Meet Our 2010 Staff
DENNIS BRACHFELD: Dennis Brachfeld is a Class A Licensed General Contractor and principal
of About Saving Heat LLC, a company which has retrofitted over 25,000 homes since 1976.
Dennis was the first certified rater by E-Star in Colorado in 1995, is currently certified
as a Home Performance with Energy Star professional, and was named Engineer of the Year by
the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers. He has served as a
consultant to Xcel Energy for their Energy Makeover House competition. Dennis earned his
Graduate degree in Real Estate Finance and Construction Management from Denver University.
SKIP DEWHIRST: Skip is founder of Meerkat Design and Handwork. A furniture
maker and timber framer, he has been actively pursuing his passion for
woodworking and teaching for twenty years and is looking forward to his fourth year of
teaching at Pingree Park.
When not building timberframes or teaching, Skip
can be found building custom furniture in his shop in Worcester VT.
PETER HANEY: Peter has been a builder and woodworker for over
twenty five years. The founder and workshop organizer of Rocky Mountain
Workshops, he has travelled the world organizing building workshops and bicycle
tours. Peter is experienced in both timber framing and log building.
Peter lives and works in Fort Collins, Colorado.
JOSH JACKSON: Josh received his BSME from Yale University in 1989, and after a brief
stint in the real world discovered the Holy Grail of timber framing as an apprentice at the
Heartwood School in 1992. He has
been designing and building everything from lamps to timber frames since, specializing in organic
shapes and materials. Having co-founded Timber Homes LLC, Josh now lives in one of his own - a 16x18 timber
frame in Middlesex, VT and continues to enjoy teaching at RMW, Heartwood, and
Yestermorrow as well as designing
and crafting fine frames and furnishings.
CURTIS MILTON: Curtis Milton, a carpenter and builder with a wide range of
building experiences, joins the other instructors this year, having
previously teamed with Will Beemer in the 1998 Compound Joinery workshop at
Pingree Park. He has presented on compound joinery, the steel square,
builders' math, and more at Guild conferences, workshops and rendezvous. He
has participated in many Guild events as a volunteer, instructor and project
manager. A Guild member since 1987, he is a former member of the Timber Framers Board of Directors and
remains deeply involved in the educational initiatives of the organization. His long term goals for the Guild include more and
more affordable educational opportunities, curriculum development and a
formal apprenticeship program. Curtis founded Monolithic Building Services
in 1988 and continues to work on challenging projects at home and nationwide
with some of the most talented individuals, teams, and
companies in the building industry. Learn more about Curtis at
www.curtismilton.com.
AL WALLACE: Albert Wallace is President of Energy Environmental
Corporation, a firm specializing
in the design and installation of energy efficient and sustainable heating, cooling, ventilation,
and indoor air quality systems. His expertise lies in the integration of these systems in order
to reduce building loads as a prerequisite to installing alternative power systems in on-grid
applications (solar, wind, and micro-hydro). Al gained his initial understanding of timber
frame construction, as well as advanced timber framing skills, through the Rocky Mountain
Workshops. He holds a B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering and Masters Degrees in Architecture
and Landscape Architecture and consults worldwide on these systems.
