Ecosante’s Business Philosophy

Our belief is that people, businesses and the environment can co-exist for the mutual benefit and advancement of all. We are here to create value for our clients and their customers and to preserve the environment for future generations.

What We Do

Our company believes that it is entirely possible to do the right thing for the environment while creating value for our clients. With the rising cost of natural resources, and increased public concern for the environment, becoming more sustainable (or “green”) is now not only viable, but necessary to stay competitive in many markets.

Our services provide our clients with the means to capitalize on the triple bottom line effects of increased profit, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Our competitive advantage lies in the fact that we can bridge a wide gap between a hotel’s sustainability needs and what contractors, vendors and consultants in the field can currently provide to meet those needs. Through our expertise, financial modeling capabilities to calculate payback periods and the economics of sustainability, knowledge of tax incentives and government regulations, knowledge of additional “green” hospitality revenue streams, familiarity with a broad range of technologies traversing various fields, and in-depth knowledge of hotel operations, we combine our talents to form a complete and holistic solution for our hotel clients. And now, our services have expanded to include the commercial and government sectors.

Our company provides:

• Consulting
• Certification
• Implementation
• Training & Education

About the Team

Work with the team that truly understands sustainability. We have assembled the best and the brightest, with the most in-depth knowledge of hospitality and our climate zone. We are financiers, hotel people, civil, environmental, mechanical, electrical engineers, LEED APs. We understand hotels. We understand the environment. And we understand how to make the two work together to make the whole better than the sum of its parts.

Ms. Lanette Sobel, LEED AP Specialty: Waste Mitigation

Ms. Sobel brings to the table a background in business, hospitality and real estate. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a BS in Finance and Management Information Systems, and has a combination of 13 years of work experience with hospitality and construction, as well as background in sustainability. Ms. Sobel is a managing partner of Ecosante Consulting, an environmental consultancy focused on providing environmentally, economically and socially sustainable solutions for the hospitality and commercial buildings industry. She is Executive Director and co-founder of the Fertile Earth Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to increasing environmental awareness as well as supporting environmentally-focused research. She is also a visiting researcher with Florida Atlantic University and has participated in two studies documenting best practices for the Florida Green Lodging Program. In addition, Ms. Sobel sits on the Sustainability Committee for the City of Miami Beach, is a member of Architecture for Humanity, Environmental Education Providers, Environment Florida, USGBC, is an instructor at Miami Dade Community College and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, and is Green Globe certified auditor and a LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Accredited Professional. She is also certified to operate commercial composting facility in the US and is a certified permaculturist. She frequently leads seminars and teaches workshops for different organizations on some of her favorite topics, composting and green hospitality. Ms. Sobel has assisted with green designations of the Shore Club, Solara, Marriott Harbour Beach, Sofitel Miami, Raleigh and Standard Hotels.

Denaye Hinds, LEED AP Specialty: Civil & Environmental Engineering, Project Management

Ms. Hinds is a Sustainability Consultant and has a Bachelor of Science degree in civil and environmental engineering from Florida A&M Univeristy. With a focus on Wind and Earthquake Engineering, Mitigation Techniques and Disaster Preparedness Plans while in undergrad, Denaye developed a sense of how not to build and engineer structures. Currently studying for a Master’s Degree in Construction Management with a focus on sustainability, Denaye specializes in environmental impacts regarding the built environment and the social and community aspects of building sustainably. Having joined Ecosante in April of 2009, Denaye has used her skill-set and knowledge base in both engineering disciplines and community awareness to expand the training division of the company. Having experience in environmental education curriculum and a practical sense of what it takes to engage in sustainable design and implementation, through Engineers Without Borders, Denaye seeks to find new catalysts in conveying green building education. Having worked in the Structures Engineering Department of the Government of Bermuda and the Waste Management Section, a LEED AP and a Green Globe Accredited Auditor, Denaye brings a well-rounded knowledge base to the Ecosante Consulting team.

Dr. Daniel Meeroff, PhD Specialty: Water& Waste Water Treatment Design

Daniel Meeroff is an Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Civil Engineering. His area of specialization is Environmental Engineering, specifically water and wastewater engineering, water quality, environmental microbiology, aquatic chemistry, and pollution prevention. Dr. Meeroff is the director and founder of the Laboratories for Engineered Environmental Solutions (Lab.EES) at Florida Atlantic University. Since joining FAU, Dr. Meeroff has conducted research in water/wastewater technology development, environmental field monitoring, aquatic toxicity, water conservation, contaminant remediation, environmental process modeling, and pollution prevention. Dr. Meeroff has a strong background in synthetic organic chemistry, analytical instrumentation, environmental microbiology, and aquatic chemistry, which he can bring to bear. His specialties involve the application of advanced principles of chemistry and microbiology for the solution and prevention of environmental problems. In addition, he is a co-inventor of the iron-mediated aeration technology, developed at the University of Miami (UM). Iron-mediated processes are currently being considered for several practical applications for specialized waste streams and for particularly toxic or recalcitrant target compounds with funding from NOAA, EPA, DOE, and NSF. Dr. Meeroff is conducting his fourth study on best practices for the Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Green Lodging Program and is a recognized authority on pollution prevention and hotels in our climate zone. He has conducted numerous Palm Designations assessments for the FGLP in South Florida, including those for the Four Seasons, Intercontinental and Shore Club Hotels.

Pablo Gonzales, LEED AP Specialty: Building Science

Pablo Gonzalez is a Miami native and graduate of the University of Florida where he received his bachelors of science in economics. He has seven years experience selling and implementing energy efficient features in construction projects in Florida and California. The first five, he was managing the operations of a Masco Contractor Services branch in Southern California and coordinating the implementation of the Environments for Living program throughout the state- a program that reduces energy use and increases comfort in homes. Since 2008, Pablo has been working with companies such as Harding Construction, Azlan Energy Group, and ASW Engineering to implement energy saving features into existing buildings. In 2009 he moved back to south Florida and specializes in affordably making existing homes and buildings more energy and water efficient, increasing indoor air quality, and raising property values. Pablo is a LEED AP, a certified Home and Commercial Energy Rater through the state of Florida, and a Certified Building Analyst through the Building Performance Institute.

Hugh Smith Specialty: Mechanical Engineering

During Mr. Smith’s 35 years within the hospitality industry, he held property and corporate level positions in both operations and development. Practical hands-on problem solving experience, backed by extensive technical knowledge in physical plant administration, makes him a valuable asset for all types of hospitality projects. Hotel operations experience covers the spectrum of hotel products: casino, convention, meeting facilities, resort offshore destinations, center city, airport and suburban. Experience has evolved over years of single and multi-unit supervision, branded and non-branded products. Mr. Smith has worked with owners to develop design criteria and establish scope of work for various areas of new and refurbished hotels, including:

• Operational/design programming for engineering, housekeeping, laundry, dry cleaning and waste management
• Capital asset mechanical planning including systems selection and implementation of replacement and retrofits
• Energy accounting, utility purchasing and energy management programs
• Building Commissioning
• Opening or acquiring properties requiring budgeting, staffing, outfitting, and contract negotiations.

Sebastian Eilert, Architect, LEED AP Specialty: Sustainable Design

Mr. Eilert is a registered Architect and Interior Designer in the State of Florida as well as a US Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional and an adjunct professor for the University of Miami. Mr. Eilert has been practicing in Miami, Florida since 1998 with an initial project focus on luxury custom home design and construction. He moved to The Architectural Partnership to increase his knowledge in the practices of architecture, contract administration and construction management. As an Associate of the firm he managed various multi-million dollar school and public agency projects as well as numerous continuing service contracts. To focus on his professional interest of the practice and theory of sustainable design and construction, Sebastian founded Sebastian Eilert Architecture (SEA) in 2006. Mr. Eilert has been involved in the local green building community since 2002 and is a founding member of the US Green Building Council – South Florida Chapter where he served as Vice-president of the board of directors and Chair of the Membership Committee. As an active member of the American Institute of Architects he is also Chair of the Miami Chapter Committee on the Environment (COTE).

Specialty: Sustainable Landscaping

James Jiler

James Jiler holds a Masters Degree in Forestry and Social Ecology from Yale University and is the former director of The Horticultural Society of New York’s GreenHouse Program, a jail-to-street horticulture program at New York City’s jail complex on Rikers Island. Prior to his work in prison, James spent time working as an urban ecologist in the US and India; spent 6-years living in Kathmandu, Nepal working with ecological farming systems in the Himalayas and teaching at the University.

James is author of the book Doing Time in the Garden (New Village Press, 2006), which details the GreenHouse approach to rehabilitation and explores the role of gardening in jails and prisons around the country. James has been a lecturer with the New York Botanical Garden’s Horticultural Therapy Program and has appeared on NPR, CBS Sunday Morning Show, Japan, France and Canadian TV, Radio, and two recent documentaries called the “Healing Gardens” and “Dirt: The Movie” detailing his work at Rikers. GreenHouse has also been featured in the NY Times, The Daily News, Newsday, The Source, and National Audubon Magazine among others.

James is an expert at the design and installation of environmentally beneficial and aesthetically-pleasing landscapes such as gardens edible plantscapes, ornamental aquatic designs and therapeutic gardens that maintain the integrity of the local ecology. Part restoration, part preservation, the designs integrate long-term sustainability to bring people closer to nature through their community.

Robert Oliver – Specialty: Connecting Sustainable agriculture with sustainable cuisine

Robert was born in New Zealand and moved to Suva, Fiji with his family. Over the past 20 years, Robert has worked as a Chef in Fiji, New York City, Miami, Sydney, Las Vegas, the US Virgin Islands, Barbados, St Lucia, Trinidad and more, and has created restaurant ventures that are tropically concepted.

Robert joined China Grill Management (New York City and Miami) in 1998 and developed several restaurants, including NOA (Noodles of Asia) on Miami Beach, SUVA Miami Beach and Rumjungle at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas - one of the US’ largest restaurants and an immensely popular property awarded “Best New Restaurant” by the Las Vegas Review Journal.

In 2005 Robert returned to the Caribbean for an extended consultancy with the Almond Resort group out of Barbados to develop restaurants for their St Lucia properties. As a part of this effort, Robert developed purchasing infrastructure with a large group of local farmers for the property. The program he developed is a huge success - food costs went down, the food was fresher and better, visitors were eating locally grown foodstuffs, which further enhanced their experience of the island.

Robert’s book- “ Me’a Kai: The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific” - profiles the traditional foods and food culture the South Pacific and is due for release by Random House in April 2010. The book is designed to be an entry point for a “Farm to Table” process in the South Pacific, giving local hotels chefs a tool to wrap local food culture into tourism and thus encourage greater use of local agricultural products.

Robert writes for MACO Caribbean and has been featured in numerous media outlets including the Travel Channel, BBC, New York Times, Miami Herald, Elle Magazine and many others.

Testimonials

Sofitel Hotel, Miami

Atlantis Submarines, Aruba