crouch and two other partners. In addition, Deb began Poteet Construction in 1987 as a small regional traffic control company and expanded into an asphalt recycling company working throughout Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. Poteet Construction has worked on projects with the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and county and cities governments both as a prime contractor and subcontractor. Deb managed all aspects of Poteet Construction, supervising and training office staff and scheduling/directing field operations that expanded to 60 employees throughout the Western U.S. She was the first EPA Radon Litigator in the State of Montana and assisted in writing legislation in Montana requiring notification of radon in residential buildings. In addition her company was the key player in Lead-based Paint Abatement for the Helena Housing Authority. Deb was an instructor at Colorado State University, providing radon mitigation training for contractors throughout the U.S. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Montana Contractors Association. In 1990, she was awarded the Montana Equitable Employer Award and in 2007 the Missoula YWCA Salute to Excellence Award. Deb holds a Bachelors Degree in Geography & Land Use Planning from the University of Montana.


Jim Roach, Energy Technician, RESNET Home Energy Rater, BPI Certified Home Energy Rater - jroach@sbslink.com
Jim is an Energy Technician at Sustainable Building Systems. A long time resident of the Missoula area, Jim came west from Chicago to attend the University of Montana in 1971. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in botany in 1976, he took a job at the Bonner plywood mill. When the mill shut down in 2007, Jim returned to school for 2 years in a retraining program offered by the federal government. Jim then received an Associates Degree in Applied Sciences from the Energy Technology program at the University of Montana’s College of Technology. At SBS he focuses on Building Auditing and Analysis as well as Carbon Sequestration and Footprinting Consulting.


Dan Brandborg, Renewable Energy Specialist, NABCEP Certified Solar Installer - dbrandborg@sbslink.com
Dan is our lead operative in the field of solar energy. He started his career in Photovoltaic’s with Solarex, now BP Solar, in 1983. As such, he understands all levels of project implementation and his skills at managing a multi-faceted project are un-paralleled. He and his wife created Sunelco (the Montana based renewable energy company) and guided this company’s growth into a multimillion dollar design and retail center for solar energy technology, and later sold. Dan is a NABCEP certified installer and is currently working with Solar Energy International developing the Successful Solar Business class curriculum. Passive and active solar projects have always been his primary focus, and with this he brings to SBS a wealth of experience in design, installation and project management in the field of solar energy. Dan has lived with off grid solar systems as well as grid tied systems and employs planning and good design as the keys to a successful system. Dan received a B.S. in Resource Management from the University of Montana and maintains his commercial pilot and flight instructor licenses.


Joshua Frame, Project Manager, Licensed Contractor, MT License # 158052 - jframe@sbslink.com
Josh joined Sustainable Building Systems as is the Project Manager in Summer 2009. Born in Whitefish, MT and raised in Western Montana, Southeast Alaska and Hawaii, he has a long and diverse history in both the construction and commercial fishing industries.  From 1994-2005 Josh went to work during the winters as a Journeyman in both the Roofers and Sheet Metal Unions in Hawaii.  Beginning in 1996, he bought his first of two commercial fishing vessels and started a successful eleven summer commercial fishing career out of Southeast Alaska.  He took a hiatus in 2001-2001 to work for VECO as a Pipefitter on the oil fields out of Anchorage and Prudhoe Bay (The Northslope) in Alaska.  Here he received Personal Lift/Man Lift and Forklift certification. In the two years before coming to SBS, Josh eclipsed his construction skills when he single-handedly built his own home in Pelican, Alaska.  Since coming to SBS, he has completed the "Lighting Retrofit Course" with the GE Lighting Institute at Nela Park, Cleveland, OH; the "Beyond the Basics: Lighting Retrofits and Controls" course with the Seattle Lighting Design Lab, and became Lead Certified to work on homes older than 1978 through the Montana Weatherization Center, MSU-Bozeman.


Molly Bradford Marketing & Development Director - mbradford@sbslink.com
Molly joined Sustainable Building Systems in March 2010 as the Marketing and Development Director. She has been involved in sales & marketing for over 15-years, primarily with small local companies in Wisconsin, Vermont and Montana. Molly specializes in Web 2.0 Marketing Strategy, Streamlined Sales Systems & Efficiencies, Database Management, Public Speaking, Online/Print Sales, Promotions/Conference Management, Affiliate Marketing & Program Management and often offers small business consulting in these areas. Her tenure in Missoula includes work as the Indirect Sales Manager for Blackfoot Telephone's Digital Sales team, as the Senior Advertising Executive at the Missoula Independent, and as the Sales & Marketing Director for NewWest.Net. In addition to her work at SBS, Molly is the co-owner of HB Enterprises, Inc, a small network of free community events sites and indoor advertising options in the Northern Rockies. Molly also employs these skills on the Advisory Board for the Missoula Community Foundation and the Board of Trustees for City Club Missoula. She holds a Bachelors degrees in German with a Minor in Mathematics from the University of Vermont.

Jack Nichols joined the SBS team in late 2009.  Jack brings 20 years of computer and management experience to the company.  Jack was the CIO of a national insurance company for 12 years and his prior professional experience consists of: computer system and network sales; service manager; network technician and underwriting manager. Jack specializes in customer-centric solutions that add tangible value to products and shareholder value. Jack has designed and managed projects for web based applications, LAN, WAN and remote access, electronic document management, workflow and accounting systems. Jack also owns Vera-Tech a technology consulting company and is a part owner in several small businesses. Jack holds a BS in Finance and Minor in Computer Science from Oregon State University.