#beexwise

We are proud to share that our very own BE-Ex WISE Sponsor, Gotham 360, Completed The Feasibility Study That Allowed The East Bronx Healthcare Microgrid Team To Receive A $1,000,000 State Grant 

The East Bronx Healthcare Microgrid was announced by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as one of 11 winners to receive a $1,000,000 grant to design a microgrid as part of NY Prize, a statewide initiative focused on modernizing New York City’s electricity grid. This project is based on a feasibility study, also funded through NY Prize and completed by Gotham 360.

NY Prize is a first-in-the-nation competition designated to helping communities create microgrids, standalone energy system that can operate during a power outage. The initiative helps communities reduce costs, promote clean energy, and build reliability and resiliency into the electric grid by spurring innovation and community partnerships.

“Gotham 360 is honored to be a part of such a prestigious team and looks forward to further collaboration on our microgrid concept for the East Bronx.,” said Jennifer Kearney, Founder and CEO of Gotham 360. “NY Prize gives us the unique opportunity to partner with like-minded organizations and build a more sustainable community through reducing costs, promoting clean energy, and building reliability and resiliency into the grid.”

The competition began with 85 award winners receiving a $100,000 grant. As one of the winners, Gotham 360 used the grant to perform a microgrid study on behalf of one of the firm’s longstanding healthcare clients, Montefiore Medical Center.

In the second stage, Gotham 360 partnered with Enwave, who is currently leading the team, that also includes Burns & McDonnell, Van Zelm Engineers, Couch White, Utilivisor, and ConEd to design a district energy system microgrid in the East Bronx, that will provide heat and power to four hospitals (Weiler Hospital, Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Center, Einstein College of Medicine, and Calvary Hospital).

The Gotham 360 team will apply its expertise to develop a comprehensive engineering, financial, and commercial assessment associated with installing and operating a community microgrid in the East Bronx.

The proposed microgrid will mitigate the risk of single generators failing during prolonged outages through combined heat and power, solar, battery systems, steam turbine generators, and heat recovery steam generators as well as leveraging existing steam generation plants.

The new year is well on its way! But that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about 2016 just yet. And for us here at BE-Ex, the WISE (Women in Sustainability and Energy) Holiday Party was definitely a 2016 highlight.

On December 19, 65+ people gathered in our Lighting the Future exhibit room to eat, drink, and celebrate women’s leadership in the sustainability and energy fields. As a special addition, we heard from some of the women who work for the organizations and companies that sponsored WISE this past year.

Lindsay O’Neill-Caffrey, from Gotham360, explained how meaningful it is for Gotham360, a woman-owned business, to be able to support an initiative like WISE. She noted that it feels especially important to cultivate a community of women professionals after the 2016 election, a time when it felt and continues to feel like women’s rights and safety are too often forgotten or ignored. 

Vicki Kuo, the Director of Energy Efficiency Demand Management at ConEd and a BE-Ex board member, told the best story of the night. She shared that it was actually at a WISE event in March 2015 that she met a young woman who, soon after, she hired for a position at ConEd! 

Vanessa Ulmer, of NYSERDA, spoke specifically about the role she believes women will play in bringing REV (Reinventing the Energy Vision), New York State’s comprehensive energy strategy, to fruition. Women tend to thrive at bringing people together and synthesizing information. Both of which are skills that will be absolutely crucial as we work to innovate our energy system and empower consumers to make more informed energy choices. 

Kit Kennedy, representing NRDC, spoke more directly about the influence of the 2016 presidential election. She generously shared her post election mantra with the room. Resist. Recharge. Redirect. Resist unjust and backward-thinking policies, make sure to take time to personally recharge, and continue to fight for progress and justice. 

Here at BE-Ex we are definitely taking this to heart as we continue to work hard to create a more sustainable New York City in 2017. 

On success and failure:

“My biggest successes have been the decisions I have made on gut instinct... The further I have gotten in my career, the less scared I have gotten about trusting my instincts and not worrying if things don’t work out as planned.” - Elena Alschuler

“My biggest disappointment, I’d say, was landing what I thought was the job of my dreams and then realizing that I actually really did not like it... You have this whole idea of what you want your life to look like, and maybe that’s not how it’s going to turn out. And that’s perfectly fine.” - Laura McCaffrey

“Fail early. It’s okay. You can pick yourself up and dust yourself off. And you just don’t know what direction your career is going to take you in as long as  your open to it and you come in prepared.” - Courtney McCormick

“I think I’ve gotten to where I am for two very distinct reasons. I think I have an insatiable appetite for success, and I think I am the only person and the right person to do what I am doing right now.” - Allison Kopf

On data and making the case for energy efficiency:

“I think a lot of people have this knee jerk reaction of ‘don’t share anything of mine.’ There are ways to get knowledge and understanding out of data without sharing the most sensitive parts of it.” - Elena Alschuler

“The logic behind selling energy efficiency in commercial spaces would say that if it’s saving you enough money, that should be an economic decision. But even businesses who are making these purchase decisions are still people. Energy efficiency has done a really poor job of tapping into emotional purchase triggers.” - Angela Ferrante 

“I think a lot of the opportunity in energy has to do with psychology and packaging... There is a huge opportunity to bring design creativity that lacks in anything exciting emotionally.”  - Ali Adler

“If we can take the concepts of convenience and retail, high-quality customer service experience into a space that doesn’t have that, there is a huge opportunity.” - Ali Adler 

On leadership and gender:

“I always go in with a degree of ‘look I have complete respect for you, and I want to learn from you, but at the end of day I’m in charge.’ You have to communicate that too. That’s been something I learned as I went. I think that’s important for all of us. This is the new reality. So everybody just better get comfortable.” - Courtney McCormick 

“If a young man in a suit walks into a room, he is assumed to be competent. And if a young women in a suit walks into a room, she is not necessarily assumed to be competent... I think with women leaders they give you a chance and they give you something to aspire to.” - Elena Alschuler

“When I was 23 and running a non-profit, I would bring a middle aged man from my advisory board to fundraising meetings with me sometimes to sit there next to me and hardly say anything so that the person on the other side of the table, who I got the sense was the type of person who would listen if there was a middle aged man sitting next to me, would listen.” - Ali Adler

“How do we get more women to find that thing that she is destined to solve, that problem that there is nothing on this planet that she is meant to do more than that thing. And then help them get there.” “Allison Kopf

On March 10th, Ali Adler, Angela Ferrante, and Allison Kopf, moderated by Pat Sapinsley discussed “Investors and Innovators Building and Supporting Clean Technologies.”

The topics of conversation during this WISE event were definitely content heavy, and while the forum certainly serves to facilitate interactions between women in the sustainability and energy industries, these events are profound discussions on industry that just so happen to have an all-female perspective… the “all-male panel” is getting a bit tiresome.

Just as BEEx itself demonstrates, public sector investment has led to profound private sector engagement. Public/private partnerships present the opportunity for really interesting alliances. On the logistical side, they allow for a stability that, in the past, the likes of VC’s and other investment resources have been hesitant to heavily involve themselves with. The biggest disconnect between the technology companies and the sources for financing has come from the judgment of success; on one side, the extent to which a technology achieves its target purpose (increasing efficiency, eliminating waste, etc.) and on the other, basic return on investment. The aim, moving forward, is “making energy efficiency palatable to the finance world”. 

Net Impact, Columbia University’s Sustainability Management Chapter SUMANI Trendster Blog Written by: Abigail Orzolek, SUMANI Director of Communications Read the full article here

Last Thursday, we kicked off the first Women in Sustainability and Energy (WISE) program series with Cleantech Pioneers!

Our moderator and panelists shared their insights on cleantech challenges and trends, as well as their experience as a woman in a male-dominated industry. 

Below are some highlights, as told by our audience.

[View the story "#BEExWISE Cleantech" on Storify]

It’s that time of the year again. BEEx is bringing back a crowd favorite, WISE - Women in Sustainability and Energy. WISE showcases inspirational women leaders who are accelerating the sustainability and energy efficiency of our buildings and our cities. WISE is a chance for women and men in the sustainability and energy fields to learn form industry leaders, share their ideas, and advance equality in the workplace. 

The WISE 2016 series will begin in March, Women’s History Month, with two high-level panels.

March 10, 2016: Cleantech and Entrepreneurship March 22, 2016: Data-Driven Innovation  

Registration will be available soon, but in the mean time, take a look at our WISE 2015 highlights video and start getting excited!

We are thrilled to announce that Richard Yancey, Building Energy Exchange’s Executive Director, has been named one of New York’s Top Ten Energy Entrepreneurs. 

Read more about the award and find out who else made the list here.

This is a wonderful honor for Richard and BEEx. However, we hope that Breaking Energy will produce an accompanying list of female entrepreneurs in the energy world. There is no shortage of options, but BEEx is happy to suggest some innovative women we know make the cut. 

This is not a ranking, names are listed alphabetically. 

Jill Anderson, NYPA Kate Burson, NY Governor’s Office Jessica Grove-Smith, Passive House Institute  Bomee Jung, NYCHA (formerally Enterprise Community Partners) Charlotte Matthews, Related  Nilda Mesa, NYC Mayor’s Office  Sukanya Paciorek, Vornado Angela Pinsky, REBNY

Any other ideas for women who should be on this list? Comment below!