Every time your smartphone screen shatters, do you ever stop and think: why do I have to buy a new one? Why can’t we just replace the parts that still have some value? These questions were raised by Janine Finnell, Executive Director of Leaders in Energy, at the third annual Circular Economy event on September 28, 2017 at the University of the District of Columbia. Several dozen participants from different backgrounds joined to learn about the circular economy and engage in small group discussions on how to expand its practices in our businesses, communities, and daily lives. The goal was to develop an action framework to further enable the circular economy in the Washington region.
Resilience in small packages
Cyberattacks, natural disasters, including flooding, snow and ice storms, droughts, in addition to aging infrastructure, and other factors all lead to vulnerability in a system faced with increasing demand. When one part of this complex system fails, as can happen when a storm knocks down a wire or pole, other parts are affected. Enter the microgrid—a local energy distribution system that offers backup generation if the central grid fails.
Changes in the green real estate market
By KARI KLAUS This article is reposted with the permission of the author. You can find the original article here. The web is now...
Clean energy professionals exchange career tips
Leaders in Energy conducted its 4th annual Green Jobs Forum and Green Career Workshop on August 17, 2017. The sold-out event, with over 100 people participating, was held at the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) headquarters in Washington, DC.
Are you ready to stand up for something?
Should your business take a stand on the hot issues of the day? Wondering what will happen if you do and if your business will be negatively affected? Here’s a brief overview of the annual Cone Communications CSR study along with major highlights and takeaways useful for marketers, communicators, business executives and nonprofit leaders as you make key decisions for your organization. The major takeaway is that people are no longer asking only “What do you stand for,” but also “What do you stand up for?”
Water scarcity is a top global risk
The World Economic Forum is sounding the alarm – water crises are the top global risk over the next decade. Competition for this essential and highly localized resource is aggravating geopolitical conflict in already stressed environments. This was one of the key messages from Sandra Postel of National Geographic, who delivered the keynote address at the April 25 Northern Virginia Community College Green Festival.
Janine Finnell and John Gaffigan interview on WERA 96.7 on June 14
Leaders in Energy’s Janine Finnell and John Gaffigan will be the guests on The Green & Sexy Radio Show on Wednesday, June...
Opinion: The frog, climate change, and Trump
There is a short analogy that has been used to explain the human response to climate change (whether in the form of denial, inaction, or delay, or simply nonchalance): that if you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, he will hop right out, but if you put the frog in a pot of cold water and then turn on the burner, he will remain calmly in the pot until he is fully cooked. The analogy does provide some insight into our lackadaisical response to a changing climate. From a human perspective, climate change is indeed a slow-moving phenomenon, but geologically-speaking, it is incredibly rapid. As a set of events and changes unleashed primarily by our discovery of fossil fuels some 300 years ago (and dramatically increased rates of extraction and combustion mostly in the last hundred), a cognitive sense of changing climate is distributed across only a dozen generations – either too slow to notice, or too ambiguous to come to conclusions about causality.
Anything but Luck: Achieving the 13th Living Building Challenge Award
On May 20, 2017, the DC Chapter of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP-DC), along with partners, Leaders in Energy and U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) National Capital Region, held an event at a newly certified Living Building Challenge facility at the Alice Ferguson Foundation (AFF).
Leaders in Energy reaches 2,700 members
Leaders in Energy recently celebrated another milestone – over 2,700 members in the Leaders in Energy Research, Communications, Policies & Analysis group...
