NESEA has some changes afoot –

• The first is our new website, to be launched in May.
  The new website, and new database to match, will help improve the way in which members can communicate and connect with one another.
• Second, after gathering member survey feedback and some serious consideration, we are refurbishing our membership levels, which will be launched with the website in May.

• We serve a diverse community of members who range in age, career phase, discipline and business size. We needed a membership structure to match.
  Now, new and renewing members can identify their niche more easily and not just based on the quantitative benefits associated with each level. We are asking members to identify themselves in each member level, rather than to choose only based on the price, or the discounts. According to our recent member surveys, the discounts, while definitely a perk, are not really why you join NESEA. (The discounts aren’t going away, though, never fear!)

• We want to reflect our continued clarity of vision on who our members are and what matters to you.
  We are working hard to continue to improve and deliver on what you have said matters most to you – the peer to peer learning, the community, and the opportunities to connect professionally. De-emphasizing the discounts as reasons to join, coupled with a membership structure that more clearly reflects different career phases, business sizes, and foci, we will be better positioned to do so.

Because most of the current levels have a direct equivalent, your current level of membership should translate seamlessly into our new database. No action is required on your part.

For example, if you are a current Basic $55 Member, you will translate to Individual/Emerging Professional $55 level membership in the new structure. With the exception of the levels we are no longer offering (explained below), very little will noticeably change for you, but we think the semantics are important.

So, where is the Sustainable Green Pages level?

• We are retiring it as a membership level.
  The Sustainable Green Pages directory listing will be available to anyone that would like to purchase it (for $100), but those that purchase the listing only will not be considered NESEA members (and so will also not receive the Northeast Sun).
• The Sustainable Green Pages listing will continue to be a benefit to business members…
  …with the added bonus of a NESEA member logo to signify your commitment to the mission and values of this organization. Or, you can be an Individual level member and also purchase a listing, and be recognized as a member with a member logo in the directory.

What about the Supporting and Sustaining individual levels?

To those that have joined at higher priced individual levels (Supporting, Sustaining) – we are retiring them as membership levels because although you gave us more (thank you!!), you did not get much more in return.

We truly appreciate your giving, which is why we would encourage you to contribute as a donation de-coupled from your member dues. That way, because we are a registered 501(c)3, you can get a tax deduction. To clarify that: membership dues are unfortunately NOT tax deductible, only donations are. By donating separately from your membership, we are more clearly able to count, and recognize you (if you wish) among our donors.

If you are a current holder of a supporting or sustaining membership, you will continue to be at that level until it is time for you to renew, and then you will have the opportunity to choose another level.

As always, we are here to support you – to connect you with other professionals, to help you learn from each other, and to continue to promote the adoption of sustainable energy practices in the built environment.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns – 413-774-6051 ext. 20, rheldt@nesea.org.

Thank you for being a part of our community!

I spent this morning on the job site of a high-performance home – a MacArthur Construction Company design-build project in Cambridge, MA.  Mike Duclos was there to perform a third-party energy model for the home, evaluating it against the Passive House standard.

As a lowly business person, I was there to answer one question: Why Passive House?

Duncan MacArthur, founder of MacArthur Construction, is a pragmatic guy.  He finds Passive House useful for re-framing conversations with mechanical engineers and clients:

I’m just glad somebody’s setting the bar extraordinarily high.  It’s something to shoot for – sure, we usually end up backing off in certain places, but by starting the conversation with Passive House we’re ending up in a drastically different place than by trying to make incremental improvements over what was done in the past.

Mike Duclos, instructor for NESEA’s new Building Energy Masters Series Passive House training course, put it this way:

I started my career in technology – building high-tech products.  [Holding up his cell phone] At that time nobody thought this was possible.  Then somebody built the first one and it was a huge thing that looked like a brick.  Now we have iPhones.  I think something similar is happening with buildings, and in five years we’ll be in a dramatically different, and better place.  Germany is already there – all we have to do is import.

My takeaway: Passive House is easier to understand as an outsider than LEED, or any of the other high-performance building standards.  So if you’re committed to sustainable building, it may be the most useful tool available for framing conversations with clients and subcontractors in a way that steers the project in a successful direction.  You can play good cop, while the strict, German standard plays bad cop.  As a marketer, project manager, and business owner, I see tremendous value in having the right conversations and the power of language on your side.  Having Passive House in your arsenal is a great investment for building professionals, even if you don’t get there with every (or any) project.

And I asked them all, “Are you a NESEA member?”

If they said yes, I said yes, and helped them. I think I got one kid on the path to a new job in about 15 minutes.

If no, I said, “Join NESEA, then come talk to me.” And they asked a second question, and I said, “We’re a community, and our community needs support. Become a member, then come talk to me, and I’ll be happy to help.”

The mothership needs the support and participation of committed NESEA Members. And we all talk about community, support, networking, learning the greater good, and how NESEA fulfills that need.

So I’m asking all of you to look deep into your wallets, examine your conscience, and ask yourself, “Have I paid my NESEA dues? Am I  indeed a member? Or am I a NESEAfaux?”

I’m also asking those that did workshops this year to donate their “bounty’ in the workshops back to NESEA. New readers may not be aware, but presenters at Tuesday workshops do get a cut. I’ve been doing it for years, and it has allowed me to become a lifetime member. Last year, Bernice Radle became a lifetime member because we donated back our workshop booty. This year, Erica Brabon became a NESEA lifetime member when we gave it back.

So now that we’ve had a successful conference, and are preparing for next year’s show, I join the chorus of Lifetime, Sustaining, Supporting, NESEA/ASES, Basic and Student members and ask you all to join. And when people ask you for pro-bono help, ask them if they are NESEA members, and encourage them to join if they are not.

And don’t help them until they are.

Thank you members, you help make the conference great. And for those of you that helped with the conference and forgot to renew – remember to do it, OK? It’s why we’re here.

Thanks, Andy

But that’s our take on it. What have other people been saying? Here’s  a brief sample of some BuildingEnergy 12 feedback:

“I think this may have been the best NESEA BE conference ever.” John Abrams, South Mountain Company

“What an energetic, dedicated, amazing community!  Thanks for all the hard work, organization and passion.  This year’s conference again highlighted the remarkable fusion of idealism and informed practice that makes NESEA, and its members, exceptional and effective.”
David Foley

“Thanks to Robert and Paul,  their dedicated Track and Session Chairs and special thanks to all the hard working staff and incredible legion of volunteers who pick up the pieces for us mere mortals.”
Joel Gordes

“It never stops! Thanks to all of you (all of us) for this perennial reminder of who we are. Jennifer, Mary, all of the staff and the un-thanked volunteers deserve great praise. They make us happy to ask ‘I am, are you?’”
Bill Stillinger, PV²

“Many thanks to Robert, Paul, Jennifer, Mary & the entire NESEA staff for pulling off another great NESEA experience & for making each one better than the last.  The community building pieces as well as several other recent improvements will be studied & replicated (in some way) for future conferences.  Thanks for doing so much of the work that will be used to build on for our future.
Thanks especially for making this a tribe that I am most proud to be a member of.  I am, Are You?”
Marc Sternick, Deitz & Co. Architects

“May I join Marc in saying a huge thank you to Robert, Paul, Mary, Jennifer and all the staff. You made it look easy!”
Caitriona Cooke

“I have to add my thanks to Robert, Paul, the staff and the whole NESEA Community for a fabulous conference It was a true embarrassment of riches in the best way possible. ”
Laura Notman

“For me, the conference as a whole was very much about beginning conversations and connections that will carry on well past the three-day event. I’m reinvigorated, full of new ideas, friends, colleagues, clients, and connections as a result of my time at the conference. I’m excited by the new opportunities that have grown out of this year’s experience.
This is my experience this year… as it has been for many years… Information, yes,… but even more so… a renewal of a sense of mindful, meaning-filled connection to others involved in the excitement and the challenges of sustaining the people and the planet.
A privilege and honor to share this journey with each of you…”
Bart Bales

“To create an elixir like BE, it takes a unique community of dedicated and passionate visionaries.  As an attendee, I’m personally grateful to all of you for creating such an inspiring, thought provoking and enlightening conference.”
Jo Lee, Green Machine PR

“Congrats and thx to @NESEAed and the whole team for another exceptional Building Energy event #be12″ @EnergyCircle

“(BuildingEnergy) was amazing. Truly the center of cutting edge building efficiency. Looking forward to engaging everyone further about efficiency.” @475sam

What did you think of BuildingEnergy 12? Let us know in the comments below, or later in in the soon-to-be-released BuildingEnergy 12 survey.

In the meantime, let’s keep the energy going for BuildingEnergy 13 (no, it’s never too early to start planning for the next event.)

I am profoundly grateful. Grateful to the 100 volunteers and 9 dedicated staffers who planned and executed this conference, and took seriously the charge to make it more inclusive, to open it to new audiences.

To the on-site volunteers, without whom, quite literally, the conference would not run.

To our members, who wore their hearts on their sleeves and talked without prompting about what NESEA had meant to their careers. You truly moved me.

To the many attendees who approached me with ideas and enthusiasm about how we can improve NESEA and BuildingEnergy in coming years.

To Conference Chair Robert Leaver, for infusing into the format many opportunities to come together as a community (or many communities), to set our learning intentions, and to reflect and act upon what we’ve learned.

To Vice Chair Paul Eldrenkamp for not letting a single day pass before we start to seize on what we’ve learned and to apply it to BE13.

And to so many other folks who made this the best week of my year.

I invite you all to continue to be part of our conversation and our community. To share what you’ve learned, how you’ve changed, how your practice has changed. Your “aha” moments, your breakthroughs, your suggestions. And, of course, any leads you think we should be pursuing to grow this conference, this community and this movement.

Many thanks.

Jennifer

Peter Englemann is an energy consultant from Germany. He is going to explain how Passive House dormitories are being constructed in Germany and how their work can be translated to the materials and techniques that we have available here in the US. This work is being done now & we are going to learn what it will take to start this trend on campuses throughout the Northeast. This is the kind of information I am looking for – putting us in the forefront of this movement in the US.

Peter is speaking in the first session of Track 5 on Wednesday, March 7th, from 11 am to 12:30 pm.

Grahame E. Maisey, P.E., is one of the world’s leading experts on high performance building energy systems, specializing in totally integrated development and design. Now, his session is on Energy Master Plans for campuses, but don’t let that fool you. Grahame has information on efficiencies of everything from heat pumps to variable speed motors and fans that will shock you. He takes stands against what most engineers are saying and can back up his stand with facts. Come to this session not only to learn about Energy Master Planning, but to get many of your beliefs about what works in high performance buildings turned on their head.

Grahame is speaking in the last session of Track 5, on Thursday, March 8th, from 4 to 5:30 pm.

You can register for single sessions or for the entire conference by clicking here. Hope to see you there!

• Next week is BE12
• Next week we meet each other. We connect. We get to know and learn from people we’ve never met. We deepen our relationships with those we are eager to meet again.
• Next week we change our minds. We see some things differently. We see others more clearly. And we’re shown things we’ve never seen or thought about at all.
• Next week we renew. We gain strength from the company we’ll keep. We gain confidence in the path we are following together. We leave energized and more fully competent than when we arrived.
• See you next week!

As a relative newbie to the NESEA community, I had the opportunity to meet Richard only once, just over two years ago at NESEA’s 35th anniversary celebration at the Steak Out in Brattleboro, Vermont, where he and his wife, Carol Levin, gave me a warm greeting. I have, however, had the opportunity to speak with several longtime NESEA members about Richard’s many contributions to our community over the years.

Richard and Carol have been very involved with NESEA throughout most of our existence. In the mid- 1990s, he installed NESEA’s entire grid-tied PV system on the roof at 50 Miles Street – one of the first such projects in the state, if not the nation. He was also heavily involved as a volunteer for NESEA’s Tour de Sol, and was a longtime sponsor of and attendee at the BuildingEnergy Conference. He and Carol were recognized with NESEA’s Distinguished Service Award in 2002, based on their tireless contributions to NESEA.

I am hoping that those of you who knew Richard better than I will respond to this blog post to fill us in with the colorful stories and accolades that I’m sure he is due. Alternatively, or in addition, here’s a link to the CaringBridge website, on which you can share your condolences with Carol. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/richardgottlieb/journal.

Our condolences go out to Carol and to the rest of Richard’s family.

p.s. – There will be a service tomorrow (Friday) at 11 am at the Brattleboro Area Jewish Center, 151 Greenleaf St. in West Brattleboro, with burial following in Morningside Cemetery.

Siemens has just approached us to explore whether we are interested in working with them to present Solar Exchange, a one-day conference intended primarily to educate practitioners about the latest happenings in the solar industry. Participants will include photovoltaic researchers, utility representatives, manufacturers, developers, OEMs, integrators and others. Siemens will take responsibility for identifying and paying for the venue, and underwriting the cost of attendance for all attendees so that it can be offered as a free event. They have asked NESEA to help with the planning and promotion of Solar Exchange – i.e., providing our content for the event. They are planning to host the event in May at Rutgers University.

Siemens has recently hosted other Solar Exchange events in Arizona (approximately 80 attendees), Los Angeles, and most recently in Raleigh, NC, where they partnered with another ASES affiliate, the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association, which attracted 300 attendees. All were very well received, and I have learned from my counterparts in NC that Siemens was great to work with.

From my perspective, this opportunity is a no-brainer. Last year, the NESEA Board approved a strategic direction that contemplates offering more programming in the southern part of the NESEA territory — NY, NJ, PA and DE. We are hoping, over time, to develop some sort of “BE South” offering. This event could be a great first step. It could allow us to develop a stronger toe-hold in NJ, and to obtain up to 300 qualified leads for new members in the area with whom we might be able to engage, year round. The only cost to NESEA will be the staff time associated with helping to find content for the event and helping to promote it. And we intend to work closely with BuildingEnergy Renewables track chair Bill Stillinger to do so – borrowing heavily from the content and the presenters we are using in the Renewables track at BE12. Siemens has indicated they are open to using different learning formats – more interactive modes of learning than just a traditional panel of 3 with PowerPoints. They are interested in making the event a quality learning and networking event, not just a sales pitch for their own products.

I’ll be glad to keep you all updated on this collaboration as it progresses. Thanks!

Jennifer