About SaveEnergy123
Our Approach
SaveEnergy123 was created to help homeowners find ways to save energy and money while ensuring comfort in their home. At SaveEnergy123 we strive every day to make saving energy as easy as 1-2-3 for homeowners and their contractors that implement or advise on energy saving improvements.
Saving energy is a process, not something you do in one visit to a website. If you are not sure where to start, you can use SaveEnergy123 to start with the simpler things like Lighting that can be done quickly. In later visits to SaveEnergy123 you can assess, plan, and implement advanced energy saving projects that more dramatically lower your home energy costs.
Take a few minutes now and try out one of our energy saving calculators or simply signup below to our Newsletter.
We look forward to seeing you regularly to learn about new ways to save home energy costs.
Our Team
Tom Schaefer — CEO and Board Member
As board member and CEO, Tom Schaefer is responsible for the vision, strategy, and leadership of SaveEnergy123. Previously, Tom was the executive vice president of marketing at cloud software application leader Digital Fuel acquired by VMware for $80 million. In prior positions, Tom was a General Manager at i2 Technologies, Inc. providing software solutions to energy and power utility companies around the world. Tom also held senior executive positions at Aspect Development, Inc., where he contributed significantly to the company's revenue growth past $150 million leading to the company’s acquisition by i2 Technologies for $9 billion. Over many years Tom developed a passion for energy efficiency and home design. His experience in the building of five homes provides a great perspective on how to simplify energy efficiency and comfort for homeowners around the world. Tom received an industrial engineering degree and started his career in software engineering. Tom earned an MBA degree from Michigan State University.
Paul Cobb — Vice President of Engineering
Paul Cobb has spent the last twenty years bridging the chasm between consumer challenges and solutions through software. He is very experienced at building and leading teams to develop, deliver and commercialize innovative, advanced solutions. Paul’s extensive development experience spans many areas such as Massive Multiplayer network technology for Online Video Games, Virtual Environment Training systems for the military, Multicast Technologies for the Financial Services and Online Media Industries and complex simulation systems for improving the National Airspace System.
In May 2008, Paul decided to make a difference in the fight against global warming and turned his talents to developing a solution to help reduce the 40% of green house gases produced by buildings in the U.S. Taking a page from his own frustrations at understanding his own CO2 costs and savings opportunities, he developed a Web Solution to show consumers not only where their CO2 and energy dollars went, but how to reduce them.
John Kemp — Vice President of Marketing & Product Management
John thrives on innovating solutions to real-world problems. He has led the development and market success of many high technology (hardware and software) products and services during his tenure at all sizes of companies, including Fortune Global 500 and start-ups alike. Previously, John was responsible for leading teams, defining markets, specifying products, building channel programs and marketing/sales of a number of mobile and wireless systems while at companies like Nokia, Motorola Solutions (fka Symbol Technologies) and Intermec Technologies. John was instrumental in innovating the first wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) systems.
John's passion in helping people reduce unnecessary energy consumption and save money dates back to the mid-90's while he led the Product Management team at CellNet Data Systems to develop some of the world's first energy management systems. Since then he has committed to putting his experience to work reducing green-house gas emissions. With his "roll-up-the-sleeves" approach, John will soon be certified as a whole house home energy efficiency rater (HRES II), able to perform detailed energy analysis of new and existing homes. With this grounded experience, he is dedicated to ensuring that SaveEnergy123 is an integral part of the global energy efficient solution.
Chris Eng — Director of Business Development
Chris has been helping build and grow world renowned brands for over 20 years. Throughout his extensive marketing and advertising experience, he has led product launches, brand extensions, re-brands and global advertising campaigns for companies like Bristol Myers Squibb and Best Foods. He has also led brand and advertising teams in financial services for JP Morgan Chase, Visa USA and Wells Fargo. He’s excited to bring his marketing communications acumen to the start up space and contributing to the development of a more sustainable infrastructure and future.
When he is not working, Chris enjoys international travel and volunteering, SCUBA diving and exploring the Northern California coast. In the spring you can often see him coaching youth lacrosse in San Francisco.
Troy Martz — Director of Online Marketing
Troy Marz is responsible for website design, e-commerce integration, search engine optimization, pay per click advertising, affiliate marketing, and traditional marketing channels. Troy has extensive experience in developing brand strategy and statistics systems. Troy is a world class Web 2.0 designer with the strategic business skills to provide strategic consulting to our overall business planning & sales strategy development.
Additionally, Troy has a passion for sustainable and self-reliant living. He and his family currently live and manage a small farm, which requires careful consideration on topics such as power, water, food production, waste management, and many other aspects of the off-grid life.
Thomas Cobb — Director of IT
Thomas “Patch” Cobb has over 30 years of experience solving every type of IT headache from web security for small businesses to a massive SMS server environment for a Fortune 500 company like Verizon. He's supported and resolved issues on numerous types of Operating Systems including all Windows OS' and many Linux implementations. His dedication has led him to ensure the systems he administers stay up with a minimum of down time and headaches for the companies using the systems. He's directly supported companies like State Street Bank, Fidelity, Bank of Boston, Polaroid and Coca Cola. His technical expertise expands across IIS and Apache Web Servers, AJAX web development, Microsoft certification, network security and configuration and database administration among others. His work on Verizon's SMS network provides invaluable insight and expertise for SaveEnergy123's consumer experience.
Board Members
Tom Schaefer — CEO and Board Member
As board member and CEO, Tom Schaefer is responsible for the vision, strategy, and leadership of SaveEnergy123. Previously, Tom was the executive vice president of marketing at cloud software application leader Digital Fuel acquired by VMware for $80 million. In prior positions, Tom was a General Manager at i2 Technologies, Inc. providing software solutions to energy and power utility companies around the world. Tom also held senior executive positions at Aspect Development, Inc., where he contributed significantly to the company's revenue growth past $150 million leading to the company’s acquisition by i2 Technologies for $9 billion. Over many years Tom developed a passion for energy efficiency and home design. His experience in the building of five homes provides a great perspective on how to simplify energy efficiency and comfort for homeowners around the world. Tom received an industrial engineering degree and started his career in software engineering. Tom earned an MBA degree from Michigan State University.
Rod Browning — Chairman of the Board
With over 20 years of technology industry experience, Rod became CEO of Xradia in 2007. Most recently, Rod was president & CEO of OnWafer Technologies, a venture-backed startup in the semiconductor process control and yield enhancement area, which he led to successful acquisition by KLA-Tencor. Rod began his career with Tencor Instruments and through the KLA-Tencor merger rose to Group VP, where he was responsible for all customer-facing activities and grew the Wafer Inspection division to more than $800M in revenue. Rod earned a BA in Physics & Applied Mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley.
Frank McCarthy — Founder and Board Member
Frank McCarthy has more than 25 years experience in the consumer products, finance and insurance industries. In 2006 he founded Endependence, Inc. to provide consulting services to businesses in the energy efficiency space. Frank has worked with clients in the Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning, Solar Power and Automotive industries to create on-line marketing solutions including streaming video and interactive web site design. He has also produced several informational videos about energy efficiency, including Solar Power 101. Frank has an extensive finance career most recently as the Regional Sales Manager for the San Francisco Region of Honda Financial Services. In 1994 as a Zone Sales Manager, he led the Region from start up to the highest insurance product penetration in the country with revenue of over $25 million per year. He was Zone Sales Manager of the Year in 1999 and 2000. His duties included sales and marketing of loan and insurance products, leading a diverse field sales force, business development and relationship management with 147 Honda and Acura dealers in the Northwest. When he left Honda in October 2006, the region's loan and insurance portfolio had doubled to more than $3 billion. Prior to his career at Honda, Frank was Vice President of Sales at MMCS, Inc., an insurance products managing general agency. Frank attended Georgetown University and has concentrated his continuing education on developing his skills as a manager.
Rob Klapper — Executive Advisor
Rob is currently the CEO at Ashworth College. Rob is an entrepreneurial executive with deep marketing roots and a strong e-commerce background. He has been CEO of three other early- to mid-stage companies and has also led businesses within several Fortune 500 firms. He has in depth industry experience in consumer services. During his 14 years at Schwab, he helped build Schwab’s brand image and establish its leading online presence. Prior to his current position, Rob was CEO of insurance.com where he led a turnaround that resulted in selling the company’s lead generation business to Quin Street and spinning off the insurance agency to shareholders. Rob also served as CMO of 21st Century and Prosper Marketplace. Rob’s marketing roots were planted at Colgate Palmolive, where he led several well-known household brands. Later in his career, he leveraged his consumer marketing expertise as CEO of One Day University. Rob earned an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School and his BA from Franklin & Marshall College.
Chuck Wallace — Executive Advisor
Chuck is currently the President and COO at Upstream Worldwide, Inc. Chuck Wallace is one of those rare entrepreneurs that can say they founded an Internet business that grew from zero to a billion dollars in revenue. Chuck co-founded Esurance and helped build it into the fastest growing auto insurance company in the US with revenues approaching $1 billion. In between Esurance and Upstream, Chuck served as CEO of Ustream TV, the leader in live interactive video broadcasts, enabling anyone with a camera and an internet connection to broadcast easily to a global audience. As Upstream’s CEO, Chuck led the company through 30% monthly growth and angel, venture debt and private equity financings by top funding partners. Chuck started his career as an Air Force instructor pilot, first teaching young men and women to fly at undergraduate pilot training in Lubbock Texas, and then flying the C-130 Hercules in Frankfurt Germany and Willow Grove Pennsylvania. Outside the office, Chuck is passionate about building strong communities and has held Director positions for Peninsula Family Services and Swords-to-Plow Shares, both non-profit social service agencies helping to improve the lives of families and neighborhoods in need. Chuck holds a BS in Engineering Mechanics from the US Air Force Academy, an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.