Episode 35: The Eco Performance Office with Ron Herbst

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Ron Herbst, Vice President, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.

Ron Herbst, Vice President, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.

Guests:
Ron Herbst
Vice President, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.

Host: Dave Karlsgodt
Director of Management Advisory Services, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.

What can a higher education institution learn from an international bank? In this episode, we talk to Brailsford & Dunlavey’s own Ron Herbst, whose long and varied career in energy eventually led him to work with Deutsche Bank establishing and managing their Eco Performance Management Office (PMO.) An EcoPMO is a team that coordinates all of the functions needed to achieve an organization’s sustainability goals.

As the son of a blue-collar inventor, Ron felt drawn to the energy and sustainability world from a young age and wanted to be what he calls a “building energy efficiency doctor.”

Ron discusses his time at Deutsche with Dave how he applies what he learned about balancing institutional needs with sustainability goals to colleges and universities. In addition, we also discuss how to balance the needs of various institution stakeholders in order to reach those goals.

Resources:

  • The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE): https://www.aashe.org/

  • US Department of Energy - Better Buildings Partnership: https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/challenge

  • Second Nature: https://secondnature.org/

  • Rocky Mountain Institute: https://rmi.org/our-work/buildings/

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Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

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You can find a text-only version of the transcript here: Episode 35 Transcript

Episode 34: GeoMicroDistrict: an alternative future for Natural Gas - HEET

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Zeyneb Magavi, Co-Executive Director of HEET and Audrey Schulman, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of HEET

Zeyneb Magavi, Co-Executive Director of HEET and Audrey Schulman, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of HEET

Guests:
Zeyneb Magavi
Co-Executive Director, HEET

Audrey Schulman
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director, HEET

Host: Dave Karlsgodt
Director of Management Advisory Services, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.

Co-executive directors of the Home Energy Efficiency Team (HEET), Zeyneb Magavi and Audrey Schulman both entered the climate change fight as mothers concerned for the futures of their children. In this episode, they share the history of their work on fixing super-emitting natural gas leaks in their neighborhood and across the state of Massachusetts. They tell the story of building relationships with natural gas utility executives to make a meaningful reduction in GHG emissions which led to the next major challenge: What is the future of a natural gas systemin a world that needs to eliminate the use of fossil fuels? We discuss HEET’s role in developing the GeoMicroDistrict, a neighborhood-scale renewable energy network for heating and cooling buildings. They explain the technology but also how its alternative business model offers a cost-effective path forward for our utility companies and their workers as we replace our aging natural gas infrastructure.

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Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

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You can find a text-only version of the transcript here: Episode 34 Transcript

Episode 32: Resilient Campuses, Resilient Communities with Cal State - Chico and Central Community College

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Cheri Chastain, Sustainability Programs Manager, Cal State-Chico, Gayle Hutchinson, President, Cal State-Chico, and Ben Newton, Environmental Sustainability Director, Central Community College

Cheri Chastain, Sustainability Programs Manager, Cal State-Chico, Gayle Hutchinson, President, Cal State-Chico, and Ben Newton, Environmental Sustainability Director, Central Community College

Guests:
Cheri Chastain
Sustainability Programs Manager, California State University - Chico Company

Gayle Hutchinson
President, California State University - Chico

Ben Newton
Environmental Sustainability Director, Central Community College

Host: Dave Karlsgodt
Director of Management Advisory Services, Brailsford & Dunlavey, Inc.


Climate change spares no city, town or state from new, and often threatening, environmental challenges. How are campuses responding to natural disaster in ways that keep their students and communities safe? What plans are they making to prepare for an uncertain future?

In this episode, host Dave Karlsgodt talks with Cheri Chastain and Gayle Hutchinson of California State University - Chico and Ben Newton of Central Community College about these questions. You’ll hear their stories about dealing with fires, floods and truck-sized icebergs, and how these events have shaped their campuses as they look ahead to the next “unnatural disaster”.

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Episode Transcript:

The following is an automated transcription of this episode which will include errors and omissions. You can listen and follow along with the text here:

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Episode 32: Resilient Campuses, Resilient Communities - Transcript