Episode 10 – Ruth McElroy Amundsen & Alden Cleanthes

Ruth McElroy Amundsen and Alden Cleanthes from Norfolk Solar join Eric to go in-depth on how our way of life and how we design is truly broken. They argue that we need to rethink every system in our modern lives to stave off the worst of climate change and that harnessing the vast power of the sun is actually an easier-than-you-think way to power almost everything.

Alden Cleanthes
Alden received a bachelor's degree in Biology from Old Dominion University. She served as a publicly appointed official in the city of Chesapeake for the last decade on multiple environmental committees. She was a member of the Virginia Environmental Justice Collaborative, which worked hard to have the Governor create the Virginia Environmental Justice Advisory Council. She has worked as an independent consultant for environmental policy and renewable energy at the state and federal level- directly advocating with multiple agencies, dozens of Senators, Congressmen, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She also runs an award-winning design and animation studio with her husband. She is the Co-Founder of Norfolk Solar, LLC.

Ruth McElroy Amundsen
Ruth is a NASA Thermal Engineer who led a group of parents in installing 700 kW of solar on Norfolk Academy, $1M in solar panels (largest school solar array in Hampton Roads). She has given many presentations on financing solar, has made several zero-interest loans for installing solar, including some through Virginia Community Capital, and has presented to many other non-profits to show them the way they can install solar at no cost to the institution.

She recently started a Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund, Norfolk Solar QOZ Fund for installing solar on businesses and non-profits in low-income neighborhoods at no cost. This fund used her family money to install solar at no cost in low-income neighborhoods, and will also train and employ residents of those neighborhoods on the installation jobs.

She started a small woman-owned business with Alden Cleanthes, Norfolk Solar LLC, to help other investors deploy solar in Hampton Roads.

norfolksolar.org

Music in this episode is by The Ocean in Films performing "Nothing To Repeat" from their album "Cruel Vestige".

Theme music by Casual Motive

At the end of each episode, we ask our guests what their ideal climate design project would be. They have four weeks with a class full of design students. We translated their response into a project brief that you can use for your class.

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