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4) CLEAN Local Energy
 Meeting the world’s energy challenges will require a massive and sustained scale-up of renewable energy. Public policy has driven rapid renewable energy market growth during the past decade, however, this alone will be insufficient to affect the necessary energy transformation. NCS’ CLEAN Coalition (Clean Local Energy Accessible Now), led by Craig Lewis, has been working to catalyze the adoption of distributed generation renewable energy development throughout the United States. .
The Clean Coalition has pushed the State of California to launch a 750 MW CLEAN Program in early 2013 with a vastly expanded program following within a year or two. In addition, the Long Island Power Authority has already launched a highly successful 50 MW CLEAN Program and is now seeking guidance on a vastly expanded program.
This work, in conjunction with our leadership in building the economic case for transitioning away from dirty energy and towards clean energy, contributes to NCS’ positive impact in the energy arena.
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5) Small Business Solutions
 For the past eight years we have been working with small businesses to help them profit by implementing more sustainable practices. Traditional energy efficiency advocacy has focused on large organizations and audits, rebates, and incentives. It’s ignored Main Street. Far too little attention has been given to no-cost changes people can make to how they do business. Over the years, NCS has helped little businesses in our towns and cities by creating tools like Solutions at the Speed of Business - an online sustainability implementation tool for small businesses that focus on what small businesses can do to implement genuine sustainability.
To spread sustainability and reach more small businesses, we developed Solutions 4 Sustainability (S4S) – a train-the-trainer program for small businesses networks. S4S helps cities, Small Business Development Centers, Chambers of Commerce and local economic developers gain the skills and tools to help their own small businesses implement profitable sustainability. We’ve offered these programs from Wyoming to the California Coast, in Iowa and in Colorado.
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6) In Our Community
 As a global leader in sustainability, NCS works with businesses, governments, and communities in over 30 countries to develop sustainable strategies and solutions. We use one-on-one consulting projects, cross-sector collaboration efforts, and cutting-edge research.
We also believe that it is important to drive change in our home communities and have a positive impact on our local community. From the mountains to the ranch, we love Colorado and work to strengthen its citizens and communities.
For 10 years we have implemented more sustainable programs with numerous Colorado business, cities, and local governments. We’ve worked with Boulder County Parks and Open Spaces assessing sustainable agriculture locally, helped New Belgium Brewing implement the integrated bottom line, led the Fort Carson Mountain Post initiative to set and implement the most ambitious sustainability goals in the armed forces, and assisted our own City of Longmont in conducting a feasibility study for a Colorado Energy Incubator.
Besides our local consulting, Hunter and staff continually present at local conferences including Boulder Clean Energy, Colorado Sustainability Summit, LOHAS, AREday, The City Club, Boulder City Council, Greenprint Denver and CleanMed and many more. We have assisted local events like those hosted by CORE and the Alliance for a Sustainable Colorado. Additionally we remain active with local community groups, helping them understand the business case for implementing more sustainable alternatives to solve pressing local challenges in energy, agriculture, and water. |
