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Cool ideas at Ignite Clean Energy preview

The Ignite Clean Energy 2010 kickoff is in 11 days on February 24, but I participated in the preview last Thursday. The ideas for new innovations were impressive! Eight people explained their concepts for products or services in cleantech and energy efficiency, and outlined the skills they’d like to add to their teams.

The enthusiasm and collaborative spirit were invigorating. Participants discussed the concepts and ways they could help with a team’s project.  Many presenters are recent graduates, a few are students, and others are mature professionals pursing the next great thing.

Run by the MIT Enterprise Forum, the Ignite Clean Energy (ICE) business plan competition is one of the most prestigious renewable energy competitions in the US.

The ICE program comprises a year-long training and competitive forum for entrepreneurs in the clean energy industry. It provides collaboration, mentoring and visibility for new product concepts.

Thursday’s ICE teambuilding preview was held at the Harvard Business School after the HBS Cleantech Alumni panel.

Compact Florescent Lights: quick and easy cost savings from my MassSave energy audit

To hook homeowners on energy savings, the MassSave energy auditor replaces incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs). I’ve been using CFLs for decades in several rooms and for my outdoor lighting. Since many of my indoor lights have dimmer switches, I was eager to try dimmable CFLs. The auditor changed 27 light bulbs, so now I have CFLs installed in the kitchen, guest bedroom, hallway to garage, stairs, bathroom and home office. Seventeen are dimmable reflector-style recessed lights and ten are standard CFLs of 3 different styles (see my CFL bulb styles below).

Energy Savings with CFLs
Together the energy auditor and I calculated the electricity savings I should expect from this simple lighting change. For example, all six CFL lights in my kitchen now use the equivalent of just one incandescent light bulb. My electricity bill showed the savings immediately. By changing 27 incandescent bulbs to CFLs, I saved $30 in the first month, and repeated the $30 savings again the following month. I’m hooked on the savings!

Homeowners may keep their incandescent bulbs just in case they prefer incandescent lighting and they’re prepared to continue paying the substantially higher cost of electricity. I kept mine since I wasn’t certain that I’d prefer the CFLs in every room. Now months later, my incandescent bulbs are still in the closet. The CFL lighting quality works great and I prefer the cost savings.

Brightness time-delay
Compact florescent lights take tiny personal-behavior adjustments just like any change. When you flip on the light switch, a standard CFL bulb turns on immediately. But it glows at partial-brightness initially and then brightens within two to three minutes once it warms up.

The dimmable CFLs take a full second to show any light. It sounds fast, but it takes getting used to. At night that one-second pause is enough time to walk across the kitchen to the sink in total darkness. I don’t like the delay. After thinking about it for a day or two, I’ve decided that I don’t need the dimmer switches in these rooms. So I plan to replace  change the switches from dimming switches to standard, and replace the dimmable CFLs with standard reflector CFLs.

Energy savings across the Northeast region
Replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs also reduces energy consumption across the region. Both the homeowner and the utility benefit s a result. The homeowner saves money immediately, and the utility has lower demand for electricity which means they can avoid building more power plants.

CFL styles added to my home
3  25w Harmony Spiral in the laundry and hallway to the garage
4  15w Fit Globe decorative CFL bulbs in the master bathroom above the mirror and sink
3  Philips 15w R-30 Reflectors lighting the hallway stairs
17  GE 15w R-30 Dimmable Flood reflector CFLs in the home office, guest bedroom and kitchen

LEED Green Associate training begins

My training to become a LEED Green Associate began today. The 1st session of a 3-part LEED Green Associate Exam Prep Training course was attended by nearly 60 trainees. This post summarizes who attends LEED training, what’s taught, and by whom.

Energy Efficiency now balanced with sustainability
The first topic confirmed that the Green Building Certification process is now requiring tracking of energy usage in LEED certified buildings (after they’ve been certified) to monitor whether the buildings are truly efficient. Also the rating systems to certify buildings (see below) now give more points to energy efficiency elements. I’m glad to see these important steps forward that emphasize energy efficiency or at least balance energy efficiency with sustainable construction.

LEED stands for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Trainees: Who attends LEED training?
Twenty percent of the trainees in this course are general contractors or project managers for general contractors. Ten percent are designers including electrical design and interior design. Five are environmental consultants or indoor air quality professionals, and another five are architects or planners. Mechanical engineers, research consultants, job seekers transitioning to energy efficiency or sustainability, and students comprised the remaining trainees.

Content: Session 1 provides an overview of:
1. LEED rating systems and point credit categories.

All the rating systems use the same six credit categories to score points: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation & design process. The total credit point score determines whether a building receives the Platinum, Gold or Silver certification.

The LEED credential tiers were reorganized in 2009 into LEED v3. The specific LEED rating systems which focus on the type of design (commercial new construction, existing building operation and maintenance, schools, homes) were also reorganized and more rating systems are now being refined for neighborhood development, retail, and other types of buildings.

2. LEED registration and certification processes.
Overview of the structure of the Green Building Council (USGBC) versus the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). The trainers spent nearly 1/3 of the class time on this. Seems like a good indication that the registration and certification processes could be streamlined so they’re easier to understand.

3. Cost assessment tools to evaluate sustainable strategies.

4. Design processes useful for implementing the LEED program requirements.

Trainers: Why NEXUS at the Boston’s USGBC chapter?
The exam prep training is available through many sources including NEXUS which is Boston’s chapter of US Green Building Council (USGBC), community colleges and private training facilities. I elected to take my LEED Green Associate training at NEXUS because I’m a member and want to support the organization. Plus it’s a great reason to re-visit the excellent educational displays at NEXUS and use their online resources for researching building materials and providers that increase energy efficiency and improve indoor air quality.

GreenPoint Ventures’ Stefan Pagacik inspires Green Group Boston

GreenPoint Ventures founder Stefan Pagacik inspired me when he shared his motivation for starting the business with members of Green Group Boston. Stefan speaks passionately about halting beach erosion and preserving the coastal waters off Manomet near Plymouth, Massachusetts, which in turn will protect human health by restoring the natural food chain. Blending facts with anecdotes about recent odd behaviors of whales and seals, he educates listeners to observe their environment and assess their individual paths to stewardship.

Stefan encourages people to be active stakeholders in their communities – on any project and by whatever path compels them. Through getting involved, each discovers his or her personal focus. They identify how and where they can contribute. His beach erosion example contrasts the level of community concern now versus two years ago. Then, 60 residents participated in the Manomet Beach Preservation Project; now 600 people are engaged from all political persuasions.

At GreenPoint Ventures, Stefan and his colleagues focus in three areas: healthy food, clean water and clean power. He leads with vision, activates each cleantech business initiative and connects the stakeholders through a process he calls the interconnected coalition model. Individual stakeholders work together wherever they identify or anticipate synergies among their initiatives. These collaborations accelerate both individual initiatives and overall progress due to the contributions of each person and organization.

Using a Socratic style Stefan helps people open their eyes to the path toward progress. The questions help participants discover their own ideas for what they can do today that will drive progress toward their sustainability goals. He encourages deeper analysis by asking which audience has the pain, e.g., the business need; then asks what causes that pain, and how can it be resolved. Like any coaching process, this results in specific, actionable plans. Equally important, the project is infused with personal passion.

Through the process in just a few minutes interacting with Stefan, Green Group Boston participant Reem Yared identified a clearer path to improve water treatment and achieve it cost-effectively. She now has a specific action plan to lead the project and engage key industry and government stakeholders. I’m confident she’ll make it happen.

Energy Efficiency: MassSave residential energy audit

Last year I renewed my efforts to improve energy efficiency at home. What’s my motivation? Saving money! Rather than pay more than absolutely necessary for gas and electricity, I prefer to spend hard-earned cash on visits with family and friends, better sports equipment and contributions to Haiti earthquake relief and local conservation organizations.

There are many ways to improve energy efficiency. I thought it would be helpful to know where to prioritize my efforts. So I scheduled a free home energy audit through the MassSave program.

On the appointed day, an informative home energy auditor from Conservation Services Group (CSG) reviewed our natural gas and electric utility bills and zeroed in on electricity as our priority for rapid savings. Together we walked through our home and identified areas to save electricity. The audit result indicated that my primary savings opportunities are lighting and insulation. Other electricity areas potential savings are the refrigerator plus the burner that heats hot water for our baseboard heating system.

The auditor recommended weatherization improvements that would reduce our gas heating bill. I plan to schedule a more in-depth energy audit to determine precisely where additional insulation is advisable. In summary, the three-hour free audit was a good investment of our time and jumpstarted our next phase of energy savings.

I realize the MassSave “free” home energy audit isn’t really free. I’ve been paying for it for years through fees on my utility bills. In the MassSave program, my local utilities NSTAR and National Grid collect the fees and then contract with the Conservation Services Group in Westborough to perform the energy audits in eastern Massachusetts.

Mass. Assoc. of Conservation Commissioners board nomination

The Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissioners (MACC) informed me that I’ve been nominated to the Board of Directors. This is an honor and an opportunity to serve this organization which reaches statewide, regionally and nationally. Here’s the excerpt from the nominee notice on page 14 of the newsletter:

NEW NOMINEE TO THE BOARD
Brenda Kelly has served on the Bedford Conservation Commission since 2001, including two years as Chair. She led review of complex commercial projects involving wetlands and conservation areas as well as vegetation management at Hanscom Field airport. She has leveraged Community Preservation funds to purchase and protect open space with conservation restrictions. She has nearly completed the MACC Advanced Certificate Program.

Brenda also serves on the Bedford Energy Task Force which is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing use of renewable energy and energy efficiency. She sees excellent synergies for collaboration on initiatives for open space protection and energy conservation. Brenda was a co-founder of software start-up SupplyScape, which grew to be an industry leader in three years. Earlier she managed software marketing at IBM. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from Kellogg Graduate School of Management.