Herbert B. Zien, P.E., Chief Development Officer.

Mr. Zien has over 25 years of experience in engineering management, power generation and energy conservation.  He has been responsible for the development of numerous steam and power production projects, as well as the purchase and sale of energy-related businesses. 

As Chief Development Officer of Alea Management, LLC and Source IT Energy, Mr. Zien provides detailed technical, engineering and strategic support for partner companies seeking assistance in the execution of their strategies.  Mr. Zien’s strong background in thermodynamics, renewable energy and business development provides partner companies with the practical tools to execute on their strategies.

Previously, Mr. Zien was Senior VP of Development for The Trigen Companies where he was principally responsible for project development and internal growth initiatives.  Before that Mr. Zien served as Director of Dominion Thermal (2000-2002) where he created a new division within Dominion Resources to foster long-term relationships with retail customers through asset acquisition and project development.  In this capacity Mr. Zien led Dominion’s successful effort to acquire the assets of a district heating and cooling system that serves 140 buildings in downtown Cleveland, and developed  an engineering model and business plan to construct and operate a system to serve Nashville.  Prior to Dominion, Mr. Zien served as Manager, Midwest Region for A&C Enercom, an Atlanta-based Energy Services Company, which was subsequently acquired by Evantage, a division of Dominion Resources, (1995-2000).  Mr. Zien assembled and managed a sales and engineering team that performed energy audits and installed energy conservation measures in industrial plants throughout the Midwest, and developed the conceptual engineering design and business plan for a district energy system to serve Atlantic City.  Prior experience also includes the purchase and operation of an existing biomass plant in Tennessee that generated steam for sale to a nearby rubber hose manufacturing plant and management of a 200-person contracting firm that specialized in designing, installing and servicing industrial piping, HVAC, plumbing and fire protection systems. 

Mr. Zien received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a M.S. in Thermal Engineering, both from Cornell University, and an S.M. in Management from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Wisconsin.