Southeast Green - Speaking Of Green

The Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (SEEA) is one of six regional energy efficiency organizations in the U.S. working to transform the energy efficiency marketplace. Energy efficiency is a catalyst for economic growth, workforce development and energy security, and SEEA promotes its benefits and opportunities across 11 southeastern states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana,  Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. In this discussion, Southeast Green will interview SEEA and their partner, the Cadmus Group, about the findings of their recent economic analysis, which showed a 378 percent return on the $20.2M investment made by the U.S. Department of Energy in energy efficiency programming in the Southeast, from 2010 to 2013. We'll look at how the region performed overall, as well as how the eight participating states fared individually. We'll talk about economic output, labor income, and the number of new jobs created per million dollars investe

Doug Dietrich of Burns & McDonnell will be a guest on Southeast Green’s weekly live radio show, “Speaking of Green,” on Wednesday, February 12th, at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. Broadcast live on Blog Talk Radio, Dietrich will share insights and developments regarding EnvisionTM, a framework being adopted by major metropolitan areas and leading firms in the design, engineering, and construction sector to help guide communities and enterprises through the process of (1) articulating infrastructure project objectives, options, and priorities; and (2) making decisions in light of long-term costs and benefits to people, businesses, and natural resources. Dietrich has 20 years of experience working with environmental organizations and in management consulting to Fortune 500 firms. He has managed sustainability projects for governmental and corporate clients in the medical, educational, professional services, industrial and agricultural sectors. Credentialed as an Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SP) and Verifi

Bernie Burgener is the executive director of the Greenhouse Accelerator, where he helps to create local green jobs by advising and financially supporting startup entrepreneurs in green technology business ventures. Early in his career Bernie helped fund and grow businesses in various countries and industries in South America, working for a private investment company out of Lima, Peru.  He then worked for over twenty years with a water treatment company in Atlanta, leading its international business development. Greenhouse Accelerator: The Greenhouse Accelerator is a non-profit organization and provides its help for free, working with cleantech entrepreneurs over a period of up to three years;  it also provides seed loans, but does not invest in equity.  Its key objective is to help green entrepreneurs create sustainable local jobs and it measures its success along a triple bottom line:  its impacts on revenues generated, on sustainable jobs created, and on the responsible use of natural resources.  It is a

SolDeSal provides drinking water on a large scale from sea or brackish ground water.  A solar field of one square mile can sustain a city of a population of approximately 150 – 200 thousand.  Since the cost of produced water is low, the fresh water can also be used for irrigation of agricultural land providing a wide base for economic prosperity and growth.  The technology requires no other natural resources but sun and seawater. These resources are most abundant in areas where the population growth is the fastest and where fresh-water resources are the scarcest. The SolDeSal solution is based on a unique integration of conventional and new, patented technologies:  High Density Solar Thermal Steam Generator, High Temperature Thermal Storage System, 2D Matrix Multi Effect Distillation Unit, Direct Contact Air Cooled Condenser and Conventional Steam Turbine Generator.

Alec Manfre is a co-founder and CEO of Bractlet—an energy analytics platform that increases efficiency through better data—where he executes Bractlet's vision and leads the development of Bractlet's hardware solution. He believes that energy drives the world's economic engine and can have substantial impact on lifting poverty, but the way energy is used and generated has to be done responsibly. He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where he majored in Mechanical Engineering and graduated with highest honors. Alec has previously worked with GE Energy in their Gas Turbine and Smart Grid divisions, with Georgia Tech Research Institute where he researched carbon nanotube based photovoltaic cells, and led an energy policy research project analyzing how various stakeholders effect statewide energy policy. Alec loves travelling and has been fortunate to have travelled to over 18 countries and 30 cities throughout South East Asia, South America, Europe, and Africa. He also loves to play golf, tennis, and

Mr. Christoph Pollatos is a serial entrepreneur. He currently holds the position of President & CEO for BioChar Central Inc., an Eco-Solutions enterprise, founded in March 2011. The company transforms biomass waste streams into useful, profitable organic soil building and water purification products.  It has developed a proprietary low cost, clean technology which helps sustainably converts wood and agricultural wastes into powerful soil enhancers, boosting crop yields, preventing desertification, all while helping mitigate Climate Change risks. Before founding BioChar Central, Mr. Pollatos started Verdant Energy Solutions Inc., an Alternative Energy Fuel Provider.  The company focused on producing “Bio-Coal", a renewable fuel alternative to fossil coal used by electric generating utilities world-wide. Using Bio-Coal instead of fossil coal at electric generating utilities substantially reduces CO2 and other harmful greenhouse gas emissions from Power Plants.

Erico Mattos has just graduated as a Ph.D in Crop and Soil Sciences from the University of Georgia in August 2013. In 2012 Erico graduated from the Graduate Studies Program at Singularity University located at NASA Ames Research Center and is now working on several entrepreneurial projects related to new techniques in food production. Erico is an Agricultural Engineer by training and got his degree at University of Sao Paulo in 2008. As an advocate of urban agriculture systems, Mattos sees the intelligent use of exponential technologies as a solution to meet the increasing demand for healthy food based on sustainable, integrated production systems. Erico is also a co founder of PhytoSynthetix, a high-tech horticultural lighting company that combines plant physiology with bioengineering to built the first intelligent illumination system in the world. PhytoSynthetix developed a proprietary biological feedback system that allows the lights to communicate with the plants and maximize energy use efficiency thus in

William “Billy” Johnson is the Director of Political and Public Affairs at the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) in Washington, D.C.  Billy works closely with ISRI members to formulate and advance the scrap recycling industry’s policy priorities and promote the industry as America’s Original Recycler©.  Billy leads ISRI’s efforts in Washington, D.C. towards the establishment of a bi-partisan Congressional Recycling Caucus with the goal of creating a permanent approach to educating policymakers, promoting the recycling industry, and advancing recycling issues on Capitol Hill. Accordingly, Billy actively leads ISRI’s political action activities and activates ISRI’s members through a constituent-based grassroots advocacy program using Membership Fly-In Days and Congressional facility tours to communicate and advance the recycling industry’s priorities.  Billy has a B.A. in Political Science from North Carolina State University and a Masters in Public Administration from the Virginia Polyte

Jackie Hutter, MS, JD is the CEO of Evgentech, a role in which she leads the development and execution of the company’s strategic initiatives, such as developing and managing intellectual property (“IP”) protection efforts, securing of licensing partners and building the team and infrastructure needed for Evgentech to scale from a start up technology venture to a profitable battery charging innovations company.  She has been a part of the company’s management team since 2010 when she was brought on as an IP adviser to the co-founders.  Since she took the helm of Evgentech in mid-2012, Ms. Hutter has effected the transition of Evgentech from a hacker-based venture to a company with PhD validated charging technology protected by strong IP.  Outside of her role at Evgentech, Ms. Hutter is a thought-leader and frequent speaker on innovation and IP topics, and has in each year since 2009 been been named to the elite group of top global IP Strategists by Intellectual Asset Magazine.  Prior to joining Evgentech, Ms.

Michael Lusk, an 18-year veteran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the new project leader of Okefenokee and Banks Lake National Wildlife Refuges. He begins his new duties on September 22, 2013. “Michael has worked for the National Wildlife Refuge System during most of his Service career,” said David Viker, Chief of the Services Southeast National Wildlife Refuge System. “He has successfully dealt with many controversial projects throughout the country, including managing manatees at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Florida and border issues at Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. His varied experiences prepared him for the challenge of managing the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Complex, our largest in the eastern United States.” In his previous position, Lusk managed the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge Complex in central Florida. As manager, he facilitated the purchase of Three Sisters Springs, part of the Kings Bay manatee sanctuary, and coordinated wi

Steve O'Neil, MSc, has twenty years of professional experience with environmental-related organizations including executive management, adviser, corporate governance, and founding entrepreneur. Steve founded Applied Energy Conservation Systems in 2007, which has since become Consensus Energy, a commercial and industrial energy-savings consulting firm based in Atlanta.   Mr. O'Neil has served as Executive Director of the Chattanooga Nature Center, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Executive Director of SouthWings based in Asheville, NC, and SE Regional Director of Center for the Restoration of Waters @ Ocean Arks International.  Mr. O'Neil has also held Board positions with the Chattanooga Nature Center, the City of Chattanooga’s Climate Action Plan Executive Committee, the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council,  and the Dogwood Alliance in North Carolina (past Chair). Steve holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters in Environmental Science from University of Dublin, Trinity College, in Dublin. 

Join us as we launch an eight series on the Green Chamber of the South's Green House Incubator program. We'll interview eight different incubator participants to learn about their companies and the work of the Green House Incubator. Geoff Berlin is the founder CEO of Retrofit America. He launched Company’s home performance contracting operations in its Atlanta market and and is now preparing to scale the business nationally. Mr. Berlin has extensive experience managing entrepreneurial ventures in the energy sector, technology-enabled services and software development.  In 2007, Mr. Berlin launched Carbon Plus Limited to develop emission reduction projects under the Kyoto Protocol in Ukraine.  In 1998, he launched the Hertz Rent A Car and Leasing franchises for Ukraine and managed the venture to a successful exit. Since 2005, Mr. Berlin was also Managing Director for Central and Eastern Europe of AMB International Finance, LLC in Washington, DC, where he developed large-scale investment projects with a focus

Kwabena Nkromo, is the Founder and Lead Partner of Atlanta Food and Farm, LLC (AF2) and has over a decade of strategic planning, organizational development and agricultural planning experience. Kwabena has worked in the City of Atlanta for much of that time giving voice to under served communities in Southwest Atlanta. He has advised the Mayor’s office on city-wide issues revolving around environmental quality and land use while on the Atlanta Planning and Advisory Committee. It was soon after becoming a founding member of the Atlanta Land Trust Collaborative Steering Committee that his vision for urban agriculture as a vehicle for economic transformation began to take shape. Through leadership of AF2, Kwabena strengthened his presence in the national food policy debate. Atlanta Food and Farm’s implementation of the Choice Neighborhoods Atlanta community food system assessment is now being used by both Emory University and Georgia Tech in their models for urban food sustainability. Kwabena studied at Tuskegee

A native Atlantan, Gloria Hardegree is serving her 15th year as Executive Director of the Georgia Recycling Coalition (GRC), the state’s 501c3 recycling organization now in its 22nd year of operation. She is involved at the local, state, regional and national level on advisory boards and steering committees. Prior to joining GRC, she was a partner in a yard trimmings composting company and set up some of the early curbside residential recycling programs for a local hauler in metro Atlanta.  

Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, is an eminent writer, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development.  Established in 1996, Forum for the Future is now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity, with 70 staff and over 100 partner organisations, including some of the world’s leading companies. The Forum has a growing presence in the United States, and is doing more and more work in India, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In addition, he is Co-Director of The Prince of Wales's Business and Sustainability Programme which runs Seminars for senior executives around the world.  He is a Non-Executive of Willmott Dixon Holdings, a Trustee of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy, and is involved in the work of many NGOs and charities as Patron, Chair or Special Adviser. He was formerly Director of Friends of the Earth (1984-90); co-chair of the Green Party (1980-83) of which he is still a member; chairman of UNED-UK (1993-96); chairman of Sustainability South West, the South West Roun

Anup Shah Brings Strong Environmental and Leadership Experience to Position The Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC), which represents more than 4,000 member companies and 1 million workers in the region, today announced that Anup Shah will be joining MAC as vice president of environmental affairs. Shah brings extensive leadership and environmental experience to MAC. Most recently, he worked as a design manager and principal engineer for Brown and Caldwell, an engineering and environmental consulting firm in Atlanta, where he was responsible for coordinating multiple design projects in the Southeast. During his tenure there, he also directed several large projects in the water/environmental arena and developed sustainable design solutions, resulting in lower costs.

The building of the built environment (real estate and the infrastructure that supports real estate) is in the middle of a structural change, only comparable to the change that took place two generations ago following World War II. The structural change that occurred in the mid-20th century converted real estate development into a modular, formula-driven industry, based upon access by and parking of automobiles and trucks. I refer to it as "drivable sub-urbanism". The real estate industry responded to the market demand of the day and the results yielded many benefits in the industrial economy. Yet we now know that it actually narrowed consumer options, consumed land at 6-8 times population growth and produced "could be anywhere" places, based upon the "19 standard product types". These drivable sub-urban formulas have been re-enforced by real estate finance, which has turned what for thousands of years was a 40-year asset class into a product with a 7-10 year life.

Born and raised in Virginia, Tara has lived in Brooklyn for many years and considers New York City as her “base” for exploration. With a BA in Human Impacts on Ecosystems from the University of Virginia and a MA in Climate and Society from Columbia University, Tara’s formal education has focused on issues of sustainable development, society, and the environment. Tara founded the Human Impacts Institute in 2010, seeing a need for creative approaches to sustainability and global coalition building. Previously, Tara worked for 9 years as Director of Environmental Education and as Program Director for a NYC community-based organization--developing opportunities for inner-city youth to learn about, and develop responsibility for, their local environment. She has also served as a global representative of All Gore’s ClimateRealityProject since 2006, presenting to thousands of people about climate change.  Tara is also an adjunct professor of Environmental Studies, Policy, Sustainable Development and Visual Arts the

Sally is a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community activist. She is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. This well-researched, thought-provoking guide to traditional foods contains a startling message: Animal fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection from disease and optimum energy levels. Ms. Fallon's lifelong interest in the subject of nutrition began in the early 1970s when she read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price. Called the "Charles Darwin of Nutrition," Price traveled the world over studying healthy primitive populations and their diets. The unforgettable photographs contained in his book document the beautiful facial structure and superb physiques of isolated groups consuming only whole, natural foods. Price noted that all of these diets contained a source o

Brian Carr joined The Clean Air Campaign as communications director in April 2008. Prior to becoming communications director, Brian worked for Primerica Financial Services (part of the Citigroup network of companies), where he created successful internal and consumer campaigns. Earlier in his career, Brian managed print and broadcast advertising during the launch of Cingular Wireless for BBDO Atlanta, an advertising agency. He also founded and ran his own firm for a time, providing grassroots marketing, design and interactive media services for e-commerce and retail clients. Brian graduated from the University of Georgia in 1996 with a degree in journalism.