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LCTN Partners







: : Board Member

Stephen D. Shelton
Executive Director, Louisiana CleanTech Network
Sr. Vice President, ONTILITY, LLC

Stephen Shelton is a 30 year veteran of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency industry and the co-founder and Executive Director of the Louisiana CleanTech Network (LCTN). Stephen has been directing activities of the LCTN since January 2007. What started as an idea to have a local New Orleans based Renewable Energy Industry organization grew to the LCTN. For the next two years Mr. Shelton worked with local and state government, NGO's, electric utilities, Green Building and Renewable Energy companies to develop a Clean Technology and Renewable Energy industry in the state of Louisiana.

Stephen's first effort, as the director of LCTN, in January 2007 was to recruit and organized a team of local New Orleans organizations to assist the City of New Orleans' Office of Recovery Management in applying for the DOE Solar America Initiative, Solar Cities grant. In June 2007 the City of New Orleans was selected as one of twenty five Solar America Cities by the DOE. LCTN has worked with those same non-profits and companies - Green Coast Enterprises, Alliance for Affordable Energy, Global Green, and Futureproof to support the New Orleans Office of Recovery Management as recipients of the DOE SAC New Orleans grant.

As a member of the SAC New Orleans team, working under the Alliance for Affordable Energy, he researched and began the only Solar Workforce Training program in Louisiana and held the first class as part of the Solar America City program in June 2008. The LCTN Solar Training program trained over 200 students in Louisiana to NABCEP and IREC standards, and certifications. Today that training program has grown to be the second largest Solar Training program in th US.

Mr. Shelton co-founded ADVEN, LLC - an Advanced Energy Systems consultancy, and expanded the solar training program to include the Solar American Cities, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. ADVEN, a New Orleans based company with offices in New Orleans and Austin, TX., focused on green workforce traning and development, advanced energy strategies for low energy buildings and consulting services that offered sustainable technology-based solutions for a wide range of clients in the public and private sectors.

In July of 2009 Stephen merged ADVEN and his staff of 5 with ONTILITY, LLC, a Houston, Texas based startup. Today, as Senior Vice President, he is a managing partner leads the Solar Training Division that now holds classes in 10 Cities around the USA, has trained over 3000 students, and has NABCEP Certified Installers as Solar Instructors, who hold the IREC ISPQ Certfied Tainer designations.

Stephen is also the president and co-founder of the Southern Building Institute, a non-profit Louisiana corporation with a focus on high performance, sustainable, and energy efficient buildings in the Gulf South. Stephen worked closely with four local area green building and energy efficiency professionals to form this research based company.

Before LCTN, Stephen had worked in the Information Technology industry since 1990 in a variety of positions including Sales Executive, Sales Manager, Business Development Manager, and most recently as an IT and E-Commerce Consultant as the Owner of I-Net Workshop. Mr Shelton decided in October of 2006 as a result of the aftermath and the destruction of much of our state and the Gulf South from Katrina and Rita to return to the industry that he left in 1985.

As the owner of Elemental Energy Systems Company (EESCO), a New Orleans based alternative energy product distribution and services company from 1977-1985, Stephen worked in the construction industry to teach, promote, train, manufacture, and perform the installation of Energy Efficient technologies in Louisiana. Technologies that he specialized in were:

  • Passive Solar Cooling Strategies
  • Low Energy Houses
  • Radiant Barrier Systems
  • Exterior Sealed Vapor Barrier Wrap
  • Energy Audits and Software
  • Blower Door Testing
  • Air Infiltration Sealing
  • Efficient and Correctly-Sized AC systems
  • Geothermal HVAC Systems
  • Reflective Cool Roofs
  • Solar Thermal Systems
  • Gas Instantaneous Hot Water Heaters
  • Natural Daylighting Systems
  • Heat Reflecting Window Films
  • Advanced Thermostatic and Energy Management Control Systems

In 1983 Stephen designed, built and implemented a computerized monitoring system for HVAC equipment. Overall HVAC system performance, run time, and cycling frequency was monitored using software that he developed to calculate the real time Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) and Sensible Heat Ratio (SHR) of HVAC systems with input from multiple temperature sensor locations in conjunction with current weather data. This HVAC monitoring system was used by Mr. Shelton to perform research on HVAC system efficiency and effectiveness of controlling indoor comfort conditions in hot humid climates such as New Orleans and the Gulf South.

Stephen presented lectures on Energy Efficient building technology to the New Orleans Home Building Association, as a member of the Energy Efficiency Committee, and the Louisiana Solar Design Association, as a Board of Director; on residential and light commercial building methods, materials, and mechanical systems with a focus on reduced energy usage and increased indoor comfort in hot humid climates.

Mr. Shelton was a two year student of LSU in the field of Electrical Engineering when he went to work with his father at Shelton Building Material where he learned the construction industry and then founded EESCO to help design, build and service the Energy Efficient housing market.

Stephen has been a life long resident and currently resides in New Orleans, La.

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LCTN News

New Orleans is named as a DOE Solar American City. La CleanTech spearheads the effort to build the New Orleans Solar City team with The NO office of Recovery Management, FutureProof, Green Coast Enterprises, Alliance for Affordable Energy, and Global Green..read more

La Clean Tech is offering Solar Energy Installation training classes around the state, and is working with the Louisiana Community and Technical College System to begin a Solar Training program.

LA Senator Nick Gautreaux was presented with an award for his dedication to passing the Louisiana Tax Credit. La Clean Tech Network credits Mr. Gautreaux with being the "Father of the Solar Industry" in Louisiana...read more

Southern Building Institute is formed by La CleanTech along with Louisiana based building professionals and teams up with Texas A&M to apply for DOE Build America grant.

Global Green Holy Cross Project partners with La CleanTech to begin workforce development program for Solar Installers during installation of 5kW solar electric system in the ninth ward...read more

Louisiana Economic Development office and La CleanTech are working towards getting Solar PV manufacturere to locate a 175MW a year plant to locate in New Orleans to produce state of the art solar systems.


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