http://www.cchange.net Covering the transformations to social, environment and economic sustainability Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:08:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Sea Change Radio covers the transformations to social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Change is accelerating in positive and negative directions: the clock is ticking in the race to see which will tip first—the problems or the solutions. Join Sea Change's Host, Alex Wise, as he provides in-depth analysis to help our audience understand possible remedies and potential pitfalls. Sea Change interviews sustainability experts including Paul Hawken, Stewart Brand, Bill McKibben, Van Jones, Lester Brown, and many others. Sea Change airs on over 30 radio stations around the country. Alex Wise clean Alex Wise awise@cchange.net awise@cchange.net (Alex Wise) 2007-2011 Making Connections for Sustainability Sustainability, Climate Change, Human Rights, Environment, Corporate Responsibility, Socially Responsible Investing, Accountability, Stakeholders, Clean Tech, Renewable Energy, Green Jobs, Wealth Divide http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/cwr-images-archive/SeaChangeRadioTAG_square144_sm.jpg http://www.cchange.net Weekly http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/16/back-to-the-future-reduce-reuse-retrofit/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/16/back-to-the-future-reduce-reuse-retrofit/#comments Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:03:39 +0000 Francesca Rheannon http://www.cchange.net/?p=2220 http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/16/back-to-the-future-reduce-reuse-retrofit/feed/ 2 back to the future,carbon emissions,carbon footprint,mass humanities,northeast sustainable energy association,retrofits,zero net energy Welcome to the third episode in our Sea Change series, Back to the Future.  Green architect Betsy Pettit talks about retrofits and what older building methods can teach us about saving energy. And John Grossman of ReStore tells us about re-using salvag... (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/BetsyPettit-150x150.jpg) Welcome to the third episode in our Sea Change series, Back to the Future.  Green architect Betsy Pettit (http://www.buildingscienceconsulting.com/who/member.aspx?TeamID=3) talks about retrofits and what older building methods can teach us about saving energy. And John Grossman of ReStore (http://www.restoreonline.org/ ) tells us about re-using salvaged building materials. Each month, our six-part series looks at what we can learn from the past, when we used far less fossil fuels than we do today. We explore practices we can adapt as we move toward a lower carbon future. Last month, we looked at the revival of a locally based food system in western Massachusetts. This month we look at using old style Yankee frugality in building homes -- and adapting existing houses -- to save energy and reduce our carbon footprint. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/BetsyPettitRetrofit-150x150.jpg)(http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/BetsyPettitRetrofit2-150x150.jpg)In the U.S., buildings are responsible for between 48 and 80 percent of all carbon emissions (http://architecture2030.org/current_situation/building_sector.html), depending on what you include in the numbers. Single-family homes account for a significant portion today -- but they used to use a lot less energy. Green architect Betsy Pettit says homes built in the early years of the last century can teach us a lot about using less energy for cooling and lighting -- and even heating. She retrofitted her circa 1916 Sears Kit house (http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/case-studies/cs-0016-concord-four-square-retrofit/?searchterm=retrofit) to make its carbon footprint tiny -- nearly zero net energy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-energy_building). Pettit plies her trade with Building Science Corporation (http://www.buildingscience.com/) in Boston. She'll be chairing this year's Building Energy Conference (http://www.nesea.org/buildingenergy/) put on by the NorthEast Sustainable Energy Association, or NESEA (http://www.nesea.org/). The ReStore in Springfield was founded eight years ago by the Center for Ecological Technology (http://www.cetonline.org/) in Northampton, MA.. It takes salvaged materials and surplus stock from the building industry and sells them to the public at low prices, thereby keeping good used stuff out of landfills. The ReStore crew will take a house apart, piece by piece, including one from the 1700s, that used to sit in Rutland, Massachusetts. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ReStoreMerch-150x150.jpg)When you go to the ReStore, you'll find everything from claw foot tubs to spas, doors, windows, heaps of old lumber, radiators of various vintages, tub surrounds and marble countertops outside. Inside, you can find entire kitchen cabinet sets, including a cherry one on the day Sea Change host Francesca Rheannon (http://www.cchange.net/about/francesca-rheannon/) visited that looked like it had been pulled from a 1940s mansion. There are lamps hanging from every inch of ceiling space, and everything else for the home from drawer pulls to wiring.  Manager John Grossman took Sea Change on a tour. Francesca Rheannon clean 29:30 http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/09/hell-breaks-loose-at-cop15-ambitious-legal-treaty-now/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/09/hell-breaks-loose-at-cop15-ambitious-legal-treaty-now/#comments Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:27:16 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=2203 http://www.cchange.net/2009/12/09/hell-breaks-loose-at-cop15-ambitious-legal-treaty-now/feed/ 0 350.org,carbon emissions,Climate Change,COP15,danish text,developing nations,kyoto protocol,United Nations "All hell is breaking loose." That's what Sea Change Climate Correspondent Cimbria Badenhausen skype texted to Executive Producer/Host Bill Baue from Copenhagen at 3:27 pm there on Wednesday December 9, the third day of the UN Climate Conference, (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/cop15_logo_img.gif)"All hell is breaking loose." That's what Sea Change Climate Correspondent Cimbria Badenhausen (http://www.cchange.net/about/cimbria-badenhausen/) skype texted to Executive Producer/... Bill Baue clean 28:00 http://www.cchange.net/2009/11/11/newsanalysis-a-tale-of-two-treaties/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/11/11/newsanalysis-a-tale-of-two-treaties/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:53:35 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=2111 http://www.cchange.net/2009/11/11/newsanalysis-a-tale-of-two-treaties/feed/ 0 carbon emissions,COP15,kyoto protocol,NewsAnalysis This week's Sea Change Radio News Analysis comes from Tania Haldar Hart: - The conference to negotiate a new climate treaty is rapidly approaching -- early December, in Copenhagen -- and the Sea Change Correspondent will be there to cover it. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/TaniaHaldarHart-150x150.jpg)(http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/cop15_logo_img.gif)This week's Sea Change Radio News Analysis comes from Tania Haldar Hart (http://www.cchange.net/about/tania-haldar-hart/): The conference (http://en.cop15.dk/) to negotiate a new climate treaty is rapidly approaching -- early December, in Copenhagen -- and the Sea Change Correspondent (http://www.cchange.net/about/cimbria-badenhausen/) will be there to cover it.  The goal is to to come out of Copenhagen with a workable Climate treaty.  But what this will look like is still up in the air.  There's debate over two possible treaties. The Kyoto Protocol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyoto_Protocol), the existing treaty, requires rich countries to cut carbon emissions five percent from 1990 levels by 2012.  But, it made no similar requirements for poor countries -- a sticking point for the US among others.  Another treaty option, the Long-Term Cooperative Action (http://unfccc.int/meetings/dialogue/items/3668.php), is a deal that would include the US and ask more of developing countries.  It would kick in after 2012, according the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/copenhagen-climate-change-confe/6527289/Copenhagen-climate-change-deal-could-be-two-separate-treaties.html) in the UK. The problem is, many countries are caught between the two treaties, as neither of them completely fulfills any given country's specific political and climate agendas.  Developed countries, such as the US, want each country to have its own emission reduction targets enforced by domestic law. But developing countries are threatening to walk out of the talks if binding emissions reductions for developed countries aren't included.  This sets the stage for a breakdown in negotiations -- or, a possible hybrid treaty to be crafted in Copenhagen.  A delayed but harmonious treaty signing may be better than none at all. For the Sea Change News Analysis, I'm Tania Haldar Hart. Bill Baue clean 1:44 http://www.cchange.net/2009/10/21/the-next-generation-in-green-jobs-and-energy-efficiency-rebroadcast/ http://www.cchange.net/2009/10/21/the-next-generation-in-green-jobs-and-energy-efficiency-rebroadcast/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:20:51 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=2030 http://www.cchange.net/2009/10/21/the-next-generation-in-green-jobs-and-energy-efficiency-rebroadcast/feed/ 0 carbon emissions,deep energy retrofit,Green Jobs,home performance,residential energy efficiency,weatherization assistance program Energy efficiency and retrofits are in the news.  This week, the Obama Administration released it Recovery through Retrofits report. National Resources Defense Council Building Energy Policy Manager Lane Burt applauded the report's findings that "retro... Energy efficiency and retrofits are in the news.  This week, the Obama Administration released it Recovery through Retrofits (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Vice-President-Biden-Unveils-Report-Focused-on-Expanding-Green-Jobs-And-Energy-Savings-For-Middle-Class-Families/) report. National Resources Defense Council (http://www.nrdc.org/) Building Energy Policy Manager Lane Burt (http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/lburt/about/) applauded (http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/lburt/obama_administration_beats_the.html) the report's findings that "retrofitting homes and developing a residential energy efficiency industry can save money, slash carbon emissions, and create jobs right now." Here in the Pioneer Valley where we produce Sea Change Radio, the Western Mass Green Consortium (http://www.westernmassgreenconsortium.org/)is sponsoring Project Retrofit (http://www.earththrives.com/component/content/article/51-press/156-western-mass-green-consortium.html) to promote deep energy retrofits.  And Sea Change Co-Host Bill Baue (http://www.cchange.net/about/bill-baue/) was busy these past few weeks editing a report due out soon from Ceres (http://www.ceres.org/page.aspx?pid=705) on how investors can support energy efficiency in their real estate portfolios. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/AdinMaynard.jpg)This week, we dig into the Sea Change archives (http://www.cchange.net/archives/) for a show featuring an interview Baue conducted with Adin Maynard (http://www.mycozyhome.org/about), Director of Operations at Cozy Home Performance (http://www.mycozyhome.org/), about the company’s participation in the Weatherization Assistance Program (http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/weatherization/) for low-income homeowners and its move into deep energy retrofits for mid- and upper-income homeowners. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/PatriciaMoss-150x150.jpg)The show also features an interview by Co-Host Francesca Rheannon (http://www.cchange.net/about/francesca-rheannon/) with Patricia Moss, Project Manager of  Groundwork Springfield (http://www.groundworkspringfield.org/), and the Green Team (http://www.groundworkspringfield.org/node/7) of teens and young adults working in green jobs. Bill Baue clean 28:30