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.”
Swap ‘N Go
Many residents of Peabody Terrace did something unusual as they prepared to leave their apartment on the morning of March 6, 2010 – they unscrewed their incandescent light bulbs.
Sound like an odd thing to do? Not for participants in Peabody Terrace’s first Bulb Swap. An incandescent bulb was their ticket to a better planet and free prizes. Residents received one free compact fluorescent light (CFL) for every incandescent bulb they turned in. During the swap, residents also learned about other ways to reduce their home carbon emissions and could sign up for a two-month long competition to see who can reduce the most. Winners are eligible for several enticing prizes including Smart Strips, credit at Zip Car, gift certificates from the Clear Conscience Café, and gift cards donated by Shaw’s and Harvest Co-op Market.
Maximizing Partnerships
The concept of this event arose through discussions between HRES’ sustainability team and two local grassroots organizations: the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET) and the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA). A planning team consisting of personnel from HRES and the two community groups coordinated the event in a little under a month’s time. HEET recruited volunteers for the swap, and both HEET and CEA obtained prizes from local businesses. HRES managed event promotion and purchased bulbs to supplement those donated by CEA.
Site-Specific Strategy
Peabody Terrace, an HRES property comprising 495 units, is unique because residents provide their own room lighting fixtures, and electricity data is available for individual units. This offered a rare opportunity to implement an occupant engagement project with quantifiable results. The planning team adapted the HEET model for neighborhood energy efficiency events to fit the unique parameters of an apartment complex. Posters, emails, and door tags were distributed to promote the event. On the big day, participants could go to any of four stations around the complex to exchange bulbs and learn energy tips. Volunteers at each station offered to demonstrate how to change computer power settings, how to use a Kill-a-Watt meter, and how to use a power strip as a central shut off for multiple devices. Competition results will be monitored for two months, with a mid-way progress report to residents by email.
Preliminary Results
By the end of the swap, 84 apartments had registered for the competition and over 200 efficient CFLs found new homes. “We were surprised at how many 100 Watt bulbs were turned in,” said Audrey Schulman, HEET President. “Going from a 100 Watt incandescent to a 13 Watt CFL makes the carbon reduction even better than we’d hoped.” The new light bulbs could avoid up to 5.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCDE) each year. Justin Stratman, Assistant Director of Property Operations at HRES, is also hopeful. “If the results are good, we could see doing this kind of event at some of our other properties,” he said. HRES already provides one CFL in a welcome bag for new residents each year, but a concerted effort to engage occupants through a swap paired with a competition might unlock even more greenhouse gas reductions.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance is debuting a poster art exhibit to inform the public about climate change and its impacts, the carbon emissions of Cambridge, and how local citizens can make a difference. Over 80% of Cambridge’s carbon emissions come from energy use in residential and commercial buildings, so eliminating wasted energy in our homes and workplaces is a priority.
The Cambridge Energy Alliance art exhibit displays many ways people can conserve energy and get connected to efficiency programs and resources. The Exhibit will be on display from Wednesday, February 16th, 2010 through March 20th, 2010 at the Clear Conscience Café located at 581 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge, MA.
Following the 4-week showing at the Clear Conscious Café, the CEA art exhibit will be rotated to other locations throughout Cambridge. The 2’ X 3’ color series include 12 posters with educational and pointed messages about what citizens can do to decrease their environmental footprints.
Sample images from the CEA Art Poster Exhibit
For larger samples of all the slides visit:
http://cambridgeenergyalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/posters.pdf
In the face of ever-increasing utility costs, and amid growing concerns about climate
change, energy independence, and economic security, the Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA) today announced it has formed partnerships with four well-established lending institutions, to provide specialized loans and innovative financial solutions for energy efficiency improvements to Cambridge residents and businesses. The lenders were selected following an in-depth evaluation of numerous responses to proposals.
“We are delighted that these lenders have partnered with us,” stated Josh Hassol, Chief Executive Officer of the Cambridge Energy Alliance. “These partnerships will allow Cambridge residents and business owners to make sound, cost-effective investments in critical energy efficiency improvements that work for their individual budgets. Residents and businesses will save money on their utility bills while they reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the City.”
The banks and lending institutions that have partnered with CEA include East Cambridge Savings Bank, Citizens Bank, Key Equipment Finance, and Bostonia Partners, and cover all potential customer segments of the Cambridge Energy Alliance across the City, from individual homeowners to large institutions and businesses.
All lending institutions are ready to begin working with customers of Cambridge Energy Alliance immediately in order to maximize participation.
