Next Forum: Real-Life Insights on Wind Power

FEB 6 Sustainability Forum:

A first-hand perspective on the benefits and challenges of wind turbines for your business

Date/Time:  Wed., Feb. 6th at 8:00 a.m.
Place:  100 Cummings Center, Suite 221-E, Beverly, MA
Cost: No charge for NSTC members; $10 for all others

Overview:  There’s a brand new wind turbine in Gloucester you may’ve noticed. At NSTC's February Sustainability Forum, Rick Johnson, Director of Facilities at Applied Materials, will discuss the benefits and challenges of installing wind turbines – from his first-hand perspective.

ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:

Rick Johnson,Director, Facilities at Applied Materials

With a strong interest in wind power, Rick Johnson serves as the director of facilities for Applied's Varian Semiconductor Equipment business unit. His background includes more than 30 years of experience in facilities planning and management as well as a bachelor's degree from Wentworth Institute of Technology and Salem State College.

Forum News Flash

Next month the Sustainability Forum teams up with the Mass High-Tech Council’s Clean Energy and Sustainability Team in a special symposium on Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs).

You won’t want to miss this.  It’s open to all of the North Shore Tech Council’s Sustainability Forum members. But take note: this month we’re straying from our familiar home at the Cleantech Innoventure Center to Woburn.

Wed., April 6, 8:00 am – 10:00 am

McLane Law Firm at TradeCenter 128

300 TradeCenter, Suite 6400, Woburn, MA

Our speaker lineup is coming together and includes:

• Kristine Kalajian, Director of Environmental Compliance and Sustainability, Philips Electronics
• Asheen Phansey, Product Manager, Sustainability, Dassault Systemes/SolidWorks

…with pending confirmations from:
• Hecktor Rodriquez, Director, Global EHS and Sustainability, Biogen Idec
• David Newman, Director of EHS and Sustainability, Millipore

We hope to shed more light on the role that CSOs or designated point people for sustainability play in bringing about transformational ethics and practices in sustainability at companies around the region.

Thanks for your interest. Look forward to seeing you.

Next Up: March 2 Forum with EnerNOC

Gregg Dixon, sr. v.p., EnerNOC

This is the one-two punch that follow's Bob Halpin's excellent overview on the Smart Grid (more to come on that).  Wednesday, March 2, Gregg Dixon of EnerNOC hits the Forum. 

EnerNOC is the public company in Boston that is "is transforming the way the world uses energy."  It's all about using energy more efficiently, which is still the cleanest source of power.

Friends in High Places

Red Herring, the business tech publication, just announced its Finalists for the 2010 Red Herring Global Award. It's a list of top 100 companies, worldwide, evaluated on financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries. 

Seven of these companies are from Mass. But it's particularly heartening to see our friends from Viridity Software on the list. You may recall our Forum in Novemeber in which Mike Rowan, CTO and co-founder of Viridity, gave us special insights into data center energy use. 

It may be a coincidence, but last week our friends at Terra Verdae Bioworks were also recognized.  Mass. High Tech called them out as a "company to watch."

Now, our conclusion is either the Sustainability Forum sure offers companies some powerful visibility; or, we just know a lot of movers and shakers.  Let's keep an eye on that trend.  We welcome you to join us.

Walk the Talk?

Timberland’s Sustainability Officer Betsy Blaisdell will address our December 8th Sustainability Forum meeting. We look forward to learning from Betsy about this billion-dollar company’s inside perspectives on sustainability – not only as it relates to their consumers but to their operations as well. Meanwhile, here’s a report on the company’s new marketing efforts from MediaPost:
Timberland is launching what the company calls its "biggest and most environmentally focused marketing campaign yet."

The Stratham, N.H.-based retailer is launching the global campaign with the theme "Nature Needs Heroes," in conjunction with its new Earthkeepers collection. Made with materials like recycled rubber and recycled PET (one and a half plastic bottles are used in each pair of Earthkeepers boots), the Earthkeepers product is one of the company's leading and fastest-growing product collections.

In addition to promoting the line, the campaign -- which will run through the end of the year -- also seeks to inspire people to consider what actions they might take to be "heroes" for the outdoors themselves. The company is launching an online "Earthkeepers movement" in hopes of motivating consumers to make environmentally focused behavior changes.

Read more from Timberland’s news release.

Chemist: Heal Thyself

Our speaker today packed a wallop! In the 80’s he was that ordinary UMass Boston kid, a music major with his own band -- undoubtedly playing late nights at Bunratty’s and the Rat, with the beer-soaked sneakers to prove it. Today, he’s considered the father of Green Chemistry. No ordinary nerd, Dr John Warner is friends with presidents, prime ministers and corporate heads around the world. Although he’s been tapped by Swarzenegger to help California escape this toxic chemical world we’ve created, he told our Sustainability Forum today: “Massachusetts has the clear opportunity to emerge as the Silicon Valley of Sustainability.”

John stated that the most prominent chemist at the most prominent institution could not identify a safe molecule vs a toxic one. Our chemists are woefully unprepared to create safer, healthier materials. It’s not some corporate conspiracy or even a political bias. It’s simply an embedded institutional approach to creating complex materials that neglects a fundamental emphasis on toxicity. Advancements in complex polymers are astounding; they create new fuels, more efficient building materials and longer-lasting nail polishes. Chemists construct safeguards, and keep pace with a continual mountain of laws and policies. But Green Chemistry, surprisingly, is just emerging.

China and India get it. Their chemistry students are required to take a year of toxicology. Our kids are smart. But there is not a single undergrad in the US who is expected to understand this critical part of nanotechnology.

John will tell you that his text books at UMass aren’t much different than 30 years later. It’s a sad indictment of government, research and academia. There’s good news though: John…through his books, the WarnerBabcock Institute, his membership on the American Chemical Society, his patents, his consultations with world leaders…is changing chemistry.

He’s just a regular guy who is having a profound impact on the molecules that surround is. It’s an amazing story: from the Kenmore Square Rathskellar to laboratories worldwide.