10% Challenge Training

 By Melissa Everett, Ph.D., Executive Director, Sustainable Hudson Valley

Sustainable Hudson Valley was generously awarded a CA-CP Community Catalyst Fund Mini-Grant to capture lessons learned in the pilot phase of our 10% Challenge, by designing and delivering a training session for regional champions who could then scale up the Challenge in their own communities.   Through our relationship with the Center for Regional Research, Education and Outreach at the State University of New York in New Paltz, we were able to access a very affordable, spacious conference room and a scrumptious locally-sourced lunch menu including quiche, greens, and apple crisp.  Fortunately the menu also included plenty of coffee, because we worked hard.

The schedule was designed to start with strategy and move into hands-on, community-specific planning and problem-solving.  Special attention was given to two areas we knew were challenging:  measurement and verification, and creating an appropriate business model for sponsorships to support the campaign financially.  To address this second issue, we invited the CEOs of several new and original sponsoring businesses to sit in on the session and discuss their thoughts over lunch.  Broadly, here is what we covered:

1. Campaign overview
2. Reports from the field
3. Refresher on community-based social marketing: (a) discussion  of the framework, role of opinion leaders and modeling, commitments, and supports; (b) “Sustainable Connections” video of a highly successful organization using CBSM for waste reduction, clean energy and buy-local campaigns.  Discussion (animated!)
4. LUNCH and sponsor round table – emphasis on business’ desire to offer their expertise as well as their products and services, and to build community relationships.
5. Breakout sessions: (a) outreach and visibility; (b) measurement/ verification; (c) focus on behavior change – “the ask”

Besides the original communities, the audience represented the town of Rochester (where the campaign was not adopted due to expected political resistance), the town of Rosendale (which has a very advanced Environmental Commission and is in the midst of its ICLEI greenhouse gas emissions inventory, where the campaign was not adopted because there is so much already going on) and 6 representatives from the Town of Montgomery and its 3 villages of Montgomery, Maybrook and Walden, where the Challenge has been adopted across the board.  Representatives came from the Conservation Council, school system, Town Board, the arts and youth, including a prolific local blogger who agreed to devote the next year’s blogging to her audience of 600, to the 10% Challenge!  We realized anew that this campaign is not for everyone, but it is for a very special, highly motivated, risk-taking population that we love to draw out of the woodwork.

Helping Households Save Energy in Guilford, CT

Greg Seaman, Secretary, Guilford Energy Task Force

Guilford Energy Task Force applied for a grant from Community Catalyst Fund for $2500 to fund 30 low-income homeowners for home energy assessments.  (The balance of the grant was for postage and supplies.)  These HEAs were carried out by companies authorized by Northeast Utilities, which cost each homeowner $75, with the balance of the cost covered by the CT Energy Efficiency Fund.  The grant was to pay the $75 for each homeowner in the Guilford “circuit breaker” list, homeowners whose income is sufficiently low that the state of Connecticut subsidized their property taxes.

The grant was applied for in Dec., 2010 and received in Jan., 2011.

Informing the Homeowners and Responses

Letters were sent to the 321 homeowners in the town “circuit breaker” list, with a self-addressed, stamped postcard to return if they were interested in a home energy assessment.

Publicity from an article in the New Haven Register the day the letters were sent out helped draw attention to the program.  There were six calls to the Energy Task Force committee chair or to the town hall before postcards started arriving on March 23.  These six were outside the grant program, but all were told that they could schedule their own energy assessment and pay the homeowner fee.   Most were appreciative, not having known about this possibility.

Postcards were time stamped as they arrived, with 30 arriving by March 28.  (A total of 66 were received through April 26, and none after that.) 

Two members of the committee contacted each of the first 30 homeowners to determine if they had had recent energy assessments.  Two declined to have an assessment, five had had recent energy assessments, and one was not available until later.   Additional people were contacted and added to the list.

Providing the $75 Co-Pay

The Town of Guilford received the grant money.  A check made out to the energy company was mailed to the homeowner once the assessment was scheduled.

Home Energy Assessments

The 30 homeowners were divided up between the two closest energy companies, Energy Resource Group in Northford, CT and Lantern Energy in North Haven, CT.  Homeowners were asked to contact one of these companies directly to schedule.

The assessments were performed starting April 18, and continued through October.

All of the homeowners after the first thirty were informed that they are on a waiting list, and that we are seeking additional funds for them.

The two energy services companies provided a summary of the work performed for the homeowners, without attribution.  Also, homeowners were asked to save utility bills for three months after the HES so that we can get some idea of electricity savings (the utility provides current month and usage from one year ago on each bill).

Estimate of Energy Savings

An analysis of the annual energy savings was made for the first 28 homes that received home energy assessments.  (Two additional homes were scheduled late in the process.)

Annual energy savings of about $4,000 is estimated, based on one hour daily use of each compact fluorescent light provided, 5% heating fuel savings for insulation provided, and 2% hot water cost savings for each hot water flow restrictor provided.

This clearly justifies the $2,500 grant amount in the first year alone.

Energy Savings Analysis Methodology

Three areas of savings were analyzed:

• Electricity savings from using compact fluorescent lights instead of incandescent bulbs.
• Heating fuel savings from insulation provided.
• Hot water heating savings from providing flow restrictors.

Actual annual fuel usage for the three types of home heating (oil, gas, and electric) were obtained from one home each in Guilford, and expressed as cost per square foot.  Current (Aug. 2011) costs were used for oil and electricity, but natural gas was the 2010-11 cost.   Most of the homes (22 of 28) in the analysis had oil heat, so fuel oil costs are the largest factor in the analysis.

The assumption of one hour operation per day for each CFL replacement resulted in annual electricity savings in good agreement (within 6%) with an estimate from an electric utility that an average of three fixtures per room (and outdoors) are in use more than three hours per day.  (Just three hours were used in the comparison.)  An average of the two methods was used.  A mix of 40, 60 and 100 watt replacement CFLs was used.

Hot water costs were assumed to be 37% of whole house heating costs, based on three utility estimates.  The reduction in hot water use from flow restrictors is hard to estimate, with no references found for estimated savings.  This analysis used savings of 2% of hot water costs per flow restrictor installed.    Since restrictors can cut hot water usage in a shower by as much as half, this is probably a conservative estimate. 

This is an average of about $132 per home per year.   The total will be close to $4,000 when the two additional homes are included.

 The amount of CO₂ emissions reduced was also determined, using the estimates:

• 22.4 lbs CO₂ per gallon of heating oil
• 12.06 lbs CO₂ per therm of natural gas
• 0.35 Kg CO₂/kwh for electricity generation in Connecticut

This latter number is an average of an overall number found for Connecticut in 2007, and the emissions for each type of fuel used in electricity

Adding the savings for home electricity use, and heat and hot water for oil, gas and electric, the total savings in CO₂ emissions was about 8 tons per year.

Out with the OLD and in with the NEW: Single-Stream Recycling Begins in Farmington, CT

By Liz Dolphin, Assistant Town Planner, Town of Farmington, CT

Education is the first step in a successful recycling program, and thanks to a grant from Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Community Catalyst Fund, the Town of Farmington, CT is off to a great start as it enters the new era of single-stream recycling.  The Community Catalyst Fund grant enabled the Farmington Green Efforts Committee to prepare and mail out a newsletter to all residents about recycling in general and single-stream recycling specifically.  To provide even further outreach, the newsletter is posted on the Town’s web site.

The residents received the newsletter a month in advance of the delivery of their new 95-gallon single-stream recycling carts.  The newsletter answered common questions that the Town has received over the years about recycling in general and provided details about the upcoming single-stream recycling program.  Our Committee’s goal was that through strong outreach and education about recycling before the single-stream program begins, we could increase the participation rate even further by getting people to think a little harder about what they can recycle from their household. 

The program is in its first few weeks, but participation is high.  Each recycling day neighborhoods are lined with the new bright blue recycling carts.  We are anxious to see the first reports to see what our recycling rates are with the new program. Single-stream recycling has proven to increase recycling rates, and we are confident that Farmington will follow that trend.  Thank you to the Community Catalyst Fund for getting us off to a great start!

A Busy Year for Spencer-Van Etten Middle School’s Greenhouse Program

By Brenda J. Anderson, Spencer-Van Etten Middle School

The 7^th and 8^th grade students in my Greenhouse Program (GHP) at Spencer-Van Etten (S-VE) Middle School in Spencer, NY, plan big .  The students in this hands-on integrated elective continued their work from previous years of promoting Green Education in their building, district and community in a variety of exciting ways. 

Much of their planning and work focused on promoting the 2^nd Annual Green Week, March 14^th -18^th, 2011 in both the elementary and middle school buildings.  Students in all grades PreK-8 participated in trivia contests, lessons, recycling initiatives with www.terracycle.net and a recycling audit.  Eighth grade math students used data from previous waste audits to calculate the amount of waste that S-VE school district diverts from the landfill each year by composting and recycling (102,000 pounds annually!) while eighth grade science students studied the ecology of the compost pile, grew fresh mushrooms and prepared a class luncheon fit for a king.  The week culminated in a spectacular presentation about environmental issues by presenter Glenn Colton at both the elementary and middle levels.

In April, the Board of Education (BOE) and community members were given an opportunity to look into the endeavors of the GHP during a community expo prior to a BOE meeting.  Students shared initiatives in composting, recycling, reductions in plastic bag usage and raising money for their program through “upcycling” with Terracycle.  Students shared a composting DVD and spoke to members of the media about their successes.

In May, the 8^th grade class and some 7^th graders in the GHP took a trip to Cornell University for a series of workshops on water and soil quality, recycling and hydrofracking.  Students had opportunities to speak with community leaders in their fields and learn about related jobs.  The field trip ended at Aman Farm in Candor where S-VE sends all of its compostable waste.  Students learned about the farm firsthand, including how their lunch room waste is turned into usable compost and methane gas for electricity production.  Following the field trip, students in the GHP began editing video footage taken during the trip.  Their video, while still in production, intends to educate the larger community about the composting process from lunch pail waste to completed compost. 

Our final community educational endeavor, Party at the Pond, took place on June 4^th, 2011.  Students from Green Teams in both the elementary and middle buildings spent the day teaching community members about the dangers of plastic bags with an educational flyer and DVD.  Participants that visited the booth were able to create canvas grocery shopping bags to take home and use on their next visit to the store.  Students also helped booth visitors plant seeds using the compost collected from our own cafeteria waste and recycled yogurt cups. 

While GHP students are wrapping up the year, they are also busy planning events for the 2011-12 season.  Plans are underway for a trip to a local recycling center and to Ithaca College to see green buildings and college campuses in action.  Students who attend will be turn-key trainers for other students when they return from their buildings.  Several community workshops are also in the planning stages, including one to teach community members how to compost with worms.  Students also wish to create an environmental calendar for community distribution.

A heart-felt thank you goes out to the Community Catalyst Fund from the students and community of Spencer-Van Etten.  Your generous monetary contributions are helping to make all of our Green Dreams come true!

Community Catalyst Fund Supports Municipal Green Team Development in Westchester County Villages

By Dani Glaser, Green Team Spirit

“To hit the climate challenge ahead of us we need to make changes now.  Our village governments need to set an example for our communities, and this change starts from within. Our village green teams will help change the culture, and this training will help us do that.”


– Mayor Peter Swiderski, Village of Hastings-on-Hudson 

 “The Green Team initiative is a great example of the action that can be taken at local levels of government to improve energy efficiency and savings, which is not only good for the environment and our quality of life, but good for business too. It is also another example of how the villages are working more closely together to share services and opportunities to lower the cost of government and benefit taxpayers.”

– Mayor Hartley Connett, Village of Dobbs Ferry

Green Team Spirit was contracted by the Villages of Dobbs Ferry and Hastings-on-Hudson, NY to develop municipal Green Team programs for internal government operations.  Generous funding for this work derives from grants awarded to the Village of Dobbs Ferry and the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson from Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Community Catalyst Fund. The grant supported training and assistance to municipal employees in the critical areas of leadership development, goal setting, identification of resource-conservation opportunities, and communication.  The program is further intended to serve as a role model for residents, local businesses and neighboring municipalities.

The program kicked off on March 1, 2011 at Dobbs Ferry Village Hall where Mayor Connett of Dobbs Ferry, Mayor Swiderski of Hastings-on-Hudson and 18 Village leaders attended a Green Team Leadership Training session led by Dani Glaser of Green Team Spirit.  Over the course of three months, the Green Teams met on a regular basis, identifying clear goals and began working on prioritized projects.  They assigned leadership roles to keep the teams organized and on track for future growth.  Roles include:

• Green Team Coordinator – point person responsible for (intra) Green Team communications (meeting calendar, goal tracking, etc.).
• Green Team Secretary – responsible for taking minutes at meetings.
• Municipal Liaison – responsible for communicating with neighboring Green Teams to share ideas and resources

Initial Areas of Focus in Hastings-on-Hudson

Waste & Recycling

• Green Team members conducted a manual waste audit at the Municipal Building, Library and Recreation Center.  The results will serve as a benchmark for waste reduction goals.
• Volunteers stenciled the Green Team logo and the words “Recycling” and “Trash” on the bins outside of the library and municipal buildings.
• Green Team members met with the owner of the janitorial service contractor and staff to make sure that all waste remained properly source separated on route to its destination.  Of note, this service uses all green cleaning products.

Paper

Paper saving practices and switching to electronic forms of communication were well underway before the Green Team started. Knowing that there is always room for improvement, the Green Team embarked on the following paper saving initiatives:

• Paper Audit – Counted the reams of paper purchased in FY10/11 (June to May) by the Village and associated costs as a benchmark for improvement. 
• A decision was made to switch to 100% recycled copy paper for FY11/12.  The cost increase was minimal and paper saving practices help to offset the cost of this initiative that is very beneficial to the environment.
• Set printer default to double-sided for printers, village-wide where feasible. 
• Electronic board packets – Village board, Planning board and Zoning board packets will transition from paper to electronic, as is feasible beginning in June 2011.
• Paper towels – New, efficient towel dispensers that dispense one (small) hand towel at a time will replace the inefficient dispensers that “pull out” multiple tri-fold towels and waste a great deal of paper, resulting in paper savings and cost savings. The Green Team is evaluating high efficiency hand dryers as well.
• Payroll System – The Green Team plans to explore ways to minimize paper in the payroll system by encouraging direct deposit and exploring the feasibility of emailing pay stubs.  They will coordinate with Dobbs Ferry, which has this process underway.

Communication

• The Green Team is working on obtaining a complete email list of all staff for electronic distribution of staff newsletters, rather than printed communications.  Green Team updates and tips are planned as part of the content.
• Signage with the new Green Team logo will be posted increasingly in areas for behavioral reminders.

Energy

Information about the most energy- and cost-efficient way to manage computers will be communicated to staff. 

 Initial Areas of Focus in Dobbs Ferry

 Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

• Working on getting new HVAC and lighting systems for the Library, with efficient room controls and sensors.
• Lighting fixtures in Village Hall are being replaced to make it more energy efficient.  
• A bid for solar PV panels was approved by the Village board on June 14^th, to be placed atop the Library and DPW buildings.
• LED streetlights are being re-bid with broader specifications.

 Paper

• Paper Audit – Counted the reams of paper purchased in FY10/11 (June to May) by the Village and associated costs as a benchmark for improvement.
• Paper Policy – Paper guidelines for dissemination to staff are under review by the Green Team. Double-sided printing to be the default.
• Electronic Board packets — currently in use by Library board; in discussion with other boards (village, planning, building, zoning) on switching to electronic processes where feasible. 
• Electronic subscription to Village calendar – Beginning in May 2011, the quarterly Village calendar, formerly mailed to all residents, was taken on line and available via email subscription only; saving 20,000 pieces of paper/year plus eliminating the cost of printing and postage.
• Scanning – Village is in the process of scanning items such as permits, titles and residential building plans that will be available on-line.  State forms are increasingly scanned and filled out on line.
• Payroll – working toward the goal of 100% direct deposit and emailing pay stubs.
• Village invested in highly efficient system that saves time and money for purchasing, accounting and budgeting practices. 

 Green Cleaning

The Village put out a bid contract for cleaning services.  Service providers will continue to use green cleaning products already in practice.

 Waste & Recycling

• $10,000 was spent on new recycling bins and garbage cans for Cedar and Main Streets.
• Recycling program is expanding in the Village in accordance with the County’s new rules on recycling of plastics.
• Community clean up day for past 2 years, very successful.

 Next Steps

The Village Green Teams have accomplished a great deal in a short period of time.  They are well organized and will have ongoing access to information and tools from Green Team Spirit to continue their work toward a more sustainable government and community.  Dobbs Ferry and Hastings on Hudson join the Town of Cortlandt as the first three municipal Green Teams in Westchester County, leading an intra-municipal effort toward greener government.

Why My City is Cool

By Jim Rutala, Chair, Linwood (NJ) Environmental Commission

Achieved bronze Sustainable Jersey Certification.  Linwood, NJ,  is part of an elite group of 67 municipalities that have achieved the prestigious Sustainable Jersey certification. Municipalities that earn the certification are considered by their peers, by state government, and by the experts and civic organizations in New Jersey, to be among the leading municipalities in the State.

2008 New Jersey Clean Communities Award – The Linwood Environmental Commission was awarded an achievement award from the New Jersey Clean Communities Program for the continuing the annual Patcong Creek Clean Up Effort.

2008 Environmental Stewardship – On May 19, 2008, Linwood was recognized for its voluntary and proactive measures than to go beyond compliance in an effort to improve the environment and ensure a sustainable future.

In 2006 the Linwood Environmental Commission was awarded an achievement award from the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) for Protecting Linwood’s Resources and Promoting Sustainability. 

Milestone 1:  Linwood City Council established a Green Team to further the City’s efforts to be a leader in sustainability.

Milestone 2: The Green Team has held numerous public meetings to gain input on future efforts.  The Green Team includes representatives from the business community, schools, City Council, Environmental Commission, Planning Board, and Shade Tree Commission.  The Green Team also participates in the City’s Country Fair distributing information regarding sustainability.

Milestone 3: The Mayor has signed the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement.

Milestone 4: The City has adopted a wind ordinance, constructed a City Arboretum, and the High School has installed solar and an anemometer to study the potential for wind power.

The city Arboretum

Milestone 5: The City is completing an energy audit for all of its buildings and making energy efficiency upgrades using ARRA funding support.  The City is applying for grant funds to develop a Complete Streets Plan and plans to adopt a Complete Streets Policy.  The City is also pursuing the purchase of one of the last undeveloped wooded areas in the City to create a greenway along the Patcong Creek and to extend the bike path.

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure: Sag Harbor’s Energy Use Inventory

 By Sumner Pingree, 725 Green

Since 2007, 725 Green has been dedicated to providing voluntary action, education and local leadership to promote and assist the municipality of Sag Harbor, New York in becoming a more sustainable community.  We have engaged residents and village officials in numerous initiatives focused on waste reduction, transportation, energy efficiency, stormwater pollution and open space protection. 

In July, 2010, with the collaboration of the region’s Group for the East End, 725 Green received grant support from the Community Catalyst Fund to undertake an Energy Use Inventory & Baseline study of Sag Harbor’s municipal operations.  The impetus for this initiative was a community workshop, “Clean Energy Opportunities for Sag Harbor”, held in April, 2010 and sponsored by 725 Green and Clean Air-Cool Planet.  On July 7, 2010, the Sag Harbor Village Board passed a resolution in support of an updated analysis of energy use as proposed by 725 Green.

Sag Harbor Municipal Hall, built 1846.

With critical funding provided by the Community Catalyst Fund, the Sag Harbor project commenced with the hiring of a part-time project intern, Daniel Hewes, an Environmental Studies major at Northeastern University.  Daniel’s assembly of all primary data required by the Small Town Carbon Calculator (STOCC) program was completed in September, 2010.  Outstanding assistance was provided throughout by the Sag Harbor Village Clerk’s office.  In December 2010, the project team completed STOCC data input, describing baseline energy costs and emissions for more than 10 separate municipal facilities and departments for the period of July 2009 to June 2010.

We’re very excited to have the opportunity to build on the foundation provided by the completed inventory.  Over the next several months, the project team will carry out some next steps, including comparing our STOCC inventory with the findings of the 2007 energy audit conducted by the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA); presenting the Energy Use Inventory & Baseline Report to the Sag Harbor Village Board; and establishing a temporary Working Group to develop “Best Building Practices Guidelines” to promote standards of design and construction that improve environmental, health and productivity performance.  These standards will be applicable to all new construction and major renovation projects requiring local permitting and approvals.

Greening New York’s Hudson Valley

By Melissa Everett, PhD, Sustainable Hudson Valley  

The Hudson Valley Ten Percent Challenge is a regional invitation to cut your carbon footprint 10% and get 10% of “your” people involved.  Initiated by Sustainable Hudson Valley, the Challenge has been piloted with the communities of Red Hook and Warwick, New York, in preparation for regional scale-up.  The Ten Percent Challenge invites communities to stretch in pursuit of a meaningful goal.  Red Hook was chosen – and chose to step up – because it is a cohesive, active community that has already passed EnergyStar building guidelines, conducted a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, and funded a number of solar installations on public buildings.  A Community Catalyst Fund mini-grant allowed us to engage AmeriCorps member Laura Priscott as Outreach Coordinator for our pilot activity in Red Hook, sharply increasing our people-power at a critical time in the campaign.

Rather than aiming for a dramatic single launch event, we introduced the campaign to the community in stages.   We began by setting the bar of expectations high with a July symposium at Bard College, “Defying Conventional Wisdom: Engaging Communities in Energy Efficiency Initiatives.”  Presentations on the psychology of community change were combined with reports from model towns and villages in Connecticut as well as New York.  The Town Supervisor, School Superintendent, and Economic Development Committee Chair invested their time in this session.  Next, in August, we won two days of youth-power in the form of an AmeriCorps service project, deploying 20 young people into the community to table and knock on doors explaining the Challenge.  September’s community festival, Hardscrabble Day, saw 150 townspeople sign up for the Challenge.  This was followed by the formal launch October 10 (10/10/10), with ten events including a composting workshop, tree planting, clothing swap, and 10K race. 

Creative community events attract attention and help people to feel part of a campaign like this.  But by themselves, they do not foster the level of commitment and sustained action needed to reach Red Hook’s goals.  We finished 2010 with Ten Days of Commitment in early December, encouraging the creation of Personal Energy Plans with incentives as diverse as restaurant and hardware store discounts, and a raffled pair of green sneakers, the new signature fashion for the Challenge.  By the end of the week, Red Hook had logged over 300 commitments to use 10% less energy – well on the way to the year-long goal of 1,000.

In all these activities, Laura was our community presence, multi-tasking in graphic design, sponsor solicitation, tabling, media outreach, and newsletter production, all with a sense of energy, composure, and commitment.  Laura’s final presentation to the Student Conservation Association’s AmeriCorps program (view it at Recognition%20Ceremony%20PPT%20LMP[1]) shows the quality and sophistication of her participation, thanks to the support of the Community Catalyst Fund.      

The Sustainable Scientist:

UNH’s Cameron Wake evolves from researcher to translator of sustainability science

 

By David Sims,
Science Writer
UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space

 

 

SEARCHING FOR RELEVANCE and effectiveness in his scientific career, Cameron Wake zigzagged from big-scale, climate system science down to regional air quality issues and then back up to the biggest picture of all – a sustainable life here on planet Earth. As he did so, he evolved from pure scientific researcher to a translator of science.

It was a risky career move that paid off and, today, Wake is well known as an accomplished practitioner of “engaged scholarship” – a process in which university faculty collaborate with external partners for the purpose of creating and generating knowledge that is of practical use to society at large. For his cumulative efforts Wake was named the 2010 recipient of the UNH Faculty Excellence in Public Service Award.

Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, while a graduate student and then research faculty at UNH, the Canadian-born glaciologist focused his research career on investigating global climate change using ice cores he drilled in the Tibetan Plateau and the Arctic. But over time he realized that picture was in fact too large for most people to fathom, let alone act upon, and this began to gnaw at him.

Cameron Wake with Research & Discover student Margaret Baber (left), and graduate students Eric Kelsey and Elizabeth Burakowski in the UNH ice core freezer outside Morse Hall.

“As I learned more about climate change through the 1990s, I became very concerned about what I saw as a lack of action on society’s part,” Wake recalls. “On numerous occasions I told people that if policymakers and the general public knew what scientists knew – that climate change is a significant threat to our quality of life – they would act differently.”

So he began to shift toward climate matters on a smaller scale, incorporated concepts of sustainability in his research, and looked for ways he might help push the collective consciousness into a more enlightened sphere.

“I wondered how I could still do research but become more of a translator and began looking for opportunities to get involved with organizations that were representing that role of interpreting and presenting science for the public good.”

The development of the Climate Change Research Center’s – AIRMAP project in the mid-90s provided Wake with some funding that allowed him to refocus his research from being solely on ice cores to climate change in New England. At the same time, a communication/outreach effort launched by the Union of Concerned Scientists – the Sound Science Initiative – gave Wake the opportunity to get directly involved in what was to become his major focus on engaged scholarship.

 

 

Around this time he also began to collaborate with the UNH Sustainability Academy and Clean Air-Cool Planet (CA-CP) to develop a Campus Carbon Calculator^TM, now in use by thousands of colleges. This project morphed into a longstanding relationship with CA-CP that resulted in the publication of several reports, including the 2005 “Indicators of Climate Change in the Northeast.” (Clean Air-Cool Planet is dedicated to solving the global warming problem through civic engagement, education, and effective policy.)

When Wake started lecturing on the results of that study he was struck by the distinctly different response he received from New England audiences compared to his talks on global climate change.

“I was talking about something that was happening in their backyard as opposed to something in the Arctic or the Himalaya, so there was that context and connection for them. I saw the difference in the response I got – the interest, the questions, and the number of people who would come up and say, ‘I’ve been confused but now I understand this.’ And lots of people asked me to come and talk to their local organization.”

Wake’s evolution to scientist-translator is, he asserts, part of an increasingly important trend that universities as a whole need to help foster. Citing a Kellogg Foundation report that makes this same assertion, Wake notes, “For the most part universities are focused on disciplines and society is focused on problems, and that needs to change. I would argue that universities must focus more on helping solve society’s problems as honest brokers if they are to stay relevant in the 21^st century.”

This honest brokering is part and parcel of the work done by Carbon Solutions New England, which Wake directs. CSNE is a public-private partnership based out of UNH whose mission is to promote collective action to achieve a clean, secure energy future while sustaining our region’s unique natural and cultural resources. Adding additional weight to his public service/outreach efforts is his involvement in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment, which in turn led directly to his being invited to join the Climate Change Policy Task Force, created by New Hampshire governor John Lynch and charged with writing the state’s Climate Action Plan.

Wake says he is “humbled” by the recent recognition from the university “because there is a lot of wonderful public service being done by other people on campus and at [the UNH Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space] EOS.”

True, but it is likely that few on campus have integrated the focus of their public service directly into their personal lives. Wake, at least on weekends, can bask in the sustainability of his own life while relaxing in his 16-foot-diameter, off-the-grid yurt in the mountains of western Maine, and meandering contemplatively through his 22-acre woodlot.

“It’s my attempt to get back to a much simpler life, and I now realize that this has allowed me to answer the question What is ‘the good life’, what is it that sustains you?” says Wake. “If you ask people that they’ll come back with a myriad of answers, but it’s never just about food and shelter, that’s survival. It’s about music and culture, relationships, a sense of place, a sense of belonging, a sense of meaning.”

Wake outside his off-the-grid yurt in the mountains of western Maine

He adds, “For me, being in the woods, paying attention to nature, having the time to sit and think and not multitask, that’s the good life. It has really been a centering experience for me, and this can only help me be more focused and productive in my professional sustainability work.”

Helping “The Heartbeat” with an Environmental GPS

By Bob Sheppard, CFO and Vice President, Corporate Program

One of the things that first attracted me to Clean Air-Cool Planet a decade ago when there were but two employees on the payroll, was the opportunity to work collaboratively with corporate leaders, helping CEOs manage risk. This was an organization whose sole focus is climate change, catalyzing climate leadership, by helping CEOs with carbon management; selectmen save tax dollars on energy costs; and college and university presidents manage their emissions, curriculum, and reputation. 

When a non-profit colleague called this summer seeking recommendations on a new project, there was no way to predict the call would lead to standing beside the CEO of one of America’s largest corporations as he announced a significant initiative aimed at reducing carbon emissions. In case you missed it, Dan Akerson, the CEO of General Motors, today unveiled a campaign by Chevrolet to invest $40 million in community-based efficiency and renewable-energy projects across America. That is a significant amount of money for any firm, let alone one that was facing bankruptcy and then federal support that led to this week’s IPO.

But this is not the old GM!  While cynical and skeptical readers are rolling their eyes and conjuring up ulterior motives, we see something different: signs of a possible cultural change from deep inside one of America’s largest corporations; a willingness to invest in game-changing or transformational projects that save money, create new jobs, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. 

Clean Air- Cool Planet was part of the team that helped develop the framework for the Chevy Clean Energy Initiative, which sets an ambitious stretch goal of reducing eight million metric tons of carbon emissions in cities and towns across the US. It’s not the first time a business has demonstrated climate leadership, and it’s certainly not the last, but it is significant.

Having reduced its manufacturing emissions 60 percent since 1990, the time has come for GM to raise the bar in the race towards a cleaner, more secure energy future.  This is the latest signal that corporations who are committed to becoming sector leaders in sustainability can get there faster and in a more direct path when they engage with third-party non-profits and other experts to help the process.

In a way this collobration functions much like a GPS in your car, providing GM with environmental intelligence and expertise as it travels over unfamiliar terrain, warning the auto giant about obstacles to achieving success. At a time when many are still mourning the failure of climate policy in Washington and wondering what the outcome of the mid-term elections may mean, we continue to be bullish about the eventual transition to a low-carbon economy.