Tal Eyal
Founder and Principal
Tal Eyal, founder and principal of FirstService Energy, oversees all company operations including the energy procurement business, data analysis, and reporting of energy usage.
Eyal’s expertise spans over a diverse range of energy projects culled from more than two decades in the property management and project management industries. He has broad experience managing heating conversion projects in large residential and commercial buildings, negotiating contracts for energy procurement and demand management, and constructing co-generation systems. Tal secured millions of dollars in grants and loans from quasi-governmental agencies to subsidize energy-related construction for clients managed by FirstService Residential New York.
Eyal also is executive vice president of FirstService Residential New York and a founder and president of FirstService Project Management, the company’s subsidiary that oversees residential and commercial construction projects.
Kelly Dougherty
President
Kelly Dougherty, President of FirstService Energy, helps FirstService Residential clients reduce energy consumption, costs and emissions by recommending customized strategies that significantly enhance building energy efficiency. She works with industry leaders and government agencies to keep our clients informed on the latest energy technologies, regulatory requirements and incentive programs. Kelly is a leading expert on energy legislation, has been featured in The New York Times, and has been a keynote speaker at top industry events—from Urban Green Council to REBNY—and also participated in the Building Energy Exchange Series on The Climate Mobilization Act.
Dougherty has over 12 years of facilities support, HVAC system operation, energy efficiency retrofits, and project management expertise which she amassed during previous roles at Air Ideal Inc. and Insight Civil Engineering. She earned an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University’s Earth Institute with a focus on corporate sustainability strategies, infrastructure resiliency development, and energy reduction planning. She also holds a B.S. in Management & Labor Relations from Rutgers University.
Edmond Ohin
Director of Energy Procurement
Edmond Ohin is responsible for designing integrated financial models to identify and evaluate various energy procurement scenarios that result in the most economical and cost-effective energy solutions for properties managed by FirstService Residential. He oversees the procurement of electric power, natural gas, and oil commodities.
Prior to joining FirstService Energy, Ohin served as a Sourcing Operations Associate at Summit Energy Services, where he provided consulting services to several firms in the industrial and commercial space. Edmond holds a B.S. in Economics from Centre College.
Suneel Gupta
Director, Energy and Sustainability | FirstService Residential Ontario
Suneel Gupta works with the FirstService Residential Ontario portfolio, engaging the Executive and Operation teams to develop and execute on the Corporate Energy and Sustainability Platform. Gupta demonstrates to our communities, the importance of investing in energy management. At the core, these goals will improve building performance, enhance affordability, user experience, resilience, and reputation. By providing utility financial engineering, Suneel has managed to save over a million dollars for communities under the portfolio.
Through his work, Suneel has won awards such as, IESO Energy Manager of the Year (2018) and the Energy into Action-Energy Innovation Award for Best Multi-Residential Project (2018). Gupta is currently working on a book “Drunk History of Energy Management” and independently reviews ESG and large corporate sustainability reporting through the crowd sourced ‘The Hot Air Project’. Before joining FirstService Residential, Suneel worked in portfolio energy management at Minto and project development at Tescor before joining the FirstService Residential family.
Chris Normandeau, CEM, LC, LEEDAP BD+C®
Director
Chris Normandeau is Director of FirstService Energy in Hollywood, Florida. Normandeau helps community associations managed by FirstService Residential reduce energy use and costs by serving as a trusted advisor to boards – counseling them how best to curtail their energy and water usage while maintaining or improving their residential experience.
Prior to joining FirstService Energy, Normandeau was co-founder of Core, a New York City-based sustainable project management firm which focused on maximizing client savings while minimizing environmental impact. He also served as a Project Manager for construction firm OmniBuild, where he was involved in all aspects of design, construction and budgeting, including overseeing energy efficiency projects across New York State. Normandeau, who earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a Certified Energy Manager (C.E.M.), is Lighting Certified (LC), and is a LEED AP BD+C®. He has saved his clients hundreds of thousands of dollars by putting his considerable energy knowledge and expertise to work for them. Normandeau believes in the value of providing his clients with the tools and knowledge needed to continue reducing their carbon footprint, long after his energy savings initiatives have been put in place.
Benjamin C. Kirschenbaum
Vice President & General Counsel
Ben Kirschenbaum, an attorney with 30 years of experience in law, residential management and brokerage in New York City, directs all legal matters on behalf of FirstService Energy. He is a member of the Cooperative and Condominium Committee of the Association of the Bar of New York City. Kirschenbaum graduated from Duke University School of Law and received an A.B. from Brown University.
Rithu Manohar
Data Manager
Rithu Manohar is a data enthusiast, skilled in eclectic data tools with a strong inclination towards Python. Formerly, a data analyst with IBM on process improvement projects, she has extensive experience in automation of data processing tasks and building visualizations for trend analysis in the non-profit sector.
Since joining FirstService Energy, Rithu oversees the data collection processes from ESCO and utility companies in addition to auditing the entire EnergyStar Portfolio for our buildings. She maintains Wisdom, and audits the reports on an on-going basis.
Rithu has a B.S. in Computer Science from India’s Visvesvaraya Technological University and a M.S. in Business Analytics from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland.
Wilson Hom
Benchmarking Lead
Wilson Hom oversees the processes of energy and water benchmarking of properties and associations managed by FirstService Residential. Wilson ensures that our portfolios are in compliance with local energy and water benchmarking ordinances.
He continuously tracks new legislation and changes to existing laws in order to provide our markets with the latest information and support.
Prior to working in FirstService Energy, Wilson was working as an office clerk in the Health and Science Center at Stony Brook University. Wilson received a B.S in Business Management with a specialization in accounting from Stony Brook University.
John O’Shea
Procurement Specialist
John O’Shea is responsible for finding solutions that best suit our clients’ energy needs and objectives. John’s main focus is on the Illinois market and portfolio, but also includes FirstService Residential East. He is eager to grow our energy team’s footprint across North America and has a passion for finding solutions to complex problems.
John was part of a variety of projects in multiple countries, stretching from water distribution and purification projects in the Andes to designing and building a new school in Nicaragua with sustainable agriculture, renewable energies, and other aspects. Prior to joining our team, John served as an Energy Consultant at Navigate Power and Choice Energy Management. His experience in the energy industry comes with a focus on energy procurement and sustainability. John holds a M.A. from Harvard Extension School in Sustainability and Environmental Management, where he focused on Corporate Sustainability & Innovation, and a B.A. from Prescott College in Energy and Sustainability.