Posts tagged sustainability
Boulder County Recognized for its Leadership on Reducing Carbon Pollution and Addressing Climate Change
Feb 28th
Boulder County awarded a 2013 Organizational Leadership Award as part of the annual the Climate Leadership Awards sponsored by EPA and other leading climate change organizations
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County is pleased to be among fewer than a handful of local governments recognized for its leadership and innovation around the issue of climate change and clean energy.
Today it was announced by the EPA’s Climate Protection Partnerships Division and its co-sponsors, The Climate Registry (The Registry), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), and the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), that Boulder County is a winner of the 2013 Organizational Leadership Award as part of the annual the Climate Leadership Awards (CLA).
The CLA is a national awards program that recognizes and encourages exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in reducing carbon pollution and addressing climate change. Award winners must demonstrate leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in internal operations and throughout the supply chain, as well as integrating climate resilience into their operating strategies.
“We are thrilled to be recognized for the work of our staff and our partners throughout the community who have made it their tireless priority to engage residents of Boulder County in activities and actions that have led to real change on behalf of the environment and reducing our carbon footprint countywide,” said Cindy Domenico, Chair of the Boulder County Commissioners. “Whether it be in the realm of energy efficiency, transportation, Zero Waste, residential and commercial building retrofits, or significant investments in renewable energy options, we’re proud to be on the leading edge of innovation in these areas.”
This year’s awards mark a noteworthy increase in public-sector city and county engagement, a priority effort that Boulder County has championed in collaboration with its municipal partners since the creation of the county’s Sustainability Initiative in 2005.
“It is an honor to receive recognition for the commitment that our past and present County Commissioners and sustainability staff have made to a healthier and more environmentally sustainable place to live,” said Boulder County Sustainability Coordinator, Susie Strife. “This award is a reflection of the hard work, progressive decision making and leadership of Boulder County and the collaborative partnership with all of our municipalities, in particular the Cities of Boulder and Longmont.”
Programs like EnergySmart, Boulder County’s Energy Efficiency service, are helping Boulder County reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing buildings. EnergySmart has helped over 8,600 homes and 2,400 businesses with energy efficiency upgrades.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, EnergySmart is stimulating the local economy with over $16 million in energy efficiency upgrades and advancing the state’s energy independence. EnergySmart is a collaborative partnership throughout Boulder County, and is funded by seed funding from the Department of Energy’s BetterBuildings Program, combined with contributions from the City of Boulder’s Climate Action Plan tax and the City of Longmont.
Other demonstrations of the county’s forward thinking actions include the development of the Climate Change Preparedness Plan, blueprints for action around sustainability and energy efficiency, and the county’s recently completed Transportation Master Plan which identifies programs, services, and facilities that Boulder County will implement to help people get where they need to go in the future in a safe, efficient, and environmentally sensitive manner.
The CLA awards will be presented tonight at the Climate Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C.
More information about the awards and award winners is available at epa.gov/climateleadership/awards/ or through the EPA’s news release.
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CU’s nLab breeds real-world innovation among all walks of students
Feb 21st
The free resource, launched last fall by CU-Boulder’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship at the Leeds School of Business, is designed to help students campus wide tap into communities beyond their academic spheres. The CU Environmental Center, an nLab partner, offers specialized support to integrate sustainability into student ideas.
The nLab supports cross-campus entrepreneurship curricula, the CU New Venture Challenge business plan competition and individuals who want to explore ideas.
“You don’t have to be a business major to think like an entrepreneur,” said Costa Raptis, a junior in geography at CU-Boulder. “You just have to be driven and have a versatile mind and kind of know what you’re after.”
Raptis, who’s interested in cultural anthropology and marketing, is exploring his idea — a talent agency that operates without a traditional hierarchy — using the nLab. He’s been paired through nLab with an employee-owned solar company for mentorship.
Other student ideas that have been brought to the nLab are a cosmetic line and a job-search website called Startups 2 Students, which matches students with position openings at unique companies.
The nLab includes a website where users can post ideas and browse existing projects. It also hosts weekly co-working sessions on campus and provides a mobile kiosk intended to spark both planned and impromptu meetings, and to serve as a workspace. Faculty also can enlist nLab.
“I’m beginning to use nLab as an additional tool to give my students a safe, welcoming and helpful place to apply course material to ideas of their own and others,” said Eben Johnson, a CU-Boulder lecturer in the Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program. “The value of nLab is that it’s for the whole campus. From music to biology, history and finance, great ideas for new products and services are found everywhere.”
Johnson teaches an undergraduate and graduate-level course called Marketing and High-Tech Ventures. Each semester, his students conceptualize new ideas from lithium ion batteries for cell phones to algae nutritional supplements, and nLab will be a resource for such projects, he said.
Other campus supporters of nLab are CU’s Technology Transfer Office; the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship; the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society, or ATLAS; and the Lockheed Martin Engineering Management Program.
For more information about nLab visit http://nlab.colorado.edu/. For more information about the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship visit http://deming.colorado.edu/.
Boulder County Environmental Sustainability Plan available for public review
Dec 24th
Posted by Channel 1 Networks in Environmental News
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Boulder County, Colo. – After years of collaborative work with county staff, elected officials and local partners, Boulder County has released a draft of its Environmental Sustainability Plan for public comment and feedback prior to its adoption on Jan. 3.
Once adopted, there will be an extensive public review process to continue to tweak parts of the plan and develop an implementation strategy for each of the elements of the plan.
What: Public hearing to adopt the Environmental Sustainability Plan
When: Thursday, Jan. 3 at 11 a.m.
Where: Commissioners’ Hearing Room, Boulder County Courthouse, third floor, 1325 Pearl St., Boulder (map)
Comments may also be submitted to commissioners@bouldercounty.org.
The plan was drafted to articulate Boulder County’s vision to create a more environmentally sustainable community as well as provide a blueprint for achieving the county’s collective environmental sustainability goals. In addition, it’s intended that the plan will act as a launching point to help set communitywide environmental priorities and develop shared resources to achieve more regional environmental sustainability goals.
The plan addresses county internal operations as well as the environmental services provided for residents and businesses. It is broken into nine categories including air quality, climate, ecological health, energy and buildings, health and wellness, local food and agriculture, transportation, water and zero waste.
Each section concludes with policy priorities and actions that employees, residents and businesses can take to positively impact Boulder County. More specific timeframes, funding sources, selection of implementation leaders and/or partners will be addressed in an implementation plan, which will guide Boulder County employees in executing the strategies in the Environmental Sustainability Plan.
The next phase of the environmental sustainability planning process is to solicit feedback and insight from the community including key stakeholders and experts on what is missing from the plan and how to best carry out the strategies outlined.
For a copy of the plan, please visit:
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