2024 Continuing Education

Meet the Speakers

James Youngston

James Youngston, IALD, LC

Prior to forming Gabler-Youngston Architectural Lighting Design with Morgan Gabler in 2005, Jim was a Senior Designer with the Lighting Design Group at Newcomb & Boyd in Atlanta and with Bos Lighting Design in Houston. His past theatrical work includes serving as guest Lighting Designer for the Tamarind Theatre in Los Angeles, Lighting and Technical Director for the West-Mon Repertory Theatre in Houston, lighting technician for the Houston Grand Opera, and electrician and pyrotechnician for the Texas Panhandle Heritage Foundation. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and technical theatre from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jim is a Professional Member of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) and Lighting Certified (LC) by the National Council for Qualifications for the Lighting Professional (NCQLP). He served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) from 2000–2007 and as Section President from 2004–2005. He served on the Membership Committee of the IALD from 2007–2009 and on the IALD Board of Directors as Membership Chair from 2010-2013. He currently serves as a juror for the Certified Lighting Designer credentialing program.

Jim has been recognized with thirteen International and Sectional Illumination Design Awards and has seen his work and articles in a wide variety of publications such as Architectural Record, Professional Lighting Design, Mondo Arc, Metropolitan Home, and The Atlanta Journal Constitution. He has received an Edison Award of Merit and an Edison Award for Sustainable Design. Jim has also presented at various trade shows, professional society meetings, and at Savannah College of Art and Design, Texas Christian University, University of Houston, and The University of Colorado Boulder, among others.

In his off time, he enjoys his family, pets, food and wine and travels frequently to Andalucía, Spain, where he maintains a country home.

Mike Barcik

Mike Barcik is a Technical Principal at Southface and has been with the organization since 1995. With B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech, Mike is the author of numerous technical resources and has developed and led thousands of trainings for RESNET, BPI, LEED, DOE, EPA and other programs. He’s active in energy code development and often leads workshops on the latest code changes.

Since 1999, Mike has trained over 1,500 individuals in RESNET’s Home Energy Rating System (HERS) program, and in 2010 he helped create the Duct and Envelope Tightness (DET) Verifier program to certify over a thousand individuals for blower door and duct leakage testing, as required by the 2009 and later energy codes. Mike served as LEED Faculty for BD+C, EB O&M and Homes, as well as helped develop and teach the EarthCraft family of sustainable programs.

Mike co-authored Decatur, Georgia’s High Performance Building Ordinance which requires third-party certification for new and substantially renovated single-family, multi-family and commercial projects. During the second week of January, he loves leading MLK Volunteers to weatherize homes for low-income seniors. Mike lives with his much-smarter architect wife and two daughters in a 1920 Craftsman bungalow that they are lovingly restoring and making more efficient. Thanks to efficiency improvements and a 4kW photovoltaic array, they’ve offset 95% of their electricity consumption and use only a third of the gas originally consumed.

Sam Culpepper

As a Program Manager, Sam provides design review and consultation to outside clients and projects in the Earthcraft Multifamily program, performs energy modeling for programs across Southface and is working on his Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater certification. Sam is a registered architect and has a background in commercial, multifamily and hospitality architecture, and an undergrad degree from Georgia Tech. Outside of the office, he can often be found pedaling his two children around town in a cargo bike and tinkering away on various home improvement projects.

Eilís Finnegan

Eilís Finnegan is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Design in the Auburn University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Eilís’s creative work and research explores hybrid project generation methods, namely through Artificial Intelligence and digital modeling, speculative programming, and collaborations with adjacent and divergent fields to create “sites” for working.

Eilís’s research and collaborations are often represented as exhibitions and exercises in scenography. Her current work includes “gifting, ghosting, and gigabytes” a collaboration with Perry Kulper at the Chicago Architecture Biennial, CAB5: This is a Rehearsal – 2023; and, “1000000 in 0.001: microseasons, MEGATRENDS, and Maintenance, a project exploring digital waste programming in physical “fast-fashion(ed)” waste sites.

Eilís also continues to collaborate with Project Sleep, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about sleep health, sleep equity, and sleep disorders. Her public speaking engagements for the organization include Creighton University Medical School + Neuroscience Club, Rush University Medical Center, and other panel opportunities.