November Forum: Big Green Projects

Our November forum is the last one for 2013 so we’re going to go Big! Our topic is Big Green Projects. For this forum we’ll be looking at large-scale sustainable projects and the unique challenges and opportunities that they create. Large-scale projects can not only offset a lot of energy use, but they can serve as a focal point to shine some light on the benefits and feasibility of sustainable building. Our focus will go from large-scale photo-voltaic arrays and the systems surrounding them to efforts toward efforts to make entire sports stadiums more sustainable. We’ll be looking near and far for this one. You definitely won’t want to miss it!   Date:  November 20, 2013 Time:  6:30 – 8:00pm Place:  Trespa Design Centre, 62 Greene St., Manhattan, NY 10012   Click here to register! Please plan ahead to arrive promptly. Our spaces are donated to us so we must keep to the schedule we provide.   Our speakers will include:   Alice Henly, Coordinator of Collegiate Sports Greening Project, Natural Resources Defense Council Alice Henly is a Resource Specialist at NRDC and is Coordinator of NRDC’s Collegiate Sports Greening Project. Alice helps manage NRDC’s sustainability initiatives with sports and entertainment organizations, including: Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, the U.S. Tennis Association, the Academy Awards, and the GRAMMY Awards. Alice is the principal advisor to the Ivy League on environmental performance. She is also an advisor to the Steering Committee of the Broadway Green Alliance and to the Green Sports Alliance. Alice co-authored NRDC’s report “Game Changer: How the Sports Industry is Saving the Environment” (nrdc.org/game-changer), which documents the burgeoning North American sports greening movement. In July 2012, her work, as part of the NRDC Sports Greening Project, was awarded the Beyond Sport’s Sport for the Environment award at their pre-Olympic Summit in London.  To learn more visit www.nrdc.org/sports or @NRDCGreenSports.   Lyle Rawlings, President and CEO, Advanced Solar Products In 2007 the founder of Advanced Solar Products was called “the founding father of renewable energy legislation in New Jersey,” by New York Times Magazine, and he remains one of the nation’s leading professionals in the field of solar energy.  An engineer with 34 years of experience in renewable energy research, design, policy advocacy, and business, Mr. Rawlings has designed and managed some of the most challenging – and some of the most innovative – PV projects in the country.  In 2003 Mr. Rawlings served on Gov. McGreevy’s Renewable Energy Task Force, where he successfully campaigned for the creation of the state’s system of Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SREC’s). In 2009, Rawlings was a winner of the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year” award.   Tom Thompson, Business Development, Advanced Solar Products Tom has over 30 years’ experience in the renewable and conventional energy industries. He has held senior management positions in the private sector, as a regulator, in the utility industry, as a manufacturer and in the not-for-profit arena. In addition to residential and commercial solar system experience, Tom has developed landmark, building-integrated PV projects and the first fuel cell/cogeneration system in a Manhattan high rise. As Executive Director of NESEA, Tom led the effort to create the Greenfield Energy Park – one of our country’s first and only renewably powered public parks. While at the NYS Department of Public Service (PSC), Tom spearheaded the creation of the nations’ largest, ratepayer funded low-income weatherization program. NYSERDA continues to operate the program today. Tom served as President of the NY Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA) from 2006 – 2009, currently serves as a Board Member/Policy Director for the New York Solar Energy Society (NYSES). In 2013, Tom was elected to the Board of the Solar Energy Business Association of New England (SEBANE) where he serves as Chairman.