A Leverage Point, An Overflowing Park & Ride

     A few weeks ago I happened upon an overflowing Park & Ride lot just off of Exit 11 into Richmond, Vermont.  I haven't seen this ever in Vermont.  Perhaps it's a sign of the times.  Everywhere in the US costs at the pump distress drivers and as indicated here  at the Park & Ride dramatically shifting behaviors.
     We are at another leverage point where economic pressures are shifting consumers and businesses to  action towards more energy efficient and conserving practices.  Given the turbulence in the energy market, unpredictable prices at the pump can and fuel truck aren't we better off seeking more predictability in operating our homes, offices, schools, public buildings and the buildings where we shop?  We can't afford not to.  
     As an architect I know how helpful to homeowner's bottom line it is to consider weatherizing existing homes with better air-sealing, additional insulation and retrofitting windows with higher performing ones while updating heating and cooling systems and appliances to more energy efficient models.  There are numerous federal  and state tax incentives renewables and efficiency homeowners and businesses can apply for to soften the costs of taking these steps.  There's also incentives to moving to renewable energy sources for homes and businesses, you can learn more here by clicking on this link to Renewable Energy Vermont's website.
     Living in Vermont you can't miss the impact of Efficiency Vermont and its many programs assisting Vermonter's in large and small ways.  Whether it's helping subsidize the cost of purchasing compact florescent light bulbs at local hardware stores, providing information on weatherization contractors or best practices on green building and energy efficiency this statewide organization is an invaluable resource.  Vermonter's through the assistance of this program and others around the state, have lowered overall electrical usage and demand as compared to ten years ago.  Vermonter's by our nature are early adopters in green and sustainability strategies.  We're known for it.
     Over the last ten or so years Vermont building and general contractors along with architects and engineers have developed expertise in best practices in green and sustainable building from the very small scale home renovation to campus wide construction.  Green design is mainstream design now.  To soften the blow to your monthly finances and ensure greater predictability in managing your household and business in the coming years it pays to consider taking steps now.  You can find architects through AIA Vermont's online Architect directory.  Check out Efficiency Vermont's link to it's Better Buildings by Design Conference Website award winners by year.  It's a great way to find building professionals who are practicing state of the art energy efficient design whether residential or commercial scale.

Reviewing "Toward a Zero Energy Home"

A few months ago in late spring I read Toward a Zero Energy Home - A Complete Guide to Energy Self-Sufficiency at Home by David Johnston and Scott Gibson.  Or shall I say devoured it hungrily.  I read it on a cross-country flight in one sitting.

2010, The Taunton Press

The book begins by making a great case for the zero energy house by framing the view through the energy price bubble of 2008 and the need to shift behaviors moving forward.  Ironically in the spring of 2011 we were experiencing another price bubble seeded by political instability driven by the unprecedented democratic spring of Egypt, Syria, Libya and elsewhere.  Once again prices spiked ever higher over the course of late winter and spring.  Fairly quickly it seemed, world-wide strategic oil reserves were tapped to temper the price spikes and people's fears abated but high prices linger.  Today, the US Energy Information Agency says gas prices are up $0.91 from a year ago.

If you consult the EIA's interactive tables and build predictions out to 2035 you'll find an average yearly growth rate of 3.5% for residential fuel oil costs.  So in about ten years prices may rise 35% over today's already high rates.  With the unpredictability of the global geo-political climate and growing effects of global warming, growing population pressures and scarcity in fossil fuels, radically reducing energy consumption is urgent.  More predictable energy costs and growth in resource conservation is critical to creating a more sustainable future "softening the hard landing to come" as said by Bill McKibben in his recent book, Eaarth.

While residential delivered energy consumption has been going down historically in a gentle slope since 1990 the EIA forecasts four different scenarios showing reductions.  The reference light blue line models this continuing fall while the magenta (high tech usage) and green (best available technology) go even lower.

As energy costs continue to escalate residential users will naturally seek to conserve.  The space between the purple and green line is where Toward A Zero Energy Home plays an important role today in driving best practices  in zero energy home design into the marketplace towards consumer acceptance.

The book is organized into five chapters; The Building Envelope, Passive Solar Design, Renewable Energy, Heating-Cooling-Ventilation, Living a Zero Energy Life.  In each chapter they provide helpful overviews going over the basic components, design strategies and approaches with insightful case studies from around the country relating to the chapter focus.  The case studies provide wisdom from the field about how projects develop and mature between owners, architects, builders and energy consultants.

I recommend this book.  It tackles a very complex subject and breaks it down to basic elements where the complexity supports the big picture of why certain strategies are valuable varying by budget, climate, owner likes and dislikes, project delivery methods scalable for a variety of situations.  Whether seeking to do a custom design and build home, or hybridized process with some level of factory panelization and custom building, or finally, full out factory built and controlled modular home with quick onsite assembly the book has insights valuable for all.

The book also shows how fast moving high performance building science and knowledge truly is.  After this book came out, Alex Wilson's published a groundbreaking article in Environmental Building News on the Global Warming Potential of Foam Insulation.  Their research led to a wholesale re-evaluation of the viability of using closed expanding cell foam and related insulation materials in building envelopes because of the long-term costs of using fossil fuel as blowing agents.  Many of the case studies homes in the Toward a Zero Energy Home used closed cell insulation in some aspects of the building envelope.  The new research indicated the need to look more closely at using open cell insulation or other more benign alternatives such as cellulose insulation instead going forward.  Hindsight is 20/20 though and admittedly best practices will always be evolving to ever-higher standards.

Community Energy Guidebook Released for Vermonters

     Earlier this month the Vermont Natural Resources Council released its long awaited Energy Planning Guidebook to help Vermont communities become more sustainable and energy independent.  Whether you live here or elsewhere but care about how your community evolves and fights climate change on a grass-roots level check out this manual and video to learn more.
     Whether involving weatherization, installing more insulation, air-sealing, replacing aging heating and cooling infrastructure in your public buildings, schools, churches and housing this information is a helpful starting point.  Many Vermont towns and cities have Energy Committees working independently of each other yet collaborating together to make a difference state-wide.  There's a statewide organization unifying all of the individual energy committees and large and small stakeholders called VECAN (VT Energy Climate Action Network.  It's an exciting group who has held numerous statewide conferences.
     This document is full of best practices culled for years of experience you and others in your community can learn from and extend forward! The guidebook covers why to do it in the first place, how to generally go about it, engaging the public in energy planning, organizing the plan, assessing community needs and opportunities among other areas.  It also shares the latest information about Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Development focusing on existing programs, planning for energy efficiency and adding renewable energy along with barriers impeding progress.
     Let me know what you think of the guidebook and if it is helpful to you and your community?

Ewaste 2011, Annual Freecycle Day helps Vermonters Rid Homes and Businesses of e-waste

     Where do you take that old analog TV or ancient five year old desktop computer hiding in your closet when its finally time for it to go?  In Vermont, we have the option to recycle them for free at the annual eWaste2011 event, this year held at National Life Group's Headquarters in Montpelier, the capitol city of Vermont.
     From 9am to 2pm long lines of cars carrying equipment to recycle queued up on the long entry road leading into the complex.  eWaste2011 was sponsored by Small Dog Electronics an Apple Specialist and National Life who donated the site.  Small Dog employees greeted drivers dropping off their goods ushering them along to the collection site.

     All of the eWaste was being collected and processed by WeRecycle in the U.S.  A small percentage of the ewaste will be salvaged intact and go on to a second life elsewhere.  The majority of the eWaste will be recycled to obtain elements such as tin, copper, silicon, beryllium, carbon, iron, aluminum to be reused.  These materials will make their way into new electronics of various kinds while staying out of landfills and posing an environmental hazard for generations to come.

     As a consumer I can't tell you how joyful it feels to rid our home of junk like this collecting dust in closets, drawers and corners of our garage.  Lightening our load while returning our eWaste back to usefullness leaves a smile on our faces.

     My wife and I wondered aloud as we drove through the line waiting to unload our materials at all of the expensive yet obsolete electronics like this pallet of TVs.  We saw possibly six to eight tractor trailers waiting for loading and thought of all the money this equipment cost at time of original purchase.  What was here was likely in the hundreds of thousands of dollar range but no longer of value to users.
     Recently I've been reading a very interesting book What's Mine is Yours, the Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Roo Rogers and Rachel Botswan which takes this to task.  You've seen my earlier post sharing Rachel's inspiring Ted Talk.  What we're doing here at the eWaste freecycle event is shifting from a  "me to we" world which is something we more typically environmentally inspired Vermonters often do anyway.

Largest Deep Energy Retrofit in the U.S. Underway - Castle Square Apartments

     I recently wrote about the Promise of Deep Energy Retrofits a few posts ago. Well today, I want to share some news about Castle Square Apartments, an existing 1960’s 192 unit mid-rise tower as part of an overall 500 unit low income housing project located in Boston’s South End, is an example of this growing trend.

US HUD Secretary Donovan is to far right of photo
Mass. Governor Menino is in the middle and congressman
Michael Capuano with glasses is in the back,  

    Today, Castle Square Apartments welcomed Shaun Donovan, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Thomas M. Menino, Mayor of Boston and Congressman Capuano who toured the project to learn more about the nation's "largest and most aggressive energy savings project of its kind".  The joined members of the Castle Square Tenants Organization and WinnCompanies the co-developers and owners of this project.   They came to see for themselves the largest example yet of a Deep Energy Retrofit just beginning construction, an important foundation of a broad based strategy to fight climate change and achieve further energy independence.  It's also a great example of the Green Jobs movement in action.

After picture of Castle Square Apartments

    In a well-attended press conference, the visiting guests shared how they supported the work at Castle Square Apartments.  Secretary Donovan said, "We're proud to be a partner in delivering $6.7 million in funding to this project through our Recovery Act Green Retrofit Program that is creating hundreds of jobs and setting the standard for energy retrofits around the country.  By helping make this development more energy efficient we are also improving the quality of life for the hundreds of families who live here."
    Congressman Capuano said he "...appreciate(s) the oppourtunity to see firsthand how the Castle Square Apartments are being renovated with a specific focus on achieving energy savings. Federal stimulus money is being used to partially fund this project, which is creating jobs and improving the quality of life for tenants."
     Mayor Menino, reinforced how the project positively impacted the surrounding community by saying how it "...will create jobs for local workers, preserve 500 units of affordable housing for current and future working families of Boston, and its green design will contribute to the overall health of our City."  He went on further saying "Thanks to local residents and HUD for the collaboration and commitment to preserving Castle Square as a welcoming home for all who live here now and in the future."
    By reusing the existing housing complex and conducting a deep energy retrofit while part of an overall renovation of the apartment building, Castle Square sets a visionary example for others to learn from. With a goal to cut energy use by 72%, the project will take a deep bite out of it energy bill while dramatically reducing its carbon footprint. It also shows how non-profit organizations can continue to keep their missions viable to provide low-cost affordable housing far into the future, even with aging infrastructure.

Before picture of Castle Square Apartments

    Castle Square is the largest such project (the mid-rise tower portion) currently under construction in the U.S. at least for now. (I see this only as a good thing) The 1960’s era Byron Rogers Federal Office building in Denver by The Rocky Mountain Institute as part of its RetroFit program will likely be the largest but its a ways out for its construction. High profile examples of retrofits such as the Empire State Building while certainly an ambitious success story, with a projected 38% energy use reduction does not meet this more aggressive criteria.   

    A deep energy retrofit is broadly defined as a renovation of building producing at least 50% to as high as over 70% energy savings over existing code compliant buildings.  By heavily upgrading the building enclosure with super-insulation, high performance windows, lighting, advanced building systems and controls energy use as compared to typical buildings can be dramatically reduced.  Such efforts provide positive financial returns and savings over the long run.  Here in the U.S. existing buildings account for 40 percent(%) of the nation’s energy use and 38% if the carbon dioxide emissions. Thus we have a huge challenge before us.

        What Castle Square faced when beginning a renovation process a few years ago is what many face today around the country. Surging energy costs of almost 40% from a year ago clarifies the need to make real strides in energy efficiency to weather unpredictable ongoing operational costs not only for the next heating season but those over the next decade and beyond. Non-profits as well as colleges and universities face tough choices when facing potential renovations.  Deep Energy Retrofits offer a great strategy helping ensure ongoing viability, future affordability and predictability in energy costs.  

    But they require a commitment to integrated design process and deeper sustainability goals than typical projects which produce 30 to 40% energy savings as compared to base code case buildings.  Yesterday's "high performance buildings" getting to this level weren't necessarily short-sighted, they set the standard for their time but its time to turn up the volume on performance.

Viability and impact of Sustainability Efforts in Manufacturing

I am always looking for interesting information and background about how moving towards sustainable design and business practices both in the design and operation of facilities leads to positive bottom line effecting change.   See the link below to Paul's helpful article describing his perspectives on this issue!  Have you incorporated various sustainaiblity and green design measures into your facilties design and operation?  What works for your company?  Any best practices to share with others here at designcultivation?  Let us know.  In the meanwhile, enjoy the link below.

Sustainability projects improve safety, raise efficiency and reduce costs
Paul Studebaker, CMRP, editorial directorPaul Studebaker, CMRP, editorial director, says industry is taking the lead on saving the world for future generations.

Thanks, Steve

Better Buildings by Design 2011 Conference

Every year in February there are two things I count on. One is heavy snowstorms.  Two is the annual Efficiency Vermont Better Buildings by Design Conference held in Burlington, VT at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center.  Like clockwork heavy snow is predicted this week and BBBD 2011 is happening Weds. Feb. 9th and Thursday, Feb 10th.

The two day conference is jam-packed with many of my favorite business people, building design, construction pros, suppliers and vendors all dedicating their professional lives to improving the buildings where we live, sleep, work, buy-things and go to school in Vermont and New England!.

It's one of the best places to learn about the latest innovations in energy efficiency, conservation and high performance building design targeted to the cold climate region we live in here in the northeast. Leaders and experts from Vermont and New England, along with repeat presenters from across the country and Canada will be there to share their knowledge.  Whether you're a homeowner, home-builder, architect, interior designer, facilities manager, commercial general contractor, company owners looking for designers and builders, it's a great place to go, especially if you're wondering about best practices in building design, heating and cooling systems, whole house design, LEED, lighting for energy efficiency (and beauty).

Bill Reed, noted green design thought leader and consultant kicks of the conference with a keynote address.  I've heard Bill speak at the USGBC Greenbuild conference and the AIA National Convention in years past and have had the chance to work with him while at Maclay Architects, a firm I worked for many years, on various projects.  He's really inspirational!

Weds evening from 4:30 to 7:00 Pm there will be a trade show / networking event where all of the many dedicated and informative vendors will be showing the wares.  There will also be award ceremonies for winners of this years Better Buildings Design Competition both on the residential and commercial side.  It's a great way to see for your self what green building is all about with posters of submitted and winning projects all on display.

Harder Working Homes - Some 2011 Home Design Trends

What does next year hold for homeowners, residential building and design professionals? Well there's good news for the remodeling side of the equation.  Not so good news yet for new residential construction of various kinds. However, in general, smaller is better with a strong focus on green and sustainable design features with better organized , downsized spaces.  Excessive square footages and volumes are diminishiing in importance, replaced with a focus on pragmatism and quality.

In a press release sent out today, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Joint Center for Housing Studies (www.jchs.harvard.edu) predicts "substantive growth in remodeling spending, coming off of a three decline, seems likely according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released today by the Remodeling Futures Program."

The indicator "estimates current quarterly and future home expenditures by homeowners."  Kermit Baker, the JCHS program director is also the AIA Chief Economist who assembles quarterly reports on the residential design and construction industry.  The AIA's recent reports also reinforce the growth in remodeling.  See the referenced AIA graph indicating how remodeling in general is strongest  out of all the residential categories tracked.  Among them remodeling kitchens and baths outpace other aspects of remodeling and alterations while other types of new residential construction countrywide remain in the negative.

Harder working homes

Homes are working harder than ever before.  With so many people going through work/life transitions, going back to school, the home office has become the most important special space followed by outdoor areas like porches, terraces and outdoor rooms, then mudrooms.  Home offices and expanded flexible use outdoor

Supporting Clean Energy_A Vermont Perspective

Here's a video I posted to the RePower America Wall about supporting Clean Energy. Like I said in the video below I see here in Vermont all around me communities shifting away from dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil to renewable, clean sources.  Shifting towards cleaner sources both benefits our local environment and promotes green jobs in our local communities.  Many Vermont companies now manufacture, install and consult on bringing clean energy, whether solar, wind, geothermal, biomass into Vermont homes, businesses and institutions.  By doing so we ensure a more stable and sustainable way of life for generations to come.

For more information about the impact of renewable energy here in Vermont I urge you to click on this link to the Renewable Energy Vermont website and it's sister entity, Efficiency Vermont, an energy efficiency utility working to bring energy efficiency and conservation deeper into households and businesses around our small state.  Another resource is the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, an organization dedicated to shifting Vermont towards clean energy and green jobs.  

What's great about Vermont is while we may be small, we have big ideas and a track record others can learn from on their journey towards shifting away from fossil fuel dependence towards clean energy and building stronger local communities.  Check us out for best practices on how to do this.  Contact me if you'd  like more information from any of these resources or if you're considering adding renewable energy sources to your building project.  I can help or if not, I will find someone who can.

Slow Green, an antidote to unrealistic expectations?

Some Observations

Reflecting over the Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., hearing all of the recent unemployment numbers, all the debate about whether are we or aren't still in a recession, when will these endless wars we keep fighting end?  How can we be optimistic for our children during such challenging times?  As a Green architect and design thinker, I sit here a bit brokenhearted about how the Green Movement seems to be stalled in effecting positive change, helping to right this unstable economy get America back to work, etc.

The Importance of Green Buildings and LEED

I'm inspired by how far the Green Building movement has come over the last 20 years, and yet I know how much further we have to go in furthering substantial and lasting change in our behaviors and our built environment. Practically all of the commercial and institutional buildings I've worked on at Maclay Architects are working with the LEED standards systems and for the most part going through with certification at inspiringly high levels.

But we've also come to see LEED not as the end point, but the means to a better more effective end (or is it just the beginning?) for us all, in terms of using our building sites better, managing their water and energy use and taking care to use healthy and durable materials in their construction while creating a superlative interior environment. The sum is indeed greater than the parts!

*This post references Maclay Architects, which I am involved with in a professional capacity.

Green Building Advocates in Philly_Expanding Green

I read this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about green building advocates in Philly and the continuing buzz about efforts there to bring sustainability more in the forefront of doing business rather than the background. As we head further into spring and the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth day it's good news to read about the continued growth in the green movement in nearby cities and communities.

Given our Vermont perspective of small is beautiful and unique, it's important to be reminded there's a much larger world out there than what we see here in our verdant green mountains. It's large, messy and in trouble. It's easy to fall into a myopic mindset thinking and conceiving of only the scale we know here in Northern New England. It's important to expand our thinking to scales beyond our own frame of day to day understanding.

It's great to read about the large commercial real estate properties being affected for the positive by going "green" and how its starting to figure into corporate bottom lines, PR and Marketing. Maybe there is something we can learn from each other, small cities to large and vice versa? I know Vermont has been an early adopter of many aspects of the green movement but we can't rest on our laurels and extend our impact without expanding the conversation and learning from other efforts elsewhere.

Please check this article out and let me know if this has any impact on you?

Net Zero Low-Income Modular Homes in Colorado

I wanted to spread word of a model net-zero affordable housing project located in Lafayette, Colorado, a city located in Boulder Country about 40 miles from Denver and 10 miles from Boulder.

(image courtesy of BCHA)

The Paradigm Pilot Project, a single family home and a duplex showcase a mix of super-insulated building envelopes, smart site orientation and use renewable energy sources, combined with passive solar design strategies. The building design use a fairly straightforward modernistic vocabulary of 13 rectilinear boxes easy to manufacture in a factory setting. What's hopeful is this is an experiment of sorts to be studied and leveraged into a much larger 153 Unit housing project in the planning stages in Lafayette. It uses geothermal

The project was designed by HB&A Architects,and built by All-American Homes for the Boulder County Housing Authority. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory / Department of Energy were also partners on the project.

You can find out more about the project on the Green Building Advisor and later covered at Jetson Green. You can see helpful information about it at the Housing Authority's Website.

Here's a link to a powerpoint about the project from the BCHA site. The site also shows the construction process with highlights being the installation of the modular factory built units and solar system installation. One interesting note is the project used both evacuated tube type solar hot water and solar electric panels as part of the system. The jury's out here on the efficacy the evacuated tubes but it's interesting this technology was used on the project.

All in all, this project is an inspiration to those of us in cold-climate regions and of use to others close to home here in Vermont. Perhaps some of the lessons learned from this project can be used here on our affordable housing projects. I know Efficiency Vermont is doing it's best to partner with other non-profit and for profit developers and housing authority's to continually upgrade our housing stock, whether new construction or renovation. It's Multi-family Housing Design Checklist is a very thourogh guide helping with efficiency measures and low-energy usage. They also provide financial incentives and technical assistance to clients and project teams to extend the value of the check-list.

Perhaps with the far-away inspiration of the Colorado example and the close to home specifics of the Efficiency Vermont's checklist this will help move us forward!

Green Headquarters Delivers 375% ROI for SAS Canada

I read today in the second digital edition of HQ, a collaboration between McGraw-Hill and Architectural Record some interesting articles. One article on HQ was about how SAS Canada's headquarters which turned four recently has been a very good financial investment and on other levels too.

Please see the link to the article originally published on Canada Newswire. Please comment!

I'm always on the hunt for information about the effectiveness of green building and sustainability on workplace design / business performance.

Here's also a link to a digital version of the first inaugural issue as well.

DOE Solar Decathalon Winners_Let the Sun Shine on Innovation

When I was in graduate school in the the early 1990's sustainable design was just getting off of the ground in the way we know it now. (I know it's been around since Mesa Verde, but the current generation of thinking)

I wish programs such as the Solar Decathalon held each year in the fall in Washington D.C. were around then. It is sponsored by the US Dept of Energy and teams from universities and colleges from all across the world compete in it. It provides an oppourtunity for pursuing design innovation and experiential learning on a small solar home scale. What a fantastic all around oppourtunity!

The program has six-goals worth noting. The basic premise is to invigorate interest, research and developing marketable technologies able to be brought to the market-place. Another one is to help develop zero energy homes which is something many of us want to know more about.

The winners this year, especially the top three, offer a wide ranging view of how to solve the design challenge. Check out the winners! I wonder if teams from Norwich University or Yestermorrow Design Build School have ever entered? It seems like this program would be right up their respective areas of focus. I'll have to check with friends who teach there.

See photostreams of the homes on Flickr and Hi-res Gallery of Homes on the DOE site.

Enjoy seeing what the next generation of design leaders are up to!

Does being deep Green include Corporate Responsibility?

DEEPGREEN AND CR

I wonder if being deep green can include believing in corporate responsibility and people, planet and profits together? I was listening to NPR driving home. They were discussing a recent Time article, "The Responsibility Revolution" published recently. I know living in Vermont this isn't necessarily breaking news. We know corporate responsibility efforts and green behavior have been tightly linked for over a generation with early adopters and maturing companies in the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility(VBSR.org) sphere. It seems just like good business sense.

The more I practice archtecture the more I believe in the importance of respecting and sustaining natural systems revolving around energy, water and waste in the creating of buildings and places. The USGBC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED program now maturing and gaining mainstream acceptance around the country, offers a framework for aligning the goals of respecting natural systems. Conversation involving sustainability should also include discussing social and cultural systems intertwined with the natural. Thus the corporate responsibility movement offers a wider promise, a deeper more inclusive platform gathering elements such as Green thinking and design together. Organizations, for example, such as Winning Workplaces examine the nexus of building positive workplace culture and operations. The idea of respect permeats both the natural as well as the workplace ecosystems, albeit in differing ways. I think it is interesting to bring this idea into the design of green workplace where natural systems and social and organizational systems collide with delightful oppourtunity for productive cultivation into a more sustainable whole.

It's not easy though...That is why it is so fun to be a green architect and design strategist. It's also like being a gardener where you never really have the "right" answer, but only ones which are relative to the soil you till and the weather and climate surrounding you.

Newsweek Green Rankings_Top 500 Companies

12345.....
Newsweek just published an article and first ever Green Rankings of the top 500 companies in the USA. It's an interesting list of who's who in corporate america and has a distinctly Main Street focus. I did a quick scan of the list and found companies absent I'd expect to see somewhere on it. This gives me pause to reflect about the companies I'm aware of here in Vermont and in our region. Pretty much none of them showed up. You know the one's you'd might expect in the Corporate Social Responsibility space.
Be that as it may this is an interesting effort. Ratings such as these will most definitely provoke controversey and discussion. And if this mainstream media ranking takes hold perhaps it could be a driver of sorts to move sustainability forward. I know of no other truly mass media ranking like this...so it's a beginning at this larger scale.
Newsweek has an article explaining its methodology and the partners it consulted with to assist them in measuring and verification leading to the ranking. You should check it out. One interesting anecdote, I listened to a recent Treehugger radio podcast where they interviewed a deputy editor who helped manage the effort at Newsweek. She said if they knew how much work it would prove to be they might have reconsidered the article and ranking effort. They learned a ton along the way but it was very, very hard work and difficult to figure out how to measure efforts, compare and rank companies. This is no surprise. Green isn't easy. When you tackle systems based issues with all of their interconnectedness it's hard slogging. Kudos for Newsweek to jump into the fire pit along with the other less well known dancers who've been there for a while already.

The top 10, then 100,200 etc... are as follows:
1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Dell
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel
5. IBM
6. State Street
7. Nike
8. Briston-Meyers Squibb
9. Applied Materials
10. Starbucks
....
100. Marathon Oil
200. Costco Warehouse
300. Shaw Group
400. C.R. Bard
500. Peobody Energy

Google's PowerMeter Gadget - Take Control of Your Energy Use

When Dan Reicher was lecturing at Yestermorrow School in Warren, VT a few weeks ago he shared with us details of the Google's new PowerMeter gadget, freely available online. It is in the pilot program phase working in coordination with select utility partners. The PowerMeter hooks up to your electrical service fuse box in your home via a small reader which apparently costs $150 or so. It allows homeowners or business owners to monitor energy use in real time wirelessly within the home or by mobile phone.

Doing so enables energy consumers to monitor their energy use behaviors, what kinds of spikes happen when appliances turn on and off. It helps you understand how much your TV, computer or various plugged in appliances cost you. Conversely it shows you what happens when you shift your behavior. As Dan said in the lecture with one of his slides, "If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it - Lord Kelvin"

This will be hopefully but one of many examples of collaborations between the energy industries and outside partners like Google. Similar to other viral, collaborative efforts perhaps behavior changing gadgets or add-ons will make a difference in our energy usage combined together with shifts to mainstream adoption of green building and energy efficiency practices.

There is strength in numbers. I just hope all of these efforts can reach a consensus of sorts on energy measurement integration standards so this is easy, transparent and effective. Not creation again of another set of closed or propietary systems which don't talk with each other all attempting to beat each other at the same energy use modification game. This also the kind of equipment which would be really cool for public and private buildings to have so building occupants, facility managers and the general public could see energy use on its own terms. It would be great for LEED buildings to be up on the Web hooked into the Google Gadget and kids could see how their Dorm building, classroom building etc. is doing and talk about it in class or work together in energy nerd conservation competitions to see who could reduce their energy use the most. In the process, kids and all involved would learn game changing behaviors to take into life beyond the campus, elementary, middle, or high school.

Gee whiz!

Dan Reicher from Google Spoke at Yestermorrow

Last night I attended Dan Reicher's illuminating lecture at the Yestermorrow Design Build School in Warren. He spoke to a overflow crowd of summer program students, area professionals and interested public. He was there as part of Yestermorrow's weekly lecture series.

As director of Energy and Climate Initiatives at Google, former Assistant Secretary of Energy under the Clinton Administration and team member on the Obama transition team he offered a wide ranging yet extremely well-informed discussion of global energy issues, how they're connected to our local context in Vermont (He used to live in the Mad River Valley) and how Google intersects with them. He participated on helping originate key ideas in the Economic Stimulus Package pertaining to Energy and spoke also about the Climate legislation before congress right now.

He had some interesting quotes for slides, one of them from Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel who said, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste". He spoke to the potential for rapid transformation and change given our current systemic economic problems and how the economic stimulus package provides dramatic opportunities and funding sources to drive energy conservation and efficiency R&D to examine alternative and promising energy fuel options. What's interesting I think is how subtle and imperceptible stimulus related change is to us in Vermont. What we see is heightened activity on our local roads and highways and read about awards of grants and programs to non-profits in affordable housing, agricultural economy and health centers among a few examples. Dan spoke how the arrival of the Obama Administration really is changing the energy policy game in Washington. Their arrival and focus on these issues has released eight years of pent-up demand where alternative energy sources, energy efficiency and other key factors were routinely level funded and poorly supported by the former administration. Things really are different now and it's evident from where he sits.

As Director of energy and climate initiatives at Google, Dan is participating and shepherding some interesting projects along. One project relates to plug-in electric hybrids. He discussed Google's plug-in electric car initiatives where they modified Toyota Prius' aftermarket with additional batteries and installed plug in stations at 'Googleplex'. They made the cars readily available to staff to use as they wish. The gas mileage results were astounding for typical everyday driving at 93 MPG (Done by professionally trained drivers to model typical behavior) Googlers got 73 MPG in average googleplex short trips of 1-2 miles per day. Google envisions in 10 to 15 years possibly millions of such vehicles on the roads. Along the way, battery and electric charging technologies will in his mind no doubt improve.

He also spoke about Enhanced Geothermal Systems which I'd never heard of before. This is the kind of system which takes advantage of the earth's natural heat well below the earth's crust, kilometers below the surface. Water is pumped into the wells and run into the hot areas below and channeled back to the surface to produce electricity. He showed slides displaying the Geothermal energy potential in the U.S. at 3KM, 5KM and 10 KM below the surface. It's a promising technology getting lots of publicity and funding right now. Some issues though were enhanced seismicity (meaning prevalence for earthquakes) related to drilling deep wells although he said this is similar to oil and natural gas drilling where similar issues exist.

An over-arching theme emerged from this where he said virtually in any emerging and existing energy technology there are environmental and societal downsides which must be carefully considered. This is a pervasive theme and it's up to society and political systems to debate together the cost-benefit equations to determine the contingent 'right' answers. He did argue which ever alternative technologies are successful they would be working together and there was no magic new single transformation technology out there. No matter if it's wind, solar, enhanced geothermal, wave energy, traditional oil and gas extraction, bio-mass or cellulose fuel sources there are down-sides in to all of them. He share an anecdote about how public opinion is fickle in regards to this. He reminded us about the recent devastation near a coal plant where coal sludge literally despoiled an entire valley down south last summer and how public opinion didn't seem to get ruffled. This is in comparison to the passionate debate about Nuclear Energy and nuclear power plants and fear of plant accidents. You have two kinds of technologies both effecting the environment and people potentially disastrously with inconsistent concern and fears.

He spoke about the promise and obstacles facing deployment of industrial scale renew ables and plugging them into the smart grid. The biggest issue he said the smart grid effort faces is getting power lines to hook into future and existing generation sites. The permitting and entitlement process for power-lines is lengthy and potentially slowing of the roll-out of large scale generation. The other side to the equation is in the meanwhile, micro-grid power generation such as residential and small scale wind, solar, geothermal are very easy to deploy and likely will find success in the market place simultaneously to the slower development of the smart-grid and power transmission. Thus for all of us here in Vermont and elsewhere committed to small scale projects this is a great sign of promising times ahead.

The last thing I want to mention which was important I think to me and perhaps most importantly is Energy use of Google search at data centers behind our everyday searches. Dan mentioned how the search marketplace is extremely competitive and aware of its energy footprint and that great strides have been made to dramatically reduce power usage levels at Data Centers both at Google and with other search providers. He emphasized how Google really is focused here and as well, more importantly he hopes, on the bigger energy picture. He tried to convey how Google is committed to being involved in large scale energy related projects going forward. I think he did that very well.

Thanks Dan and Yestermorrow for a fascinating looking into global and local energy issues!

(I included an image from Google's 2006 Earthday logo to spice up the post)

National Life Group building earns LEED-EB silver certification

I'm proud to say a local business the National Life Group of Vermont in Montpelier, VT where I live recieved silver certification in the USGBC's LEED for Existing Buildings Program. The three building campus is among the largest in Vermont and employs many in my community and the surrounding area. It's fantastic to see a large corporation plunge into the LEED-EB process and complete the journey. They demonstrate yet again why they are a model VT business, setting examples for others to follow in the state and in their greater insurance industry.

The LEED-EB program purpose is to recognize exemplary performance upgrade efforts to existing buildings in energy efficiency through lighting upgrades and mechanical system optimization, reduction of water use, internal sustainability efforts such as green commuting programs, recycling and waste reduction among many factors. A silver level is the second level in a four tier recognition system, beginning with certified, then silver, gold and finally platinum. Each step is for increasingly better performance and efforts by the building owner.

To read more about the effort and those involved, including Tim Shea who helped lead the charge internally at National Life please see the link to an article at VermontBiz. As part of the effort, they installed at 73 KW solar electric photovoltaic array making it among the largest in Vermont. NRG Systems in Hinesburg has a 141 KW installed between it's two buildings and is also among the largest in Vermont. What's great is not who has the most PV installed it's that it's happening right here in cloudy New England and it's financially viable over the long haul!

The bottom-line is National Life's continued committment to Greening their facilities is another reason to pay attention to Vermont Businesses and the Green Valley of Vermont.