This week I sent out the Cooperative Community Program one-pagers to the first two schools, and got a rejection from one of them and no response from the other. Even when you think something is a no-brainer, you can never predict fully another's response.
Hopefully, the setback is minor....and I need to move forward as if it is.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
A boost
It seems that if there is one constant to my personal journey, it's that I always seem to know what the right thing to do is, and I often do not do it or do it too late. Thankfully, last week, I was not too late. Thanks in part to the foundation laid by attending the meeting on the golf course, and by a brief appearance at the 19th Ward Democratic Organization event on Thursday, I had an opportunity to sit down with Alderman Matt O'Shea last Friday. It did not hurt that Matt and I grew up together (his brother Mike and I were the same age with Matt a year older), and that we have relatively regularly run into each other over the years.
Matt was very receptive to the Cooperative Community Program that I showed him and we discussed. He quickly asked what three things we could do as a ward, which I thankfully had at my ready:
1. Reduce energy that we use....every dollar we save in energy use is a dollar we can spend in the neighborhood. Resources spent on energy use leave the neighborhood, whereas resources spent on energy efficiency stay.
2. Stormwater. The city now has an ordinance for new development, but we need an approach to create the same value in existing development. This not only improves the lives of our residents by reducing sewer backups, but it drastically improves the lives of people downstream of us.
3. Target 75% recycling rate in solid waste. Matt mentioned another shredder/electronics event he was hosting at SJF on Saturday, and gets the value of getting more things out of the landfill stream and back into our lives.
We discussed the general approach, and my plans to start meetings with schools this month. He said he supports the program, would write a letter of support for any grants, and is okay with me mentioning his support with others.
Good guy. Good day.
Matt was very receptive to the Cooperative Community Program that I showed him and we discussed. He quickly asked what three things we could do as a ward, which I thankfully had at my ready:
1. Reduce energy that we use....every dollar we save in energy use is a dollar we can spend in the neighborhood. Resources spent on energy use leave the neighborhood, whereas resources spent on energy efficiency stay.
2. Stormwater. The city now has an ordinance for new development, but we need an approach to create the same value in existing development. This not only improves the lives of our residents by reducing sewer backups, but it drastically improves the lives of people downstream of us.
3. Target 75% recycling rate in solid waste. Matt mentioned another shredder/electronics event he was hosting at SJF on Saturday, and gets the value of getting more things out of the landfill stream and back into our lives.
We discussed the general approach, and my plans to start meetings with schools this month. He said he supports the program, would write a letter of support for any grants, and is okay with me mentioning his support with others.
Good guy. Good day.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
The first grant and the image becomes clearer
Last week I put together my first official grant application (for the DCEO BITE program). Years from now, I might look back on that application and cringe, but for now, it served its purpose. It made me try to formulate this nebulous "idea" into a written form. Although I am not sure I adequately expressed the idea to the grant reviewers, I now think I have a better sense of it, and hopefully over the next week, I can make it a little easier for myself to understand.
Yesterday, I had the luck to sit down for about 1/2 an hour with Val Jensen at ComEd who used to oversee their energy efficiency and environmental work. He now sits in my mom's old job as the VP of Customer Operations. It was a treat to meet with someone who gets what I am trying to accomplish, but was not in a position to either fund it or be threatened by it. He gave me some great information that I think will make a great deal of difference.
1. The city is trying to work out how to make some things work, and might be looking at a test ward. This plays well into my thought about what we can do in the 19th.
2. Tim Melloch is still in charge of energy efficiency, so I should meet with him to see if anything I can do will help them.
3. Peoples is still the larger player in the residential arena. I knew I was going to have to meet with them, but this put a bigger bow on it.
4. Acquisition costs are going to be tight for ComEd and Peoples as their commitments grow, but their funding shrinks relative to the state law. There might be an opportunity if I can come up with a workable way to create a ready acquisition infrastructure.
Next step: meet with the Alderman. Hopefully on Friday of this week.
ETJ
Yesterday, I had the luck to sit down for about 1/2 an hour with Val Jensen at ComEd who used to oversee their energy efficiency and environmental work. He now sits in my mom's old job as the VP of Customer Operations. It was a treat to meet with someone who gets what I am trying to accomplish, but was not in a position to either fund it or be threatened by it. He gave me some great information that I think will make a great deal of difference.
1. The city is trying to work out how to make some things work, and might be looking at a test ward. This plays well into my thought about what we can do in the 19th.
2. Tim Melloch is still in charge of energy efficiency, so I should meet with him to see if anything I can do will help them.
3. Peoples is still the larger player in the residential arena. I knew I was going to have to meet with them, but this put a bigger bow on it.
4. Acquisition costs are going to be tight for ComEd and Peoples as their commitments grow, but their funding shrinks relative to the state law. There might be an opportunity if I can come up with a workable way to create a ready acquisition infrastructure.
Next step: meet with the Alderman. Hopefully on Friday of this week.
ETJ
Friday, May 25, 2012
Now it begins, now it starts....
Starting the move from working for others to working for everyone, which is to say, for no one. :)
[This first post will summarize the first month. Future posts will summarize the day they happened.]
The first week consisted mostly of closing up class at IIT and attending previously arranged events.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012: Chicagoland Campus Sustainability Network at Roosevelt University
This great group of people beats their head against a wall on a daily basis trying to move slow-moving, conservative universities toward a slightly better future. Few of these institutions really accept responsibility for what they do, and most if not all "support" "sustainability" (meaning they don't really support it, and they don't really seek sustainability) for marketing and student recruitment reasons. This group seeks, and needs, larger scale support and drive.
Friday, May 4, 2012: Chicago River Summit at Hotel 71 (hosted by Friends of the Chicago River)
The River has had a pretty good year. MWRD will now have to do more to clean it up, and the prospect of people using the river for personal recreation grows brighter. The historical maps and watersheds provide some fascinating insight into the area, and I need to explore these further.
Mike Quigley provided a somber but realistic view on the reality of politics in Washington, and offered a great insight that I tweeted from the event (and got a cool retweet from the Congressman): "if the environment matters to you...elections should matter!"
Small but focused group of advocates, with a single mission, and the start of great success.
Monday, May 7, 2012: received email about opportunity for guest lecturer position at Roosevelt
First major conundrum of the effort. A four-class, full-time guest lecturer position is open at Roosevelt. If for no other reason than it will focus me on getting a CV and resume together, it is worth it. Getting reference letters from Hamid, Mohammad, and Doug. (and maybe Said and Weslynne)
Tuesday, May 8, 2012: First draft launch of the full website.
I am sure it will require some major tweaks, and hopefully I'll get some great input from friends, but it's up. It's a start.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012: entering grades and conference call for Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency
First of all, I have to get better about managing my calendar, because I almost missed the call. Second, the call was efficient, but I am still not sure where it is heading or hoping to accomplish. They are trying to be innovative, but I am not sure what their ultimate goal is. Hopefully I will see this at the event in a couple of weeks.
Everyone seems impressed by my insights, though, so at least I have that going for me.
Thursday, May 10, 2012: sending LEED GA letters to students who want to take the test
Tedious work, but a good indicator that the message is getting through to some of the students.
Also, putting finishing touches on the CV...man that took a while. Good thing I had Ruthanna Gordon's as a template from the IIT website (let's hope she use the right format!!!)
Friday, May 11, 2012: Galvin Center Perfect Power team meeting
First official billable day of work!! Tried very hard to fit into my new role of advisor and information source rather than director. Hard, but I think it went well. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
Meeting with Tom Jacobius about IPRO
Good discussion, and kind words from Tom. Mostly an affirming meeting that he will keep me in mind for opportunities, and I will keep IPRO in mind as well. No concrete steps yet, but maybe soon.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Global Landscape for Climate Change and Cleantech
First event of the day gave me the opportunity to show support for ELPC because Howard Learner was speaking. I made sure to tell him I enjoyed the discussion.
Side benefit: ran into Kate Tomford, who is normally great to run into anyway because she is a positive and pretty driven person (and seemingly much happier now that she is at DCEO), but this time she seemed not only interested in what was going on with me, but in taking a look at the website. Will check in with her over the summer, if she doesn't contact me first.
Meet with Nik Rokop to discuss social entrepreneurship
Many great ideas from Nik....only three that I want to start with immediately:
1. If you're doing work of value, find out to whom it has value and get them to make it worth your time.
2. Build a network of "advisors" then keep a close group to really make things move forward.
3. Become valuable!
I love talking to Nik. I hope to reconnect during the summer with some ideas.
Thursday, May 17, 2012: Notre Dame Networking Breakfast
It had been a while, but it was a good idea to go. The biggest reason was to hear about how other people approach things. Additionally, it was nice to be in a place where pretense could drop and people were just looking to connect on a business front. I like the mood in the room, and most people are very nice (even saw the Paddens from Barnabas, who I like very much and who give back significant time). I am, however, reminded that my university graduates mostly the 1%, and it was a bit frustrating to hear about the deification of banking and the lack of tolerance for NATO and Occupy protests. Other networking events coming up....will see about doing them. Likely.
Monday, May 21, 2012: Preparing for IGEN
So on one hand, it is great that the panel format includes pre-established questions (funny enough, a ton of which came from me :) ), but it also makes it a bit limiting. I do like that there is no PowerPoint, but that will mean taking my time so that I am heard. Focusing on the process because I am not 100% sure what they mean in the question by "modeling". The question asks how, from a management perspective, one "models" behaviors. I think I am going to use the House tie-in (Everybody Lies!)...we will see how it goes.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012: IGEN Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency Conference
Really interesting to me, but I am not sure how much value others got out of it...especially practical people like Finance and Facilities folks. Got great reviews on my work, and I learned something new about raising endowment for operations (funny enough Terry Frigo would mention that to me later in the week!).
Two big things came out of this, though...completely un-related to the content.
1. There might be an opportunity for me to participate as a part-time manager for IGEN on their energy efficiency program. They got burned by the cost of a contractor, and are looking to hire temporary, part-time staff. Not the best of deals, but not horrible.
2. The "Energy Now" program that IGEN will apply to for funding might make sense for my program. Will need to get cracking on a grant application asap as the deadline is May 31, 2012 at 4:30.
Phone call with Adele Simmons.
Interesting that she contacted me...as it turns out to discuss Peter Locke and his potential role with the CCSNetwork project on energy efficiency. I like Peter a ton, but find him better on organizational and financial than on energy-technical. Told that to Adele as I had previously wondered about his role and value. Told her that when they get the funding, if they are interested in me participating as a coordinator, I would welcome the opportunity. Also told her to keep in touch with Anna related to IIT.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012: Grant writing 101
Start writing! :)
Spoke with Doug...USGBC-IL will be applying as well, but they would have no problem being a key partner on my proposal helping communities address logistics and getting communities to apply for the workshops.
Thursday, May 24, 2012: Filling out IIT's application for recognition under the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact program
Nice to see almost everyone (ha...meaning I saw almost everyone and it was nice to see everyone that I did). Straightforward project that I wanted to do on site so as to make it easier to bill. Had a good conversation with Kevin Gallagher and will give him 4 hours a month to stay on top of the LEED EBOM project and help interface with the student workers. He and the DTC crew had another meeting, so it's good that they are keeping momentum.
Friday, May 25, 2012: More writing, contacting, documenting, planning, hoping, dreaming, fretting,.....
Ready for the weekend and a ton of fun time with Deb.
[This first post will summarize the first month. Future posts will summarize the day they happened.]
The first week consisted mostly of closing up class at IIT and attending previously arranged events.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012: Chicagoland Campus Sustainability Network at Roosevelt University
This great group of people beats their head against a wall on a daily basis trying to move slow-moving, conservative universities toward a slightly better future. Few of these institutions really accept responsibility for what they do, and most if not all "support" "sustainability" (meaning they don't really support it, and they don't really seek sustainability) for marketing and student recruitment reasons. This group seeks, and needs, larger scale support and drive.
Friday, May 4, 2012: Chicago River Summit at Hotel 71 (hosted by Friends of the Chicago River)
The River has had a pretty good year. MWRD will now have to do more to clean it up, and the prospect of people using the river for personal recreation grows brighter. The historical maps and watersheds provide some fascinating insight into the area, and I need to explore these further.
Mike Quigley provided a somber but realistic view on the reality of politics in Washington, and offered a great insight that I tweeted from the event (and got a cool retweet from the Congressman): "if the environment matters to you...elections should matter!"
Small but focused group of advocates, with a single mission, and the start of great success.
Monday, May 7, 2012: received email about opportunity for guest lecturer position at Roosevelt
First major conundrum of the effort. A four-class, full-time guest lecturer position is open at Roosevelt. If for no other reason than it will focus me on getting a CV and resume together, it is worth it. Getting reference letters from Hamid, Mohammad, and Doug. (and maybe Said and Weslynne)
Tuesday, May 8, 2012: First draft launch of the full website.
I am sure it will require some major tweaks, and hopefully I'll get some great input from friends, but it's up. It's a start.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012: entering grades and conference call for Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency
First of all, I have to get better about managing my calendar, because I almost missed the call. Second, the call was efficient, but I am still not sure where it is heading or hoping to accomplish. They are trying to be innovative, but I am not sure what their ultimate goal is. Hopefully I will see this at the event in a couple of weeks.
Everyone seems impressed by my insights, though, so at least I have that going for me.
Thursday, May 10, 2012: sending LEED GA letters to students who want to take the test
Tedious work, but a good indicator that the message is getting through to some of the students.
Also, putting finishing touches on the CV...man that took a while. Good thing I had Ruthanna Gordon's as a template from the IIT website (let's hope she use the right format!!!)
Friday, May 11, 2012: Galvin Center Perfect Power team meeting
First official billable day of work!! Tried very hard to fit into my new role of advisor and information source rather than director. Hard, but I think it went well. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
Meeting with Tom Jacobius about IPRO
Good discussion, and kind words from Tom. Mostly an affirming meeting that he will keep me in mind for opportunities, and I will keep IPRO in mind as well. No concrete steps yet, but maybe soon.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012: Global Landscape for Climate Change and Cleantech
First event of the day gave me the opportunity to show support for ELPC because Howard Learner was speaking. I made sure to tell him I enjoyed the discussion.
Side benefit: ran into Kate Tomford, who is normally great to run into anyway because she is a positive and pretty driven person (and seemingly much happier now that she is at DCEO), but this time she seemed not only interested in what was going on with me, but in taking a look at the website. Will check in with her over the summer, if she doesn't contact me first.
Meet with Nik Rokop to discuss social entrepreneurship
Many great ideas from Nik....only three that I want to start with immediately:
1. If you're doing work of value, find out to whom it has value and get them to make it worth your time.
2. Build a network of "advisors" then keep a close group to really make things move forward.
3. Become valuable!
I love talking to Nik. I hope to reconnect during the summer with some ideas.
Thursday, May 17, 2012: Notre Dame Networking Breakfast
It had been a while, but it was a good idea to go. The biggest reason was to hear about how other people approach things. Additionally, it was nice to be in a place where pretense could drop and people were just looking to connect on a business front. I like the mood in the room, and most people are very nice (even saw the Paddens from Barnabas, who I like very much and who give back significant time). I am, however, reminded that my university graduates mostly the 1%, and it was a bit frustrating to hear about the deification of banking and the lack of tolerance for NATO and Occupy protests. Other networking events coming up....will see about doing them. Likely.
Monday, May 21, 2012: Preparing for IGEN
So on one hand, it is great that the panel format includes pre-established questions (funny enough, a ton of which came from me :) ), but it also makes it a bit limiting. I do like that there is no PowerPoint, but that will mean taking my time so that I am heard. Focusing on the process because I am not 100% sure what they mean in the question by "modeling". The question asks how, from a management perspective, one "models" behaviors. I think I am going to use the House tie-in (Everybody Lies!)...we will see how it goes.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012: IGEN Implementing Behavior Change for Energy Efficiency Conference
Really interesting to me, but I am not sure how much value others got out of it...especially practical people like Finance and Facilities folks. Got great reviews on my work, and I learned something new about raising endowment for operations (funny enough Terry Frigo would mention that to me later in the week!).
Two big things came out of this, though...completely un-related to the content.
1. There might be an opportunity for me to participate as a part-time manager for IGEN on their energy efficiency program. They got burned by the cost of a contractor, and are looking to hire temporary, part-time staff. Not the best of deals, but not horrible.
2. The "Energy Now" program that IGEN will apply to for funding might make sense for my program. Will need to get cracking on a grant application asap as the deadline is May 31, 2012 at 4:30.
Phone call with Adele Simmons.
Interesting that she contacted me...as it turns out to discuss Peter Locke and his potential role with the CCSNetwork project on energy efficiency. I like Peter a ton, but find him better on organizational and financial than on energy-technical. Told that to Adele as I had previously wondered about his role and value. Told her that when they get the funding, if they are interested in me participating as a coordinator, I would welcome the opportunity. Also told her to keep in touch with Anna related to IIT.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012: Grant writing 101
Start writing! :)
Spoke with Doug...USGBC-IL will be applying as well, but they would have no problem being a key partner on my proposal helping communities address logistics and getting communities to apply for the workshops.
Thursday, May 24, 2012: Filling out IIT's application for recognition under the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact program
Nice to see almost everyone (ha...meaning I saw almost everyone and it was nice to see everyone that I did). Straightforward project that I wanted to do on site so as to make it easier to bill. Had a good conversation with Kevin Gallagher and will give him 4 hours a month to stay on top of the LEED EBOM project and help interface with the student workers. He and the DTC crew had another meeting, so it's good that they are keeping momentum.
Friday, May 25, 2012: More writing, contacting, documenting, planning, hoping, dreaming, fretting,.....
Ready for the weekend and a ton of fun time with Deb.
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