Jay Melamed’s enthusiasm towards new ideas, and his background in sustainable construction led to his role in founding Prime Energy Group.

Prior to beginning work on Prime Energy Group, Jay  held various positions in the construction sector. His roles have ranged from Commercial estimating and project   management, to business development.   Jay was instrumental in driving his prior firm’s effort in joining the US Green Building Council, LEED, and overall”greening” of the firm.

His earliest entry into the building sector was in construction accounting consulting for a software firm.  A custom home builder client of his hired him away to streamline their office and field operations. Working in this capacity allowed for his involvement in all aspects of the construction business. This included managing the construction of multi-million dollar homes.

Jay has voracity for learning. He has earned the industry designation for commercial sustainable building, LEED AP. Jay also holds an MBA from top ranked UNC Kenan-Flagler’s EMBA program.  As an undergrad, he  received one of the two highly coveted Gates Millennium Scholarships offered at his college during its inaugural year.

Most of Jay’s free time is spent with his wife Eva and their young triplets.  His growing family is expecting their fourth child due in April 2012.  When time permits for a hobby Jay studies Krav Maga Martial Arts and is an avid surfer, snowboarder, and film enthusiast.  He recently trained for and completed the March 2012 SPARTAN RACE in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dave Kandel has been an active partner since Prime Energy Group’s inception.  Acting as Operations Manager  he has helped grow our company from initially two employees to three spray crews in just under three short years.

Dave has received extensive training from some of the industry’s top technicians in the polyurethane industry. His knowledge allows him to perform and train others in almost all aspects of foam insulation, from materials processing, to handling and installation, application techniques, environmental factors affecting application, quality controls, and safety.

Beyond just the desire to install a product correctly, Dave has always been insistent on having a valid and logical reason, backed by building science, to drive decision making. One of his mantras is that no two projects are the same and special consideration to the building system, i.e. structure, HVAC, and occupants, must be addressed every time.  Safety is an area in which Dave and Prime Energy Group refuse to cut corners.

Having graduated from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park with a supply-chain focus, Dave joined a market-leading provider of demand, supply and transportation planning solutions right out of college.  Working with companies such as Heinz, Phillip Morris, Timberland, Sanmina, and Hershey’s Foods, Dave had the opportunity to learn from some of the brightest project managers and industry leaders while collaborating on multi-million dollar initiatives to drive efficiency and reduce costs.

Dave’s interested in construction and building science was ignited when he had an opportunity to serve as property manager for a community of 80 homes built in the 1940′s in which he had to update to current building codes. Since then Dave has been involved with the

USGBC Emerging green builders and Green Home Builders of the Triangle and enjoys collaborating with colleagues from other companies committed to furthering Building Science education such as Advanced Energy and Southern Energy Management.

When Dave is not working he and his wife are busy chasing after their young daughter.  Dave is an artist and enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, camping, and brushing up on his trade skills at Tech Shop RDU.

We often say if Bear Grylls and MacGyver were morphed into one person, that would be Dave Kandel.

Josh Collins has been working in the retrofit market for the past five years.  In that time he’s been in, under, and above hundreds houses that are anywhere from 200 years to 1 month old.

To quote Josh: “I’ve seen pretty much every structural and energy efficiency problem that a house in our climate can have.  All my previous work experiences in existing homes, in combination with my training, has left me with an extremely strong grasp of how a house works as a system, and how one issue can snow ball into a total failure of that system.”

Prior to joining Prime Energy Group in 2010 Josh cut his teeth in a few local firms, specializing in retrofits, crawl space remediation, and rain water solutions.  He holds a BS in Botany from North Carolina State University and worked for years through that department for the USDA in Air Quality Control for plants.  His science background comes into play when applying a Building Science approach to residential and commercial construction.

While at Prime Energy Group Josh has added to his credentials with a BPI Certification for Building Analyst Professional, an Envelope Professional Certification, and he is a certified HERS Rater through RESNET.

As an avid health nut, Josh spends his time racing in obstacle course style races such as SPARTAN RACE and TOUGH MUDDER.  He also studies Krav Maga Martial Arts and is currently considering training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for upcoming MMA competitions.