Hunt Green LLC

Suzanne Advising “Living City Block”

suzanne — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 14:56:34 +0000

It is estimated that by the year 2050, eighty percent of the world’s population will live in cities. In addition, the Urban Land Institute predicts that eighty percent of current building stock in the US will still be in use in the year 2050. A series of impressive efforts are underway to mobilize the financing and technologies to retrofit large buildings, but nearly half of the building stock in America is small-medium sized.

Living City Block is an initiative to help cities redesign and retrofit inefficient and/or aging buildings at the block scale and is is committed to work with communities to create resource hyper-efficient, economically sustainable and healthier and more livable neighborhoods. Aggregation of square footage at the block scale enables economies of scale for small-medium sized buildings and lends the ability to work with local governments to implement not just transformative energy solutions, but also to rework water, waste, healthier streets and other block-scale issues.

Living City Block was born at the Rocky Mountain Institute and was launched earlier this year by Llewellyn Wells.
The initial pilot project is underway in lower downtown Denver that will produce a framework that can be exported and adapted in sister cities. Already we are in conversations with key potential partners in Boston, Washington DC, and Santa Marta (Colombia).

Visit to DAK Renewables & Minwind

suzanne — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 14:08:57 +0000

David Kolsrud at AgriEnergy Ethanol Mill in Luverne, Minnesota

Earlier this spring I visited David Kolsrud and his team at DAK Renewable Energy in South Dakota. DAK has a portfolio of ethanol, biodeisel and wind investments with the common theme being community ownership. We visited Agri-Energy, an ethanol mill that is owned by 230 local farmers and produces 22 million gallons of ethanol as well as distillers grain (fed to livestock) and biomass pellets that are burned in place of some of the coal at a power plant in the region. For a decade and a half they have been pioneers in community ownership structured renewable energy development in the mid-west and are seeking to continue their leadership by investing in, and deploying more sustainable, integrated technologies and practices. While I was there we visited Mark Willers of Minwind in Minnesota and toured their fully community owned windfarm.

Minwind 1.65MW turbine

Dave Muyres — Opening Speaker at AutoWeek Design Forum in Detroit

suzanne — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:11:48 +0000

David Muyres recently addressed a gathering of designers during the press week at the Detroit AutoShow. The AutoWeek Design forum annually brings together top designers from around the world to discuss the future of the car industry. This year the focus was on Design Renaissance, and David Muyres was chosen to open the event with a presentation on the emerging role of the designer. David chose to broaden the focus from car design to how Detroit could develop new and profitable business models while still solving people’s need for mobility. David strongly believes that Design Thinking is the key to developing fun, exciting and sustainable alternatives to today’s over dependence on the car as our main form of transportation in the United States. You can see more at: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100114/CARNEWS/100119935

Suzanne on CHIBAS Board of Directors in Haiti — They Are Ok

suzanne — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:43:44 +0000

Last year I joined the Board of Directors of CHIBAS, a non-profit research center on bio-energy and sustainable agriculture based in Haiti. I was enormously relieved to find out that the Executive Director and Research Director, Gael Pressior and his family and colleagues are all fine after the earthquake. We are working with colleagues at a variety of organizations, including LAC-CORE, to facilitate the rapid deployment of renewable energy technologies for lighting, heat, electricity, water purification, and other critical needs.

CHIBAS is working to develop and promote the use of multipurpose crops that could contribute to job creation while improving both the food and energy security in Haiti. CHIBAS has strong research capabilities and highly qualified personnel in both agronomy and genetics.

CHIBAS is set to become a Regional Biofuels Technical & Knowledge Center that will serve the biofuel sector by developing energy crop technologies and varieties, with an initial focus on jatropha and sweet sorghum. These technologies will be useful not only to Haiti but will be available for all of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. Moreover, CHIBAS will provide the biofuel agro-industry and other stakeholders the technologies and technical support necessary for the development and success of the biofuel agro-industry in the region.

Happy New Year!!

suzanne — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:26:13 +0000

Deutsche Bank’s Carbon Counter Available as Widget!

suzanne — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:31:35 +0000

www.know-the-number.com

Our Climate is Changing!

Deutsche Bank has designed a Carbon Counter widget to be downloaded to your desktop in order to allow you to have an accurate, real-time display of the estimated amount of green house gases in our atmosphere. The number is the same figure which is displayed on the 70 foot tall Carbon Counter near Penn Station in New York City. It’s a bit like a ticking time bomb, but if we’re successful in our efforts to combat climate change, the number will stabilize and eventually start to decline…

Please download Flash Player.

Carbon Nation — An Upcoming Documentary About Solutions

suzanne — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:28:11 +0000

Last week I had a fantastic surprise. A friend and colleague invited me to see a film in the middle of the afternoon. I was just returning from Berlin and was jet-lagged and figured, why not? But wondered, why is this movie showing during the work day? It turned out be a pre-screening of the upcoming documentary “Carbon Nation” for some of the amazing people interviewed in the film so that they could give input on how they were portrayed, check the facts, and give general input. According to the film’s Director, Peter Byck, “Carbon Nation” is an optimistic (and witty) discovery of what people are already doing, what we as a nation could be doing and what the world needs to do to prevent (or at least slow down) the impending climate crisis. The good news is we already have the technology to combat most of the worst case scenarios of climate change, and it’s also very good business. Other good films have been about the problems, “Carbon Nation” is a film that focuses on the solutions.”

Byck gives us a humorous, and sometimes intensely personal, peek into the extraordinary lives and work of people who are pioneering vital solutions. I won’t give away too much about the film but one of the main characters is Dan Nolan who is helping to save fuel, money and lives in Iraq and Afghanistan by helping the military reduce and substitute their fuel needs. Other stars include Jim Woolsey, Van Jones, Amory Lovins, and Janine Benyus.

Keep an eye out for this must-see film!

“Aquatic Biomass: Sustainable Bioenergy from Algae?”

suzanne — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:36:31 +0000

I will be participating in the international workshop entitled “Aquatic Biomass: Sustainable Bioenergy from Algae?” in Berlin, Germany November 2nd. The workshop will bring together key representatives from countries active in research and development of algae-based bioenergy. They will present and discuss the current status and future options for algae use, introduce relevant technology prospects and discuss environmental and development issues. To see the full description and agenda click here.

Upcoming Speaking Engagements — Dave Muyres

suzanne — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:13:02 +0000

Dave Muyres will be speaking about the role of design in crafting a new vision for transportation in the United States at the following events:

Moving Minds: The Next Transportation Infrastructure
November 9–12, 2009 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
http://um-smart.org/resources/conference09/overview.html

Opportunity Green Business Conference at UCLA
Los Angeles, CA November 7–8, 2009
http://www.opportunitygreen.com/

Podcar City Conference
December 9–10 in Malmo, Sweden
http://www.podcar.org/cop15/index.htm

Speaking Engagements in Syracuse and Geneva, NY

suzanne — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:36:59 +0000

I will be speaking at the International Conference on Biorefinery in Syracuse NY on October 6th, and at Hobart and William Smith College (HWS) in Geneva, NY on October 7th. The Finger Lakes Institute, based at HWS and the college itself have a wide array of ‘greening effort. For more information on their environmental initiatives, click here.