A BIG Thank You to Ken!  Ken Czarnomski retired as Department Chair in 2012 after over a decade of intructional leadership & program development at AB-Tech.  Ken started our Construction Management program and was instrumental in the development of the Sustainability Technologies Associate degree program.

Ken has been a licensed architect, builder and construction manager since 1972.  He was the Department Chair for Construction Management Technologies (a part of A-B Tech Construction Science) at Asheville Buncombe Technical College. Their programs include carpentry, cabinet making and construction management curriculums.

He was the owner/operator of his own architectural design-build company and has previously worked for national and international architectural engineering firms as a senior program manager and vice-president of operations. Ken is in the process of writing a book about green renovation, check out his blog .

"The education and support from everyone in the program, headed by Ken Czarnomski, is excellent."

- Graduate, Sami Forrest

B. Heath Moody  Dept. Chair/Instructor for Building Construction Science, Construction Management, and Sustainability Technologies.

has a B.S. degree in Anthropology with a minor in Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University (1997).  His interest in sustainable development led him into the Technology Dept. at ASU where he received a M.S. degree in Industrial Technology , concentrating on Appropriate Technology (1999).

This was one of the only masters program in the country that incorporated hands-on experience with sustainable technologies such as photovoltaic (solar electric), wind power, and micro-hydro.  

Having just bought some land outside of Boone, NC, Heath took a building technology course and started plans for a small solar cabin. The cabin was to be the first straw-bale hybrid building to go through the building codes in Watauga Co., NC.

Mitchel Sorin   Sustainable Technologies Instructor at AB Tech. and principal owner of Sorin Architecture, PLLC

With over 25 years’ experience,  Mitchel moved from Atlanta in 1990 to the mountains of North Carolina to build a passive solar design home for his family and in 1994, established his own architectural practice that focuses on sustainable environmentally responsible commercial and residential design.

Clarence "Clay" Estep  is a 32-year construction professional, Licensed General Contractor and Real Estate Broker. He is a graduate of East Tennessee State University and currently employed by Cooper Construction of Hendersonville, NC as a Project Manager/ Estimator. Clay and his wife, Kelly, reside in Pisgah Forest, NC with their daughters Audrey and Julie. Clay’s construction experience includes work on projects with the US Army Corp of Engineers, Street Construction and Trammell Crowe Development.

Christopher Randall (pictured with wife Devon and children Finnegan and Cullen) graduated with a Bachelors in Forestry from Oregon State University in 1997. His interest in carpentry led him to begin a career in construction in 1999.

Cliff Odom was born and raised in the Carolinas but spent most of his life in California. After getting out of the Navy, he finished his AA degree and became a carpenter. After going through four years of carpentry apprenticeship school through the carpenter’s union, he became a general contractor in California.

Amy is co-founder and principal of VandeMusser Design, PLLC, founded in 2002. Amy received her Bachelors and Ph.D. degrees in Architectural Engineering and an M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

Glen Massengill currently resides in Polk County, NC with his wife and son. He holds an Associate’s degree in Construction Management from AB-Tech and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Technology from Western Carolina University. He worked for Honeywell’s MICRO SWITCH division for 20 years as a Senior Design Engineer and is currently an adjunct professor of Technical Blueprint Reading at AB-Tech.