Early Life
I was born on June 30, 1954 in Fairborn, Ohio at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base where my dad was stationed. My parents were Carolyn and Jack Zimmerman. I was a middle child with a younger sister Kristine and an older sister Kathleen. Being a military child I traveled with my parents to many Air Force bases and later Army Forts when my dad transferred to the Army mid career. Following are some of those locations:
1955__Rome, New York
1957__Widnes, England
1959__North Harrow, England, Age 5 – started school at Pinner Park School
1960__Albuquerque, New Mexico, Age 6 – 1st grade, Wherry School
1961__1962 San Jose, California, Age 7 – 2nd-3rd grade, Stichter School
1963__1966 Atwater, California, Castle Air Force Base, Age 9-12 – 5th-7th grade, Elmer Wood School, Aileen Colburn School and Mitchell School + joined Cub Scout Pack 120 + Baptized 12/19/65 with water from River Jordon. 10 day Boy Scout trip to Yosemite Park. First color TV.
1967__ 1968 Rapid City, South Dakota, Elsworth Air Force Base, Age 13, 9th grade, Douglas School.
1968__1969 Bluffton, Indiana, Age 14, High School Freshman.
1969__1970 Mundeline, Illinois, Age 15, High School Sophomore.
1970__1971 Bluffton, Indiana. Age 16, High School Junior.
1971__1972 Fayetteville, North Carolina, Age 17, Graduated Reid Ross High School
1972__1973 Bristol, Tennessee, Age 18, King College. I had started out wanting to major in environmental engineering, but while at King my creative side took over and after my parents took me to visit the College of Architecture in Muncie, Indiana I knew that what I wanted.
1973__1978 Muncie, Indiana, College of Architecture. Through out my architectural training all my projects incorporated energy efficiency, daylighting and passive solar. Traveled with 22 other students to study 3 months in England including a tour of various places in Holland and France (Polyark). While studying in England I researched passive solar design and designed my first Autonomous House powered by the sun, wind and rain. My architectural thesis project was a flexible panelized apartment complex incorporating movable walls and bathrooms all powered by solar energy.
1979__1980 Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona State University.
Working Life – Resume
REGISTRATION:
2010 ______ LEED AP Building Design + Construction
1983 ______ Registered Architect in the State of Tennessee.
EDUCATION:
1996 ______ Architecture and Sustainability, with Randolph Croxton – Harvard University Graduate School of Design
1980 ______ Master of Environmental Planning in Solar Architecture Design – Arizona State University, Tempe Arizona.
1978 ______ Bachelor of Architecture – Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
1977 ______ Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design – Ball State University.
POSITIONS HELD:
OCT 2014__PRESENT – Retired from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and concentrated on upgrading my beach house to make it sustainable while doing a few projects on the side.
OCT 2001__2014 TVA Manager of Energy and Sustainable Design – Returned to TVA to restart the Sustainable Architecture Program and eventually became the TVA Energy Manager representing TVA at the Federal Government interagency “Energy Task Force” and “Sustainable Working Group” meetings in Washington, DC. Even attended Senior Officials meetings held at the White House complex representing TVA when TVA’s Senior Official was not available. Was responsible for publishing TVA Annual Energy Management report and the Federal Office of Management and Budget agency scorecards.
JAN 2000__2001 David R. Zimmerman o Architect – Chattanooga, TN. Started my own private practice assisting other architects with projects and providing energy efficient, sustainable and solar building design.
OCT 1997__DEC 1999 Architect, Thomas Johnson Architecture – Chattanooga, TN Provided design and construction documents for 80 projects ranging in size from 1,000 sf to 60,000 sf. Majority of work was spent doing commercial buildings such as office, classroom and assembly space renovation and new construction. Am highly proficient in the use of AutoCad and Microsoft Office software and very familiar with a wide range of CAD and graphic programs.
MAR 1995__SEP 1997 Manager of Energy and Sustainable Initiatives, Facilities Services – TVA – Chattanooga, TN. Responsible for managing Facilities Services Building Energy Reduction Program, Sustainable Architecture Program and related staff. My major responsibilities included: 1) Consulting with architects and project managers to insure existing building modifications are designed to be energy efficient; 2) Surveying buildings to make energy-saving recommendations and meet TVA’s commitments as a member of the EPA Green Lights Program; 3) Making sure Facilities Services 547 buildings (7.4 million sf) are brought into compliance with all applicable Federal/State energy laws and requirements and; 4) Applying sustainable architecture principles and materials to minimize the negative impact of demolition, renovation and construction on the environment.
MAY 1992__FEB 1995 Architect/Manager, Energy Section, Corporate Design + Development – TVA – Knoxville, TN. Provided technical assistance for those designing buildings for TVA to meet the Federal energy code 10 C.F.R. Part 435 (new building energy requirements). Responsible for meeting the requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which requires all Federal Agencies to reduce their energy use by 20% from 1985 to 2000. My job involved deciding which buildings to survey, hiring outside A/Es to do the surveys, and keeping track of time and money spent. Created and chaired a TVA wide Energy conservation Committee with representatives from TVA’s major offices to coordinate TVA’s efforts to meet energy laws and requirements on over 26 million sf. (~3000 buildings).
JAN 1992__APR 1992 Architect, Nuclear Small Projects, Corporate Design + Development – TVA – Knoxville, TN. Planned and managed the design and construction of building projects at TVA’s Nuclear Plant sites. Moved from this project to oversee energy work for Corporate Design + Development.
OCT 1988__DEC 1992 Architect/Team Leader, Energy Planning Section, Facilities Planning – TVA – Knoxville, TN. Responsible for coordinating all the energy work being done by TVA at seven U.S. Army forts. Kept tack of budgets, decided which buildings to survey and which energy-saving options to evaluate. Responsible for developing and writing 10 year energy plans for each forts and providing energy reviews for all new construction projects. To make the survey process more productive I developed a method to estimate which buildings or groups of buildings use the most amount of energy at each fort. Continued assisting TVA architects and engineers in designing energy efficient buildings.
MAR 1980__OCT 1998 Architect, New Construction Section of the Commercial and Industrial Branch – TVA, Chattanooga, TN. Administered TVA’S New Construction Technical and Design Assistance Program which helps private sector architects and TVA architects design energy efficient buildings. Provided the majority of the technical assistance and checked energy projects done by others. I also reviewed energy design guidelines for various building types. Used numerous computer programs such as DOE 2 and Micro Axcess to determine the energy performance and life cycle cost of proposed energy saving options such as daylighting.
AUG 1979__FEB 1980 Architect, Wadsworth and Jensen Architects – Phoenix, Arizona. Major project was an addition to the American Express Western Regional Headquarters in Phoenix. Produced the majority of the construction documents.
MAY 1979__AUG 1979 Associate. John Yellott and Associates (Solar Engineering Firm), – Phoenix, Arizona. Responsible for doing transmittance and thermal conductivity tests on various windows.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
2014______ Federal Energy and Water Management Exceptional Service Award – David Zimmerman, Tennessee Valley Authority, Energy Right Solutions. Chattanooga, Tennessee
David Zimmerman has served the Tennessee Valley Authority for more than 28 years, and has led the agency in implementing sustainable design, green procurement, and energy efficiency and management efforts. Mr. Zimmerman is a key player in the Tennessee Valley Authority’s internal efforts to reduce energy and water use and in helping its business units incorporate sustainable technologies into business planning and operations. The Internal Energy Management Program was launched in the 1970s. Mr. Zimmerman was instrumental in expanding the program’s efforts to include sustainable building design and life cycle cost analyses, which have allowed the agency to recognize substantial savings and reduce in-house operation costs. Over the past six years, the Tennessee Valley Authority has realized a cumulative utility cost reduction of $13.7 million by implementing energy and water conservation projects. As of FY 2013, the agency achieved a 24.4% reduction in energy intensity compared to FY 2003, a 21.7% reduction in potable water intensity compared to FY 2007, and a 13.9% reduction in target subject greenhouse gas emissions compared to FY 2008.
1996______ White House Closing The Circle Environmental Innovation Award for TVA’s Sustainable Architecture Program.
1996______ DOE Federal Interagency Energy Policy Committee Award for Facilities Services Energy management Programs and TVA’s Energy Conservation Committee.
1995______ White House Closing The Circle Honorable Mention for TVA’s Sustainable Architecture Program.
1988______ TVA Energy Design Awards of Achievement for Energy consulting work on the Collierville, TN Main Post Office and the Knoxville, TN Pellissippi Campus.
1984______ Presidential Design Award in recognition of my contribution to excellence in design, for the TVA Technical and Design Assistance Program which assists architects and engineers with the design of energy efficient buildings.
1979______ Graduate Tuition Scholarship to study passive solar design at Arizona State University.
1978______ Graduated with honors from the College of Architecture Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana.
Retirement Life
My main retirement project has been buying and upgrading a beach house on the gulf of Florida. So far I have made two major additions and added a 3,000 sf stand alone solar system with 20 Kwh of battery storage and a rain water collection system that holds 3,200 gallons.
