Category: Energy

@SolarPuertoRico, Community Building, Energy, First Circle Coaching, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Permaculture, Systems Thinking

@SolarPuertoRico: No Limitations Beyond Design Considerations

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BAREIDanoskiInstall (33)There are no limitations in designing any project, property, or life plan beyond the design considerations. This is the case in Puerto Rico.

Many people have voiced support for @SolarPuertoRico. Each has brought up the difficulties presented by the project. These are all design considerations which will advise how we proceed.

“Wait… What about a budget?? Surely that’s a limitation!”

The budget is a design consideration. It’s part of the existing conditions, present at the start of strategic planning.

“How will we get the solar panels, wiring, infrastructure there?”

This is also an existing condition. The solar company @Sunnova_Solar led by @SunnovaCEO John Berger has projects in Puerto Rico. He has met with Puerto Rico’s governor @RicardoRossello. I hope to hear back from them soon. Perhaps you know someone who works there?

“What about labor? How will you find people with the right experience to train locals in force? People can’t volunteer that kind of time!”

BAREIMichaudPathfinder (1)I agree, it’s not fair to ask people to volunteer their time and expertise to work on @SolarPuertoRico. Those who participate will experience opportunity cost by spending time away from their loved ones, and living conditions in Puerto Rico will be challenging. My plan is that people will get paid for their work. (Though I’m hoping people will contact me to volunteer if they want to help develop the project. It will make this much more fun!)

Would you like to be involved? Do you have a contact in Puerto Rico? If so, please get in touch! ¡Vamos a Hacerlo! Let’s do it!

BAREIGroupShot
PAREI, BAREI & Berlin BetterBuildings Energy Raiser, Berlin NH 2013

@SolarPuertoRico, Community Building, Energy, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Pathways to Thriving, Systems Thinking

@SolarPuertoRico: ¡Vamos a hacerlo!

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Banner_H2Puerto Rico. An entire country devastated by one natural disaster. The power grids are down. Infrastructure is incapacitated. How on Earth do you rebuild after this? The answer is, you don’t: at least not a traditional power grid.What is truly frightening is that hurricane season isn’t over yet.

This is a terrible tragedy. In the weeks following the fall of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, the NYC design/build community of professionals came together to help the city redesign the space. Neighborhoods divided when the Towers were built were reconnected. Energy efficiency, renewable energy and green space were major design considerations.

When a system is disrupted, as the energy grid was after Sandy landed in 2012, we have an opportunity to improve that system. New Jersey energy providers had an opportunity to create a decentralized system which would be more resilient. They could have considered what improvements would be necessary with increased sea levels. The investment of public dollars could have been used to rebuild electrical infrastructure with renewable energy!

Increasing the number of independent hot water and electric solar arrays would have increased resilience.

The damage is more severe in Puerto Rico.

This is the time to design social, natural and financial ecosystems which integrate stakeholder engagement, product lifecycle, socially just procurement, workforce training, community coordination, energy efficiency, edible landscapes & permaculture,  waste management, and  sustainable infrastructure. It is time to distribute power in all its forms equitably and inclusively, respectful of cultural and ethnic diversity.

Someone needs to support Puerto Rico in creating distributed renewable energy. Let’s listen to what the people of Puerto Rico need AND want. Let’s offer them support in creating a workforce of energy efficiency professionals, who can grow their own food, and create a sustainable economy, using public banking to fund it.

Yes, all the parts and pieces have to be brought there. People are focusing on clean-up, many are just trying to survive. We need to find the funding. The devastation is complete. These are not limitations, they are design considerations. We know how to do this!

This is not just a dream. We can make it happen! ¡Vamos a hacerlo! (Let’s do it!)

Community Building, Energy, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Systems Thinking

Traditional energy funding models fair game for renewables

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Traditional energy funding models fair game for renewables

Interesting article in Environmental Magazine about the use of traditional funding models for fossil fuel projects being adopted to attract investors to renewable energy projects. If this can help smooth out the cyclical availability of funds through tax incentives, this might invite capital and bring some momentum to companies offering renewables.

Community Building, Energy, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Local Economy, Systems Thinking

How do we build sustainable infrastructure?

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Until now, there have been no common standards by which sustainable infrastructure projects could be measured. With the Envision™ Rating Tool, launched in 2012 through a collaboration between the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, project design teams now have a way to evaluate infrastructure designs, and their suitability for a particular community.

Envision™ provides these teams with a framework for evaluating and rating the benefits and impacts of all types of infrastructure projects on the stakeholders, the natural resources and the local economy. As communities build projects to support the needs of their stakeholders, more and more are considering how to best use resources over the life cycle of a project.

If we consider the recent senior housing project at the Carroll County campus, we could ask how the building will be used when the senior population has declined. Can the building be dismantled and the resources used elsewhere? Can it easily be transformed into additional correctional space, or perhaps as dormitories for criminal justice students? The answers to these questions will help us rate whether this infrastructure project was planned to be truly sustainable.

Envision™ has sixty sustainability criteria, called credits, divided into five sections: Quality of Life, Leadership, Resource Allocation, Natural World, and Climate and Risk.

As the only credentialed Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, I can lead your infrastructure project teams through the process of developing sustainable projects by assessing, evaluating and grading sustainability indicators over the course of the project’s life cycle. What arises is a project design which truly includes input from all stakeholders that will best serve your community.

Envision™ can be used by infrastructure owners, design teams, community groups, environmental organizations, constructors, regulators, and policy makers to:
• Meet sustainability goals as defined by the stakeholders.
• Be publicly recognized for high levels of achievement in sustainability.
• Help communities and project teams to collaborate and discuss, “Are we doing the right project?” and, “Are we doing the project right?”
• Make decisions about the investment of scarce resources.
• Include community priorities in civil infrastructure projects.

The Envision™ tools help the project design team:
• Evaluate environmental resource origins and benefits as an integral part of the project
• Assess costs and benefits over the project lifecycle, considering what happens to the resources when the project function is no longer relevant or appropriate.
• Use outcome-based objectives based on these new considerations.
• Reach higher levels of sustainability achievement than is currently acceptable.

Together we can design your infrastructure project to be truly sustainable. I can guide you as we develop a stakeholder engagement model that ensures the project will serve the community. Please get in touch to discuss your project.

Community Building, Energy, First Circle Coaching, Green Collar Economy, Infrastructure, Inner Ecosystem, Insights, Local Economy, Systems Thinking

Trust as a Leverage Mechanism

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When looking to create a thriving system it is important to consider the leverage points. For instance, in our work with Berlin BetterBuildings we discovered that one of the most important leverage points is in one’s ability to be trusted. When we first came to town many looked at us skeptically. Through our partnership with the Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire energy efficiency program, ably coordinated by Joseph Lajewski, we were able to help fund the energy audits required to create a scope of work. People were able to see exactly what work needed to be done, approximately what that work would cost and what the estimated payback period would be based on the savings. However, much of the time, the cost of implementing the work, usually a large capital injection, was beyond the reach of our clients. RMANH had a generous incentive for implementing the work, but we at first did not. It was only after we developed our incentives that our commercial clients became truly committed.

There were many times over the year and a half between when I first began promoting this program and when we offered the incentives. Each time a new deadline needed to be met, the clients took a leap of faith and submitted the required paperwork, never really thinking they would be going through with a project. You can imagine how good it felt to see their faith rewarded with valuable incentives.

There were many tough conversations, but we at Berlin BetterBuildings never promised something we couldn’t deliver. We were responsive, respectful and confident that our clients would benefit from the program once they were able to participate. Earning their trust directly affected the success of this program, and will contribute to the economic development of this North Country mill town. It is an honor to work to support a community like Berlin NH.