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Podcast: Flanigan's Eco-Logic (LS 24 · TOP 10% what is this?)
Episode: Peter Asmus on Microgrids and the Changing Utility Landscape
Pub date: 2021-07-20

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Peter Asmus is a Research Director at Guidehouse Insights, the firm that recently acquired Navigant Research where Peter worked for a decade. An investigative reporter and seasoned researcher, he provides valuable insights and perspectives on microgrids and the changing utility landscape. Peter discusses the genesis of microgrids in the developing world, shunned in Europe where reliability has never been an issue, and microgrids in America, notably California, given concerns about PSPS events and wildfires. Peter covers microgrid issues including utility culture, interconnection, generators, modular UL-approved systems, and energy as a service, fully financed and operated systems with no upfront capital costs.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ted Flanigan, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: The Invading Sea
Episode: The Business of Climate Change: Chris Evanich, Schneider Electric
Pub date: 2020-12-27

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As part of its series “The Business of Climate Change,” The Invading Sea spoke with Chris Evanich, program director for Energy as a Service with the multinational company Schneider Electric. “The Business of Climate Change” highlights the climate views of business men and women throughout the state.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Invading Sea, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: Beyond The Meter (LS 25 · TOP 10% what is this?)
Episode: The Home Depot Sustainability Approach, with Craig D’Arcy and Craig Noxon, Ep #4
Pub date: 2019-10-11

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One of the high profile corporate renewable energy initiatives in the news recently has been the unveiling of Home Depot’s sustainability goals. Home Depot is among the increasing number of corporations working to make renewables a significant part of their energy procurement strategy. But for Home Depot, this new direction is not fueled by a desire to become sustainable, it began because it makes financial sense. 

On this episode of Beyond The Meter, join host John Failla and his co-host Craig Noxon, Vice President for Enterprise Sales at REC Solar, a Duke Energy Renewables Company as they speak with Craig D’Arcy, Director of Energy Management for Home Depot. You’ll learn how Home Depot started its journey toward the use of renewables, how early successes encouraged further efforts, and how both the financial and efficiency benefits of using renewable energy has motivated them to keep innovating. The Home Depot approach is a great example of how corporations can make use of renewables and increase the bottom line at the same time.

Outline of This Episode

• [1:05] The background and role of each participant in regards to renewable energy
• [3:25] Home Depot’s energy management strategy: key elements
• [5:41] The primary drivers for the Home Depot strategy
• [8:13] Comparing Home Depot’s approach to the work other companies are taking
• [11:56] Technologies Home Depot has employed, renewable energy and otherwise
• [16:57] The role renewable energy plays for Home Depot
• [20:42] Which programs are most important to Home Depot (on-site or off-site)?
• [25:11] The challenge of getting stakeholders aligned toward renewable energy
• [27:50] Tips for those trying to get the attention of the C-suite for sustainability efforts
• [29:35] Advice about how to enlist the financial teams to help make the case
• [32:36] What’s next for Home Depot’s energy management strategy?
• [35:54] The challenges of energy providers in light of renewable energy innovation
• [40:36] Energy as a service concepts: Do they work for large companies?

Home Depot’s energy policy goals made renewables a viable option

There are typically three drivers behind a corporation’s consideration of renewables as an energy source. The first is cost, the second is the company's conscious sustainability goals, the third is increased resiliency. Craig D’Arcy says there is no doubt that all three play some role in Home Depot’s approach, but the first attempts to roll out renewable energy projects were entirely focused on the financial benefits. Renewables simply made financial sense for increasing efficiency and bottom-line profitability.

As early successes with renewable projects were achieved, they were able to investigate other options and expand their efforts toward sustainability. It's led to their sustainability story becoming public, which has driven internal excitement and created momentum for the renewables side of their energy procurement strategies. Listen to hear how Home Depot continues to consider all sorts of energy solutions, including any renewable sources that make sense for their broader goals.

3 critical elements of the Home Depot sustainability approach

When thinking of the renewable energy movement, it’s common to assume that those pushing for the use of renewables are only concerned about global issues of sustainability, but there’s incredible motivation to implement renewable energy alternatives from a variety of standpoints. In the case of Home Depot, three primary concerns guide their energy decisions...

1 - Foremost, Home Depot views everything they do through caring for their stores so that associates and customers are served well

2 - Every energy sourcing project must make sense financially

3 - Leadership has passed down a mandate to be as innovative as possible to accomplish those first two, which makes their decision-making technology and structure agnostic

Listen to hear how this plays out for Home Depot as Craig D’Arcy explains the fit renewable energy has in that three-pronged approach.

Sustainability efforts are significant for Home Depot's future

No company can survive if it is not profitable. Home Depot is no different, so it is no surprise to find out that from a financial standpoint, renewable energy is being leveraged to lower the net rates paid for energy throughout the company. But the benefits of renewable energy go far beyond that...

Home Depot has become known as a sustainability brand, recently releasing its own science-based targets for its energy policy, which includes renewable energy as a significant part. And finally, renewable energy provides natural, beneficial hedges against volatile energy pricing in the markets. Power Purchase Agreements with energy providers enables this hedge and has proven to be a huge benefit to the company.

Advice for convincing the C-suite to consider sustainability projects

The C-suite of any company must be on board if a move toward sources of renewable energy is going to take place. Both Craig D’Arcy and Craig Noxon offer their advice for how to secure the buy-in of company executives.

First, map out the process. Have a clear projection of how and why renewable energy sources will be investigated, selected, and implemented. 

Next, understand what the stakeholders care about and be sure your roadmap adequately addresses those concerns. In doing so, work hard to uncover potential landmines and head them off proactively. 

Finally, be sure you know how are you going to sell the upside of procuring energy from renewable sources. Bottom-line benefits for the company will be a significant and compelling consideration for anyone in the C-suite.

Home Depot’s sustainability efforts provide an excellent case study from which other corporations can take their cues - and this conversation provides keen insight into the why, how, and what of moving toward renewables as at least a portion of a profitable energy procurement strategy.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Home Depot’s Corporate Responsibility Goals

Connect with Craig D’Arcy and Craig Noxon

• Craig D’Arcy on LinkedIn

Craig Noxon on LinkedIn

Connect With Beyond The Meter

https://www.smartenergydecisions.com/podcasts/beyond-the-meter  

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Podcast: Energy Gang (LS 59 · TOP 0.1% what is this?)
Episode: A Historic Moment for Energy Storage
Pub date: 2018-02-23

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If storage is the Swiss Army Knife of the electric grid, then U.S. energy regulators are breaking out their tool belts.

Last week brought a historic ruling at FERC. Commissioners told regional grid operators to create rules valuing the grid services of energy storage. Will it screw natural gas peakers – or maybe cut, saw, file, prune, hook, or crimp them?

Later in the podcast, an infrastructure redux. The White House’s infrastructure plan is out. When it comes to energy, the Trump Administration is making pipelines a priority, and largely bypassing clean energy.

We’re heading down to Mexico for our final segment. GTM was there for our solar summit last week, and we’ll share a bit of insight into the forces behind one of the hottest -- and cheapest -- solar markets in the world.

This podcast is brought to you by CPower Energy Management. Find out more about CPower's demand-side energy management solutions.

Recommended reading:

• GTM: FERC Allows Energy Storage to Play in Nationwide Wholesale Markets
• FERC: Final Rule on Electric Storage Participation in Regional Markets
• GTM: The Trump Infrastructure Plan Is ‘a Big Nothing Burger’ for Clean Energy
• WaPo: Trump's Infrastructure Plan Would Make It Harder to Challenge Pipelines
• GTM: Mexico’s Solar Market Is Booming, but Still Has Key Hurdles to Clear

Subscribe to The Energy Gang podcast via Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher or wherever you find your audio content.

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The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wood Mackenzie, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: Beyond The Meter (LS 25 · TOP 10% what is this?)
Episode: Resiliency and Technology in Cities, Ep #9
Pub date: 2020-09-14

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Most of us live day to day in our city of choice without giving much thought to the infrastructure and services that living in the city provides. But when a natural disaster or outage happens, we immediately recognize that vitally important things were going on behind the scenes that we benefit from directly.

This episode highlights the steps the city of Greensboro, NC has taken to begin its “Smart City” initiative, which includes a number of renewable energy approaches. You’ll enjoy hearing from three officials from the city of Greensboro and how their varied roles provide unique looks at the challenges of becoming a Smart City.

You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...

• The guests on this episode and their role in energy & renewables [0:58]
• How Greensboro started its “Smart City” journey [4:48]
• The overview of Greensboro’s energy management evolution [9:01]
• Greensboro’s actions compared to other municipalities [12:59]
• The consequences associated with power outages for cities [18:08]
• How does resiliency intersect with renewable energy sources? [26:25]
• Greensboro’s kiosk program: why it was created and what it’s accomplished [28:43]
• How Duke and other energy suppliers can partner toward renewables [33:46]
• Prioritizing investments in smart city and renewable energy projects [35:41]
• Are energy-as-a-service programs helpful for municipalities? [40:10]
• Emerging priorities for cities and the communities they serve [47:17]

The Smart City journey the City of Greensboro is on

The city of Greensboro, North Carolina started its journey to becoming a Smart City when neighboring cities began working on fiber installations. Greensboro’s leadership began investigating its own options for fiber installations since high-speed data connections are foundational to the technology needed to implement Smart City approaches. From there, many additional developments have come about.

In their current approach, the city’s leaders are continuing to ask, “How can we leverage the Smart Cities approach for growth and economic development?” Some of the initiatives they’ve implemented so far are the city’s smart connected corridor, which includes informational kiosks visitors can use to find out about the city, locate destinations, and connect with public transportation. Find out more by listening to this conversation! 

Why resiliency is vital for municipalities like Greensboro

The situation in Greensboro mirrors the reality of many municipalities around the nation. For Greensboro, 30 out of 80 facilities are emergency-related, so when the power for the city experiences a disruption, there’s not only a dollar impact, it can also create a logistics nightmare. A tornado a few years ago made it abundantly clear that resiliency for the city’s power grid was of the utmost importance.

Greensboro’s CIO, Jane Nickels says that if the data center goes down, everything in the city shuts down, and it would take days to get the data center back up. For that reason one of the resiliency measures they are adopting is a migration of everything possible to the cloud. As well, all projects — Smart City related or not — have resiliency in mind. From the creation of “battery buses” to the use of solar power to charge them, the city is well on the way to making its power needs resilient.

How Greensboro pursues financing through partnerships 

City budgets are not known for being lavish and the budget in Greensboro is no exception. The city had no budget at all set aside for Smart City initiatives when the idea came to the forefront, so those leading the charge had to look for partners. When they keep their ears open to what’s going on in the city and do the legwork of discovering what projects are slated by other companies, they can often find ways to attach a Smart City initiative to that project. These are collaborations that enable them to leverage Smart City ideas into the projects other organizations are already budgeting. Listen to learn more about how Greensboro is utilizing smart energy and building resilient systems.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Smart City Media
• Duke Energy

Connect With Our Guests

Michael Kilpatrick, Key Segment Manager, State Governments, Municipalities, and Co-ops  

Michael leads strategic planning and engagement within state government, municipal, and co-op segments and is tasked with expanding revenue, profitability, and customer satisfaction by delivering solutions from an array of Duke Energy products and services, including but not limited to renewables, microgrids, and other energy-as-a-service offerings.

• Follow Guest Name on LinkedIn

Jane Nickels, CIO, City of Greensboro

As CIO for the City of Greensboro, Jane Nickles serves in the executive capacity as the director of Information Technology and Enterprise Solutions. Under Jane’s leadership, the City of Greensboro has been recognized as a Top 10 Digital City by the Center for Digital Government since 2014. Jane led the TriGig Regional High Speed Broadband initiative to bring competitive gigabit internet services to Greensboro and surrounding areas. Other areas of focus include Data Driven Government, Open Data strategies, Digital Equity, Smart City initiatives and continuous innovation.

• Follow Guest Name on LinkedIn

Butch Shumate, Facilities Manager at City of Greensboro

Butch is an experienced Division Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry. Skilled in Budgeting, Contractors, Government, Project Estimation, and Facility Management (FM). 

• Follow Butch on LinkedIn

Sergey Kobalev, Energy and Sustainability Management Engineer

Sergey Kobelev serves as the Energy Management Engineer for the city of Greensboro facilities, a position he has had since 2017. In this role, Sergey works to improve sustainability and energy efficiency in over 80 buildings and structures of the city of Greensboro Facilities. His primary focus is on improving existing energy conservation policies and developing new ones, often by incorporating emerging technology for the City facilities to achieve financial and sustainability goals set by the City Council.

• Follow Sergey on LinkedIn

Connect With Smart Energy Decisions

• https://www.smartenergydecisions.com/
• Follow them on Facebook

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Follow them on LinkedIn

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Podcast: IoT Playbook
Episode: How AV, facilities and cotton gins doubled Corey’s MSP business - Guest: Corey Kirkendoll
Pub date: 2020-04-21

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In this episode of IoT Playbook, I interview Corey Kirkendoll, who was recently featured on the cover of ChannelPro magazine.

Corey is an MSP in Dallas, TX who helps churches and cotton farmers with their IT needs, but also, has been helping them achieve amazing results by incorporating IoT into his managed service offerings.

By working with mega-churches (over 1,000 attendees), Corey has seen the merging of facilities management, physical security and A/V into his managed IT business.

This means EVERYTHING that touches the network is a managed service opportunity.

Energy-as-a-service, AV-as-a-service, video surveillance as-a-service, and more.

You’ll also hear how Corey uses IoT to help his agriculture clients, including improving the yields on cotton gins. And by helping increase yields, Corey helps them increase their revenues, which means his revenue is increasing as well.

More Info:

• 5K Technical Services
• Corey Kirkendoll LinkedIn

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mark Smith, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: The Health Pulse (LS 31 · TOP 5% what is this?)
Episode: Electrifying AI: Energy Independence Anthem
Pub date: 2020-11-19

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The electric utility industry, for all of its innovations over the years, has an entrenched business model. In this episode of Electrifying AI, we look at changing business models for the industry and examine what “energy independence” means.  

 

More to the point, we discuss: 

• Microgrids 
• “Prosumers,” peer-to-peer power trading and transactive energy 
• Energy as a service 
• Virtual power plants 

Join us in two weeks for our next episode, Your Next Greatest Investment. We’ll look at shifting consumer attitudes and behaviors, and how the electric utility industry is responding to this new consumer-driven energy landscape. 

 

Here’s a list of links to references for the topics we covered in this episode: 

• The evolution of power business models 
• A pathway to a carbon-free world 
• The secret to a 100% renewable energy system 
• Ten business models to accelerate utilities digital transformation 
• Energy as a service 
• Vehicle-to-grid technology 
• Virtual power plants  

All presentations represent the opinions of the presenter and do not represent the position or the opinion of SAS.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from SAS, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: FSR
Episode: Going digital – how is technology changing the electricity world? Chris Peeters on Net Zero
Pub date: 2019-10-10

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In this episode, Chris Peeters, CEO of the Elia Group, shares his views with Joana Freitas, Ambassador for the Lights on Women initiative of the FSR, on what the digitalisation of the energy system really means and discusses the key challenges and consequences for different market players. In Chris Peeters’ perspective, one of the immediate uses of digital technologies will be on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of day-to-day activities. On the other hand, Chris also notes that digitalisation will enable an efficient interaction amongst the different actors of a system that will be much more decentralized and electrified. In this new context, consumers will play an increasingly important role as we will be moving to “the concept of, first of all, consumer in the centre and, secondly, around that consumer, providers of energy as a service”. Thanks to digitalisation, market players will also become much more agile in addressing consumers’ specific needs. Regarding electricity grid operators, Chris Peeters points out two lines of action for the coming years: continue investing in the infrastructure to adjust to the new system setup and “making sure that the system evolves in a way that is actually adapting to the new needs of the clients”. Throughout this transition, “all these technologies [blockchain, artificial intelligence, drones, satellite images and big data] have somewhere their place in the system”. Regarding the large investments expected to digitize networks, Chris Peeters believes that “we should really limit the regulated sector to […] a very robust, lean and mean layer, and all the other investments need to prove themselves as commercially viable.”

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Podcast: Interchange Recharged (LS 53 · TOP 0.5% what is this?)
Episode: Making Sense of the DER Extravaganza
Pub date: 2020-10-14

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This week: consolidation and cooperation in the distributed energy market.

Just as federal regulators in the U.S. are making batteries, solar systems, electric cars, generators and other similar resources more valuable in wholesale markets, we’re seeing a new wave of business activity.

Wood Mackenzie predicts that U.S. distributed energy resource capacity will reach nearly 390 gigawatts by 2025. And a lot of companies are getting in on the action.

Amazon is jumping deeper into the smart-home game. Generac, one of the top generator companies in the U.S., just made another acquisition to help it manage batteries and pumps and motors and possibly other clean energy resources.

And Calibrant is a new company being formed by industrial multinational Siemens and MacQuarie Capital, part of the Australian financial services giant. Calibrant will offer businesses and industry and schools and hospitals no-money-down, on-site energy systems known as Energy-as-a-Service.   

What do all these business moves mean for the future of this market?

Additional resources:

• Amazon Blog: Alexa’s New Energy Dashboard (Coming Soon) 
• Greentech Media: Generac Acquires Enbala, Boosting Plan to Harness Behind-the-Meter Energy Resources
• Greentech Media: Siemens and Macquarie Form Calibrant Energy to Tackle Distributed Energy Market

The Interchange is supported by Schneider Electric, the leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation. Schneider Electric has designed and deployed more than 300 microgrids in North America, helping customers gain energy independence and control, while increasing resilience and reaching their clean energy goals.

We’re also sponsored by NEXTracker. NEXTracker has more than 30 gigawatts of resilient and intelligent solar tracking systems across six continents. Optimize your solar power plant.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wood Mackenzie, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Podcast: The Green Building Matters Podcast with Charlie Cichetti (LS 34 · TOP 3% what is this?)
Episode: HEAPY Michael Berning and MEP Emerging Trends
Pub date: 2020-09-23

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Michael is responsible for the development of new markets and services and to provide corporate leadership for HEAPY (the wholly owned subsidiary the Design/Build construction services company HEAPY.). In this role, his team develops the "what's next" to enhance client service experience and produce colleague advancement opportunities. To emphasize a keen focus on the HEAPY Vision of "Building a more Resilient and Sustainable Society", new markets and services are centered on Smart Technologies Integration, Distributed Energy Resources, Resiliency Planning, Energy as a Service (EaaS), etc. Michael has presented at several National and Regional Conferences including: Greenbuild, AIA National Convention, International Living Futures UnConference, National Conference on Building Commissioning, the World Energy Engineering Conference, Greening the Heartland and the US Institute for Theater Technology Conference. He is on the Industrial Advisory Committee for the University of Dayton Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and served as a Fellow for the Hobart Center for Food Service Sustainability. He was a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the former EDC Magazine, writing a column focused on Sustainability. He leads sustainability on the local level as Co-Chair of the Dayton (Ohio) Regional Green Initiative (DRG3.org) and is a past Regional Chair for the U.S Green Building Council's College and University based USGBC Students Program. He recently served as Chair of USGBC Ohio. HEAPY is a nationally recognized MEP&T Systems Design, Sustainability, and Planning & Commissioning Services firm. Heapy has an outstanding record of providing practical sustainable-based smart solutions for today's high performance buildings. The HEAPY HQ achieved LEED PLATINUM. Michael's experience with projects in both the public and private sectors shows, when properly planned and executed throughout the entire design and construction process, every project can be Resilient, Environmentally Responsible, Energy Efficient AND Cost Effective. Show Highlights Building holistically by looking at the entire client's portfolio to create a plan that blends standards Position your green building projects and jobs to be recession proof Michael's unique building systems as an innovation officer on solar and smart grids Concepts that look at how you make the best use of renewables and what's next in buildings Stick to your convictions when determining the path for your career Outside of the box thinking that impacts long term needs and deferred maintenance for green building "This market is still ginormous. This is the opportunity to help move the world, your community, and your family forward by being green and by living green. Helping others to do that too will give you a rewarding and impactful life. That's what we're all looking for. How can I be of impact? Being in the sustainability movement certainly is. It is questions answered." -Michael Berning Michael Berning Transcript Michael Berning's Show Resource and Information Be Fearless by Jean Case 4 Disciplines of Execution by Jim Huling Chris McChesney, Sean Covey Jerry Yudelson Twitter LinkedIn HEAPY "The Godfather of Green" – Jerry Yudelson podcast episode Connect with Charlie Cichetti and GBES Charlie on LinkedIn Green Building Educational Services GBES on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Like on Facebook Google+ GBES Pinterest Pins GBES on Instagram GBES is excited our membership community is growing. Consider joining our membership community as members are given access to some of the guests on the podcasts that you can ask project questions. If you are preparing for an exam, there will be more assurance that you will pass your next exam, you will be given cliff notes if you are a member, and so much more. Go to www.gbes.com/join to learn more about the 4 different levels of access to this one-of-a-kind career-advancing green building community! If you truly enjoyed the show, don't forget to leave a positive rating and review on iTunes. We have prepared more episodes for the upcoming weeks, so come by again next week! Thank you for tuning in to the Green Building Matters Podcast! Copyright © 2020 GBES

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