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/2010/01/20/a-hybrid-model-co-op-and-nonprofits-launch-energy-efficiency-company/ http://www.cchange.net/2010/01/20/a-hybrid-model-co-op-and-nonprofits-launch-energy-efficiency-company/#comments Wed, 20 Jan 2010 23:18:23 +0000 Bill Baue http://www.cchange.net/?p=2297 http://www.cchange.net/2010/01/20/a-hybrid-model-co-op-and-nonprofits-launch-energy-efficiency-company/feed/ 13 energy efficiency,energy savings performance contracts,energy service companies,Green Jobs,retrofits,triple bottom line Sea Change Radio Radio Co-Hosts Bill Baue and Kelsey Flynn talk to Tom Rossmassler, CEO of Energia, an innovative new energy efficiency company founded by two nonprofits -- Nuestras Raices and Nueva Esparanza -- and Co-op Power, a consumer cooperative. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/TomRossmassler1.jpg)Sea Change Radio Radio Co-Hosts Bill Baue (http://www.cchange.net/about/bill-baue/) and Kelsey Flynn (http://www.wrsi.com/Kelsey-Flynn/3222248) talk to Tom Rossmassler, CEO of Energia, an innovative new energy efficiency company founded by two nonprofits -- Nuestras Raices (http://www.nuestras-raices.org/en/home) and Nueva Esparanza (http://www.nuevaesperanzacdc.org/home/index.php?title=Main_Page) -- and Co-op Power (http://www.cooppower.coop/), a consumer cooperative.  And Kelsey profiles the Roots Up Green Jobs (http://www.nuestras-raices.org/en/green-jobs) program, run by Nuestras Raices and Co-op Power, which will train workers for Energia. Caulk and insulation -- Bill hadn’t quite realized what a key role these play in helping solve the climate crisis until he edited a report (http://www.ceres.org/Page.aspx?pid=1172) for Ceres (http://www.ceres.org/Page.aspx?pid=705) late last year on energy efficiency and real estate investors.  At about the same time, he heard about Energia, a new energy efficiency company with a twist: it’s a for-profit, founded by two nonprofits and a consumer cooperative.  And it’s filling in the gap between big companies doing big energy efficiency projects, and smaller companies focusing on single-family homes.  In the middle are multi-family units and smaller businesses that are underserved in the current marketplace for energy efficiency retrofits. Bill happens to know the new CEO, Tom Rossmassler, who was in his communications course last year at the Marlboro Sustainability MBA (http://gradschool.marlboro.edu/academics/mba/) program in Vermont.  So he invited Tom to join him and Co-Host Kelsey Flynn for an interview at the WMUA studios in Amherst.  Tom described how Energia fits into the world of energy service companies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_service_company) (or ESCOs), which are most often associated with big outfits like Siemens (http://www.usa.siemens.com/entry/en/), Honeywell (http://www51.honeywell.com/honeywell/), or Johnson Controls (http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/publish/us/en.html), which often enter into energy savings performance contracts (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/financing/espcs.html) with big institutions, companies, or municipalities. Kelsey Flynn also recently profiled the Roots Up Green Jobs program from Nuestras Raices and Co-op Power that Tom mentioned in the interview on her Sustainable Valley (http://wrsi.com/pages/4791101.php) segment on WRSI.  Roots Up is a program for low-income students just finishing their GED, who are paid to go to school to learn about energy conservation, energy efficiency, and how to install solar hot water systems.  As part of a larger Holyoke/Springfield grant, Pathways Out of Poverty (http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eoeeapressrelease&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Eoeea&b=pressrelease&f=090528_pr_pathways&csid=Eoeea), the program has received funds to expand the work to include youth from the Springfield area. The program particularly targets youth who have little education or work experience, and few options for getting onto a successful career ladder. (http://www.cchange.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/LynnBenander.jpeg)Kelsey spoke with Co-op Power founder Lynn Benander (http://www.cooppower.coop/index.php/contact-us/155), as well as Roots Up participants Yamil Brillos and Josh Vargas. Bill Baue clean 29:30