CWF started as a private 501(c) 3 foundation with the intention of becoming an operating charity. CWF’s mission is to support existing charities and newly forming charities, such as Fristers, a program that provides information and skills to help young moms with the issues they face today and help prepare them for tomorrow. According to Cera, the greatest joy of running CWF has been reaching out to the community. CWF’s recent projects include adopting low-income, single parent families during last Christmas; providing restaurant or grocery gift cards to families who lost their jobs; and providing basic needs to single teen moms.

Earlier this year, Cera’s friend Beth Preece invited her to join her nonprofit, Project SAVE, an active start-up that originated from Preece’s passions as a naturalist and educator. Project SAVE’s primary objective is to lead schools in community stewardship and minimize their environmental footprint by recycling, composting, and gardening. It educates and trains staff, provides curricula to support the implemented programs, ensures program maintenance, and mitigates potential issues through follow-up visits. Preece, a master composter, is the leader, speaker, and educator for projects such as setting up vermi-composting for Girl Scout Troops and participating in an elementary school’s Earth Day festivities. Cera is the business guide for the CWF project; her focus is on green schools and research.

Cera is currently in the process of combining CWF and Project SAVE. The new organization, Nourish with Nature (NWN), will be a marriage of CWF’s focus on supporting family children and Project SAVE’s focus on environmental education for kids. NWN will be dedicated to nourishing children with nature, whether nourishing their bodies with organic food or their minds with environmental education. CWF’s transition from a private foundation to an operating public charity, NWN, will enable it to increase funds and volunteers to keep moving forward with its mission. NWN plans to offer several projects, e.g., nourishing their minds: environmental education, nourishing with food: farm-to-school, creating wildlife habitats at schools and shelters, as well as programs for organic and healthy lunches and school gardens. While NWN’s long-term goals are still under development, its general goals are  to educate children about environmental responsibility, create a better future for children through eco-friendly programs, and foster healthier lives for  leaders of the future.

To learn more about the Cera Works Foundation, Nourish with Nature, and ProjectSAVE, visit Jessica’s blog or follow her on Twitter.

Educational institutions across the United States have experienced diminishing budgets and increased operating costs, leaving school administrators and community leaders with difficult choices.   In some cases, districts are being forced to close schools. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at least 22 states have reduced funding or eliminated certain K-12 education programs as well as early education programs. In addition, approximately 30 states have implemented cuts to public colleges and universities, resulting in layoffs, wage freezes, benefit reductions and increases in tuition up to 15 percent. Students in Rhode Island and New York are now face mid-year tuition hikes as these institutions manage the rising cost of operations and maintenance of their facilities [1]

Private institutions face similar challenges while simultaneously striving to attract prospective students from a shrinking population of those who can afford tuition. The higher cost of tuition, in some cases surpassing $50,000 per year, has shifted enrollment to public institutions.  According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, all but the most competitive highly endowed private colleges are beginning to wonder if their enrollments may start to evaporate. [2] In an effort to secure students, some institutions, like Merrimack College near Boston, are freezing their tuition for the first time in decades.  Other schools such as Brandeis University and Simmons College have suspended payments to staff retirement accounts.[3] At issue is how both public and private institutions can find solutions to generate revenue as residents, students, and stakeholders are calling on institutions to take a leadership position to reduce their impact on the environment.

The Wind Solution

Wind power is a possible technological solution which can reduce operating expenses allowing administrations to re-direct those savings into salaries, deferred maintenance, and educational programs.  Once initial savings are made through the implementation of energy conservation, wind power may be one of the most effective methods to reduce operating expenses and serve as a hedge against increasing energy costs.  Wind power is a clean, renewable option to stabilize or reduce energy costs and is currently working at public and private institutions.

A wind project may require one to three years of preliminary research and planning prior to construction.  Initially, a feasibility study must be completed to determine whether the project has potential merit and assess the quality of the existing wind resource.  The feasibility study analyzes topographical and wind resource data, in conjunction with existing and future energy cost estimates, to determine a project’s preliminary technical and economic merit. With favorable initial results, data collection occurs over a nine to twelve month period, and verifies the consistency of wind speeds at various altitudes across the range of seasons.  Once wind data is collected and assessed, the feasibility study evaluates and corrects possible environmental, political and engineering concerns.  The study also outlines the necessary permitting and zoning requirements necessary to achieve federal, state and local approvals.  The design, engineering, and construction phases of the project are implemented once the feasibility study determines that the project has merit.

Case Studies

The Town of Ipswich, Massachusetts faced between $350,000 to $400,000 in annual electricity costs for its buildings and offices.  Saving all or part of these costs would make available funds that could instead be used for additional teacher salaries, school supplies and community programs.  Accordingly, a partnership between the Public School and Municipal Light Departments was formed to conceive and implement a wind turbine project that would reduce the economic energy burden on the Town.  The designed wind turbine will provide the school system with 37.7% of its electricity needs.

The financial benefits of the project to the Municipal Light Department over 20 years include savings of $500,000 (after paying back a $2.4M loan at 5% interest) and $1.5 Million generated from the sale of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs).  The school will realize $2.5 Million in savings over 20 years (including payback of $1.6 Million in zero percent interest Clean Renewable Energy Bonds-CREBs) and $900,000 from the sale of RECs.  In addition, the Wind Turbine Project provides educational opportunities for students including a local lab for studying engineering, environmental and physical sciences.  “I see this as a tremendous opportunity for the town and schools to really collaborate and cooperate on a common concern – that is energy usage and our reliance on fossil fuels – and what a great way to begin to reduce that reliance,” said Rick Korb, superintendent of schools and a member of the subcommittee working on the turbine project. “It will also be a great educational tool for the kids of Ipswich and the community. It’s really what I like to call a win-wind.”[4]

Adjacent to the High School in Beverly, Massachusetts stands a 100KW solar array (one of eight solar systems created in 1980 as part of President Carter’s Photovoltaic Demonstration Project) and a 10KW wind turbine.  After securing a $40,000 grant from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), a feasibility study was conducted over a nine month period to evaluate the design and installation of a large scale Wind Turbine.  Ongoing analyses and correspondence with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the town continue to assess feasible sites for the turbine.

Bristol Community College (BCC), located in Fall River, Massachusetts, is a participant in the Commonwealth’s “Leading By Example” (LBE) program.  The LBE program’s goal is to reduce overall energy consumption on state college campuses by 15% by 2012. Part of this strategy involves the use of wind power that will provide the college with clean, renewable energy, reduced electricity costs and improved energy efficiency.  Our firm is in the process of conducting wind and economic analysis for the proposed 1.5 megawatt wind turbine that will provide the college with clean, renewable energy, and reduced electricity costs.

The Town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island installed an AAER, 1.5 Megawatt Wind Turbine Generator standing at 336 feet at the high school.  The turbine generator supplies much of the electrical power needs of the school and, at times, generates additional electrical power, which is sold to National Grid for 15.4 cents for every kilowatt hour generated.  The wind turbine generator is expected to provide over 3 million kWh of power annually and generate a yearly savings of over $100,000.  Over the expected 20-year minimum lifetime of the turbine the net savings are projected to be nearly $3 million.  According to Finance Director David P. Faucher, the turbine is expected to cover one quarter of its $433,000 electric bill, pay the annual installment on bonds used for its construction — $238,643 — and generate an additional $238,000 in revenue to offset either municipal government or school expenses.[5]

Funding

Grants from the federal and state government are designed to promote the adoption of renewable energy and to offset pre-construction technical support and capital costs. At the federal level, the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs) program creates attractive financing options for both borrowers and lenders.  A qualified buyer is given access to 0% interest bonds (a formal contract to repay borrowed money at 0% interest for a fixed period) for projects that generate electricity from clean or renewable sources.  The lender will receive a tax credit from the Federal Government instead of an interest check from the borrower.  In addition, Treasury Department grants are now available in lieu of tax credits with wind projects eligible to receive grant funding for up to 30% of the basis for a property’s value.

At the state level, funding mechanisms vary.  For example, Massachusetts funding is available for public facilities that are customers of investor-owned electric distribution utilities or Municipal Light Plant Departments that pay into the Renewable Energy Trust. The Community Wind program provides financial and technical support to wind projects through three different stages of development: 1) services for high level site screening (public projects only), 2) grant support for in-depth technical and economic feasibility analysis, and 3) grants for design and construction support.  Under these programs, wind projects starting at 100 Kilowatt (KW), up to and beyond 600KW, are eligible to receive from $30,000 for a basic feasibility study and up to $85,000 for a feasibility study that includes the installation and operation of a meteorological tower to collect on site wind data.  For design and construction, public entities are eligible for a zero cost share incurred below the maximum funding level while private organizations are responsible for 25% of the cost share.  Funds available for systems starting at 100KW, up to and beyond 600KW, range from $225,000 to $600,000.[6]

Iowa, which generates the second largest amount of US wind power, through its Iowa Energy Bank, provides loans and alternative financing options repaid by the energy savings resulting from energy improvement projects.  Financing is available via a pre-arranged, low-interest capital loan note or lease purchase-agreement with a local or regional investment bank. To date, most of Iowa’s school districts have participated, as have dozens of hospitals and private colleges. Likewise, California provides assistance through the Self Generation Incentive Program and offers incentives to customers who produce electricity with wind turbines with incentive payments ranging from $1/Watt (W) – $4.50/W.  Projects that utilize systems manufactured in California are eligible for an additional incentive worth 20% of the base incentive. For feasibility studies, the California Energy Commission will provide up to $26 million in loans to schools, hospitals, and local governments for the installation of energy-saving measures and studies. [7]

In conclusion

In this challenging financial period, organizations must adapt to preserve the quality of education through teacher’s positions and material resources in a shifting tide of fiscal and environmental policy.  Educators are considering wind power as a solution for many of the economic and environmental challenges they currently face.  In addition to being a renewable source of energy, wind power presents a new form of economic development, tangible environmental responsibility and long-term educational benefit to the communities that embrace the opportunity.

[1]Koulish, Jeremy, Johnson, Nicholas, & Oliff, Phil. (2009). An Update on State Budget Cuts
At Least 36 States Have Imposed Cuts That Hurt Vulnerable Residents, But the Federal Economic Recovery Package Is Reducing

the Harm. Center of Budget and Monetary Policy. http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1214

[2] Cronin, J., & Horton, H. (2009). Will Higher Education Be the Next Bubble to Burst? The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i37/37a05601.htm

[3] Lewin, Tamar. (2009, May 21). Brandies Halts Retirement Payments. The New York Times Online.

[4] Rattigan, David.(2008,March 2). Ipswich wind turbine plan will go before voters. The Boston Globe Onine.

[5] State Wind Power Opportunities.(2009).Retrieved June 3, 2009, from

http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=3&storyid=18040

[6] Commonwealth Wind Incentive Program. (2009). Retrieved June 4, 2009 from

http://www.masstech.org/renewableenergy/commonwealth_wind/community_scale.html

[7] California: Incentives/Policies for Renewables & Efficiency.(2009). Retrieved June 4, 2009. from http://www.dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?re=1&ee=1&spv=0&st=0&srp=1&state=CA

With the massive amount of information out there and with things moving so quickly in the field of sustainability, it may seem hard sometimes to stay informed. Below is a quick list of a few of the blogs and newsletters we use to keep up to date. We hope you find this helpful and please feel free to add to the list in the comments section.

Green news on Huffington Post
The Grist
Mother Nature Network
Triple Pundit
American Wind Energy Association (AWEA)

NESEA Northeast Sustainable Energy Association Blog
Inhabitat
The Daily Green
Treehugger
The Oil Drum
Green Inc.
No Impact Man
Environmental Graffiti
The New Rules Project
Above the Fold
BusinessGreen.com
GreenBiz.com
Climate Crisis Coalition
Sustainable Life Media
CSRwire
Renewable Energy World
Union of Concerned Scientists
Mass Recycle
GreenerDesign
Sustainable Business Weekly

Other central themes covered included:
• The Assembly Square Project in Somerville includes a new orange line MBTA station, a new park, a new bike path and a new IKEA store. Altogether, the project should create a total of 19,000 new jobs.
• A revitalization effort for the Mystic River Parkway in Somerville will receive $15 million. Additionally, 320 million will be spent on the transit system; of which $180 million is going to the MBTA. Electric ferryboats for the cities of Lynn, Woods Hole and Hyannis are in the planning phases.
Energy and Environmental
• The Dept. Of Energy and Environmental Affairs in MA is working on a new solar stimulus program for Logan Airport as well as for state housing and colleges to be announced in the coming weeks. Money will also be allocated to clean water and waste water treatment plants and $85 million will be used for Superfund clean-up sites. Money has been allocated for eradicating the Asian Longhorn Beetle. A $25 million check which was delivered by Steven Chu, was awarded to the City of Charlestown’s new Wind Technology Testing Center which will have deep water access necessary to receive wind blades that exceed 50 meters by boat. It will be the only national facility of its kind. Construction will start in September and the completion is scheduled for 2010.
• The Department of Environmental Protection and Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs will be targeting Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy through the Green Communities Act concentrating on: Weatherization, building energy transformation and zero net energy, energy efficient state facilities, conservation block grants, and up to 90 hybrid/electric vehicles for municipalities.
• The Clean Energy Center, which was created last August to promote investment in clean energy was introduced $12 million has been made available to transform the Springfield Technical Community College into a hub with three training centers for the Energy Efficient Skills Initiative.

Stimulus programs will continue to be rolled out this summer with the Broadband initiative to be announced in Fall 09. More info can be found on http://www.mass.gov/recovery. All available stimulus contracts are listed at www.Comm-Pass.com, and job openings on Job Quest and State Career Centers.

My biggest takeaways from the night
•       The economic downturn has forced companies to sharpen their approach and focus on being more strategic. The goal of a company should be to apply their core competencies in a way to gain competitive advantage. You can’t just write a grant anymore and say, “Hey’ we’ve supported the community.”  You have to deliver business and social value.

•       In these tough economic times a strong, a leader is always thinking a few steps ahead.  The global financial crisis has presented businesses with and incredible opportunity and a way to differentiate them. In the United States, trust in companies is at an all time low, and companies have the opportunity to get ahead if they ask themselves questions such as:
o       What we can do thru partnerships and stakeholder engagement to strengthen economies
o       What are we doing to address societal challenges – education, energy and health care?
o       What are we doing to manage our business in a responsible and sustainable way?

•       The biggest challenge for companies when incorporating CSR programs can be lack of focus. “Focus is your friend.” Better to focus in one area than be involved in a lot of issues and have no impact. 

•       In the current environment, there are other resources beyond dollars being spent, and there is much greater sophistication around pro bono and in kind donations.  One example of this is the Deloitte volunteer program which places these projects on the same level as paid engagements.  Recommendation to many nonprofits and companies that they should think about pro bono as an actual currency. 

•       Is there a systemic failure in the CSR marketing field? Five years ago, Cone, Inc. asked consumers: “Who is a good corporate citizen?”  Only 10% of the 1000 could name on an unaided basis. The answer from many was Wal-Mart and MacDonald’s. This year they conducted the same study, and sadly the results were the same.  If you’re going to move your business forward, you just don’t want to do good work, you also need to publicize your good work. 

Thought we’d share with you an article written by Audrea Laffely, a member of the Sustainnovation Consulting Team

During late May 2009, I traveled to China with nineteen other students from the Simmons School of Management under the guidance of Dr. Teresa Nelson and Dr. Susan Duffy, to study sustainable business in emerging global markets. My focus was to investigate developing government plans within Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Beijing in terms of energy security and energy efficiency targets.  China is already the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and its decisions in the next few years will have an enormous impact on the world’s ability to prevent dangerous climate change. China’s emissions are increasing rapidly, faster than most people predicted just six years ago when China’s carbon emissions were still about 42 percent those of the United States, and their carbon emissions are predicted to continue to increase in the future as their economy continues to develop. [i]

According to James Hansen, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the first scientist to warn about global warming more than two decades ago,  “If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that carbon dioxide will need to be reduced from its current 385 parts per million to at most 350 parts per million.” [ii] If China does not shift in the near future to a new generation of environmentally friendly technology, there may be no hope for the world’s climate. So my quest throughout my travels was (1) to explore China’s long-standing problem with energy,  (2) to see if there was tangible proof that China is actually putting renewable energy on the forefront of its governmental policies, and (3) to investigate whether or not renewable energy technology was evident in the three cities that I visited.

CHINA’S DEPENDENCY ON COAL

In 2007, eighty-two percent of China’s energy supply came from coal-fired power plants, which equals an estimated 1.9 billion tons per year. Couple that figure with the fact that a new coal-fired electricity plant is built every seven to ten days, and we have a serious problem. [iii] Coal plants generate a massive amount of pollution, and 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China. This pollution is thought to cause an estimated 400,000 premature deaths a year. When I arrived in Beijing, my allergies immediately acted up, likely due to the tremendous amount of pollution visible in the pervasive thick smog.  On the other hand, during the time of our visit, Beijing was said to have experienced its best air quality in over a decade. Environmental protection experts have attributed this marked improvement of air quality to measures that were taken during the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. [iv]

GROWING ENERGY CONSUMPTION

China currently accounts for more than half of the G5 countries’ (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa) global carbon emissions, and the National Energy Strategy Policy (2003) states that China aims to quadruple its GDP by 2020 while doubling energy consumption. [v]To meet this ambitious goal, China will have to expand its efforts in all areas of energy production, including doubling its coal and large-scale hydropower capacity and quadrupling its nuclear capacity. The Chinese government is now looking for more sustainable energy sources and is putting a large amount of money into the development and application of renewable energy, with an estimated 440 billion dollars stimulus package to expand its renewable energy use.[vi] The development of renewable energy in China could be viewed as a long-term measure to ensure energy security and create a low-carbon era of sustained economic growth in China.

While traveling throughout China, I noticed a great many houses with solar powered water heaters on their roofs.  So some citizens are clearly taking some action, if even it is just for the savings and conservation they receive from these energy savers.  While in Shanghai, we visited the Coca Cola University’s Center for Global Innovation, located in the Minhang District, which is the district’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified building.  During the presentation, I asked if the company had received government incentives to assist in the procurement of LEED certification, which can often incur steep costs for the company seeking certification. I was told that they did not receive subsidy money to assist in the procurement or construction process, but that the government does look favorably upon companies that take the initiative to build sustainable facilities that are energy efficient.

SO WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING IN REGARDS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY?

As mentioned above, many believe that the government’s stimulus plan is spurring renewable energy infrastructure at a rapid rate. In fact, the country’s wind, biomass, and solar industries are moving at an impressive pace — officials are planning to generate roughly 120,000 megawatts (MW) from renewable resources by 2020.  [vii]Currently, the Chinese government is in the process of drafting the Alternative Energy Revitalization Plan, which focuses on a wind power capacity goal more than triple the goal announced in 2007.The plan also calls for non-hydropower renewable energy to increase to at least 6% of non-renewable energy production in China by 2020. Presently non-hydropower renewable energy accounts for just 1.5% of non-renewable energy output in China. According to the World Watch Institute, China’s renewable energy targets for 2020 could create a market worth around 100 billion dollars and the Chinese will spend in excess of 3 trillion Yuan RMB [approx. US $462 billion] on renewable energy through 2020. [viii]

THE OUTLOOK

There is no question that the U.S. and China share considerable responsibility for the current global environmental situation. On the international stage, the Chinese government has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which sets binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, Chinese officials have refused any of the limits on carbon emissions that have been accepted by other industrialized countries, claiming that such commitments would obstruct national development. Many Chinese government officials have said that it is up to developed countries like the United States to take the first steps in reducing carbon emissions.  In fact, that is exactly what may happen, with the recent passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill. The passing of ACES advances an aggressive cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020.[ix] It also includes new renewable requirements for utilities, studies and incentives regarding new carbon capture, grants for green jobs, and much more.  My hope is that China will look at the United States’ new policies as benchmarks for their own energy policies and that these two nations can work together to solve these formidable challenges.

Zeppezauer, Dr. Christian. “Holy Smoke! China is the World’s Leading Host for Clean Development Mecanism Projects.” Business Forum China , March-April 2009.

[ii] Understanding 350 . www.350.org (accessed 15 2009, June).

[iii] Tulloch, James. Allianz.com. World Wildlife Foundation . 1 2009, July. http://knowledge.allianz.com/en/globalissues/climate_change/top_climate_stories/scorecards09_interview (accessed July 2, 2009).

[iv] Zhang, Micheal. China’s Pollution Reduction Targets: revisiting statistics for early 2008. Feb 10, 2009. www.greenlaw.org (accessed June 5, 2009).

[v] Economist, The. “A Green Revolution .” The Economist, May 2009, 2009.

[vi] AFP. China plans 440-bln dlr stimulus for green energy. 24 2009, May. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7wWkoCABy_Y7poh8ym0TI7CjJjA (accessed 28 2009, May ).

[vii] Schwartz, Lou. Are the Chinese Working To Curb Their Emissions? 30 2009, June. www.renewableendergyworld.com (accessed 1 2009, July ).

[viii] Schwartz, Lou. Are the Chinese Working To Curb Their Emissions? 30 2009, June. www.renewableendergyworld.com (accessed 1 2009, July ).

[ix] Sheppard, Kate. Grist.Org. June 3, 2009. http://www.grist.org/ (accessed June 15, 2009).