The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) has added a new staff member to help residents and businesses connect to energy efficiency and renewable energy services. The Energy Advisor position is a new addition to CEA and is a unique service not offered by most community-based efficiency organizations. Thanks to funding assistance from NSTAR, the Energy Advisor will enhance CEA’s ability to serve Cambridge customers’ energy efficiency needs. CEA is pleased to announce the hiring of Garrett Anderson, who will provide expert advice on programs, services, and products available to Cambridge residents and businesses, including: energy audit programs, project financing, utility incentives and rebates, contracting services, and other support services.
Garrett Anderson comes to CEA with five years experience in home building and administering energy efficient construction projects. Prior to joining CEA, Garrett worked as a contract administrator for Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) where he led several energy savings capital projects in CHA developments. Previously, Garrett built energy efficient low-income homes for Habitat for Humanity as an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Denver, Colorado.
In addition to his experience in the housing sector, Garrett has worked on political databases and provided support to campaigns across the country during the 2008 presidential election. Garrett earned his Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and his B.A. from Columbia University. Mr. Anderson has lived in Cambridge for over five years and comes to CEA with a wealth of knowledge and capability to serve Cambridge residents and businesses.
Wednesday- Over forty businesses attended a Green Your business Affair hosted by the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) and the Sustainable Business Leadership Program (SBLP). Participants represented a diverse background of small and large commercial entities from the efficiency, renewable energy, nonprofit, design, and retail sectors. The business affair connected attendees to sustainable programs including the New England Wind Fund renewable energy program and Prism Consulting Inc., which provides energy efficiency audits to commercial entities.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance shared information about its free one-stop-shop service available to Cambridge businesses including access to NSTAR’s business audit and rebate program, financing
options through local banks, and an in-house energy advisor to help businesses connect to the services they need. Lilah Glick, Outreach Manager for the Cambridge Energy Alliance notes that there is a huge opportunity for energy efficiency improvements in the business sector. “Almost 80% of Cambridge’s greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings, and the commercial sector makes up 2/3rds of total emissions. Energy efficiency is a great way for businesses to not only become green leaders but also reduce their energy bills.” Ms. Glick noted that saving energy is easy and makes financial sense, with robust incentives made available through the Cambridge Energy Alliance.
Emily Kanter, consultant at the Sustainable Leadership Program, has over nine years of working with local businesses and recognizes the challenges they face in a global economy. Ms Kanter performs sustainable assessments and shares that, “greening a company’s operations reduces both resource usage and expenses.” The Sustainable Leadership Program identifies viable environmentally sustainable improvements and then pairs companies with the tools and resources to make those changes happen. Participating businesses learn about ways to become sustainable through improvements in energy efficiency, water conservation, recycling and waste reduction, transportation, pollution prevention, and sustainability management
The event was hosted at Greenward Eco-botique located in Porter Square. Greenward is a small,
locally-owned eco-boutique in Cambridge, MA, owned by the husband-and-wife team of Scott Walker and Simone Alpen. Locally brewed beer was provided by Cambridge Brewing Company, pizza was donated by Stone Hearth Pizza, and organic fair-trade chocolate from Theo. Ms. Kanter concluded that the, “event was a great success and the Sustainable Business Leadership Program and the Cambridge Energy Alliance aims to host similar Green Affairs in the future.”
This summer (July 6-22) CEA and NSTAR will be reaching out to Cambridge’s small business community to promote energy efficiency measures and accompanied incentives. The Cambridge commercial canvass is made possible through a partnership with Northeastern University’s Summer Discovery program which is supplying six volunteers for the duration of the small commercial campaign. After several days of training, volunteers will visit Cambridge’s small businesses establishments, and alert businesses of money-saving opportunities in their buildings.
Businesses that implement qualified energy efficiency improvements will be eligible to receive a window sticker certifying them as a Green Business Leader. Benefits incurred from energy efficiency improvements include: using less energy, saving money, catching up on deferred maintenance, and improving comfort and productivity of staff and customers.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) is a community-based nonprofit organization sponsored by the City of Cambridge that helps residents and business owners invest in making their homes and buildings work smarter and more efficiently-saving energy, water and money. CEA aims to tackle building inefficiencies because 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions in Cambridge are from buildings, and over 60% of those emissions come from the commercial sector. In order to reduce Cambridge energy use CEA helps residents, businesses, and institutions of all sizes make their buildings work smarter and better by presenting them with tips, incentives, and rebates to help them save energy, water, and money. The incentives CEA presents are offered through NSTAR, Cambridge’s local environmentally-forward utility company.
