Faren Dancer
President, Sundancer Creations LLC, Custom Builders
Designer & Builder of The Emerald Home
Principal of SunMax, LLC
President of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association
Past Chair of the Santa Fe Green Building Council
Co-Chair of LEED for Homes New Mexico
Director, Unicopia, Inc.
Brief Biography:
After four decades in the building industry, Faren Dancer has emerged as a national force for green,
sustainable building practices and energy efficiency as expressed through his articles, classes, seminars,
committees, public appearances and projects. He is the current President of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders
Association, Co-Chair of LEED for Homes New Mexico, Past Chair of the Santa Fe Green Building Council, Founder
of the Santa Fe Green Building Summit and owner of Sundancer Creations, Custom Builders. His recently completed
project, the Emerald Home, was the pilot for Santa Fe’s new building codes and recipient of a United States Green
Building Council educational grant as the subject of an online course on Green, Net-Zero Energy Building through
the Santa Fe Community College (available Spring 2010). Mr. Dancer is also working with the City in producing an
educational documentary for builders, the public as well as City inspectors and Plan Reviewers. His educational
involvement also includes consulting and training for New Mexico State Inspectors and Plan Reviewers through the
New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID).
His work over the past year includes presentations at the IECC Codes Conference in Minneapolis, striving
for the 30% Solution, and representing the building industry at a National Press Conference in Washington
DC, announcing the formation of the Building Energy Efficient Codes Network (BEECN), a new coalition of
business, industry and Non-Profits all in support of zero carbon emissions from the building sector by the year 2030.
Mr. Dancer is also Director of Unicopia, Inc., a 501c3, Public Benefit Corporation whose mission is educational
outreach and the evolution of sustainable building models, from modest, off-grid, zero energy homes, to Communities
with low impact, modular building systems, centralized energy, renewable transportation and food production.
Maxine Swisa
President of SunMax, LLC
Brief Biography:
Ms. Maxine Swisa is the Director of Operations & Finance of Unicopia, Inc. Ms. Swisa is an experienced entrepreneur with a Fortune 1000 company
background. She has a proven track record in executive leadership, financial management, strategic planning, information technology and organizational
development. She has managed budgets ranging from $50K to $10M, as well as directly and indirectly managed staff of 200+ people and associated expenses.
As Director of Operations & Finance of Unicopia, Inc., Ms. Swisa has served as the financial and operations manager including project management, contract
negotiation, budgeting, forecasting, marketing, educational tours, and public speaking engagements for the Emerald Home, the award-winning zero energy
home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Prior to her association with Unicopia, Inc., Ms. Swisa was Chief Information Officer for a publicly-traded financial services company. As the CIO,
she oversaw all strategic planning for the Information Technology department, as well as day to day operations for the company including office administration,
plant management and employee professional development. She supervised and structured an IT organization that supported a company with $60 billion in assets.
After retiring from a 25 year career in the financial services industry, Ms. Swisa began discovering a network of builders, business and real estate professionals in
Santa Fe who were involved in building and supporting energy efficient, green homes. Learning about sustainable building practices and its implications for the future
of our lives was the next logical step for her.
Ms. Swisa has been involved in educational outreach for over 30 years. She has taught classes, led tours, facilitated seminars, participated in public speaking engagements,
radio shows, panel discussions and co-authored chapter in a book about leadership. She has served on the board of directors for various non-profit organizations.