Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Symposium at FSU

I had the great pleasure to give a talk at the Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: Barriers and Best Practices for Local Governments Symposium held on December 10 at Florida State University in Tallahassee.  

The Symposium was attended by around 50 local administrators, many of whom have responsibilities for local energy or sustainability programs in Florida cities and counties. There were also attendees from the U.S. Department of Energy, including Mark Johnson, the Director of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Programs from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.  The Symposium was sponsored by the Institute for Energy Systems, Economics and Sustainability at FSU,(IESES) the Florida City and County Management Association, and the Center for Florida Local Government Excellence.

This was a terrific opportunity to hear about the many initiatives under way in Florida and around the country involving various models of achieving energy efficiency and the development of renewables.  For example, Maggie Theriot discussed the efforts in the Leon County (Tallahassee) FL sustainability office, Lee Haynes Byron talked about the latest efforts in the Sarasota County Sustainabilty Office, and Richard Reade, the Sustainability Coordinator from Delray Beach, outlined his efforts. Most of these projects revolved around their efforts to retrofit major buildings, and use the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant funding provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The challenge has long been for local governments to be willing (and able) to make up-front investments in energy efficiency that will pay off down the road.  Local and county governments have been very reluctant to make the initial capital investments, even when the payback period seems like a no-brainer.  The EECBG has been used my many local governments to make that up-front investment. 

Another thing that became pretty clear is how involved the private sector is in these efforts.  Of course, when local government elects to retrofit a building to achieve energy efficiency, they contract with local companies to do the work.  But increasingly, they are turning to ESCOs - energy service companies -- to do the work and to guarantee a certain level of energy and cost savings over a designated period of time.  We heard from Chuck McGinnis from Johnson Controls, one of the many companies that has gotten a tremendous amount of business of this sort. 

For a look at the full agenda from this Symposium, click here. Download ~$ergy Efficiency and Sustainability Agenda.

Comments

[Double Glazing]

I would say this is a great talk to promote more energy efficiency in Florida.And hopefully around the world.Every person needs to be aware of what energy efficiency means how it can be done to save the environment.

[source heat pumps]

Glad to know there are others out there who believe renewable energy is essential. I am sure the world will come around eventually but it seems that right now too few of us are truly interested in renewable energy.

[plumbing]

This is really great. It will surely be a big help for every country.