About Us

Every Watt Matters builds partnerships that educate and inspire people to reduce their energy use and to do their part in creating a brighter future for the planet. Our approach is focused on the building performance industry and the significant results that can be achieved through home energy retrofits. We help contractors enter into the field by providing them with the business tools, training and counsel needed to establish or expand their own home performance divisions. We help cities and communities by establishing and promoting collaborative energy efficiency initiatives and campaigns that encourage conservation at a grass-roots level.

Partnering. Educating. Inspiring.

We’re in this together.

Our Team

George Blackstone, Chairman/CEO

George Blackstone has made a career of coordinating teams of professionals for optimum results. With more than 35 years of experience in business, mergers and acquisitions, strategic partnering, manufacturing, technology development and more, he has spearheaded several successful startups in a multitude of industries from manufacturing and software applications to hazardous waste remediation and land development. Well seasoned in doing business at all levels, he has overseen the acquisition of 18 companies and the opening of overseas subsidiaries. Many of the companies he founded remain international leaders in their fields today.   

Devon Hartman, President

Devon Hartman, General Contractor, LEEP AP, GPR, is a national speaker and recognized leader in residential architecture and construction. He is an expert in strategic business systems development, consumer-facing sales and marketing strategies and energy efficiency management operations in home performance. Newly retired from his decades-long role as Co-Founder of Hartman-Baldwin Design/Build Inc., (one of the largest residential design/build companies in the nation), he joined Every Watt Matters to launch a new path in his career, dedicating himself to forming collaborative partnerships with cities and communities that will help to promote energy savings in homes and buildings throughout California and beyond. His award-winning work has been featured in numerous articles and interviews.

Richard Chitwood, VP Home Performance Technology

Richard “Rick” Chitwood is one of the nation’s foremost experts on energy efficiency, with more than 25 years of experience and an unmatched reputation for guaranteed results. He was recruited by the California Energy Commission to draft building energy efficiency standards associated with the Home Performance Industry. As one of the first to achieve a Net-Zero energy home, he continues to raise the bar for the highest in energy-efficiency standards and results. He has directed research projects involving extensive field-testing and data collection on building performance, and his research is used regularly as a point of reference for the industry. 

Andy Fessel, Director of Research and Development

Andy Fessel, LEED AP+, has an extensive background in consumer research, market segmentation, strategic marketing, and consumer tracking and trending. He has developed and led national training programs in the electronic media advertising sales sector, is a certified trainer for the CBPCA and CACTUS, and has worked as advisor in the Home Performance Industry to county governments in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mr. Fessel has previously held management positions at ABC-TV Disney, Microsoft, Dreamworks, The Fox TV Network, The Interactive Advertising Bureau and Carat Interactive Advertising.                          

Andrew Welch, Director of Training

Andrew Welch draws from his diverse background to develop effective training programs that blend building science with business savvy, marketing and “real world” applications. Having studied biology and environmental science at Portland State University, he spent years exploring environmental but business-friendly solutions in the farming, logging and fishing industries. It was there that he learned the value of grass-roots interaction and community outreach – skills he took with him to the nationally known firm of Weiden & Kennedy, where he was exposed to some of the finest thinking on messaging and strategic communications.

Deniene Husted, Public Relations

Deniene Husted is president of SDR Consulting, Inc., an award-winning media relations and public affairs firm with special emphasis on projects, products and programs related to green industries and the environment. With 25 years of combined experience in journalism and public relations, Ms. Husted has spearheaded several successful outreach efforts for non-profits, businesses and public agencies involved in water quality, conservation, green building and sustainability. The recipient of numerous reporting and editing awards, she holds a Master of Science degree in Journalism from Northwestern University.