This Woman Finds the Money for Chicago’s Green Energy Ideas

Clean Energy Trust cofounder Amy Francetic is pushing to make Chicago a hub of clean energy innovation.

By Cassie Walker Burke

Reposted by Greenest Engineering in Chicago

Photograph: Brian Kelly; Hair and Makeup: Jenna Baltes/Artists By Timothy Priano

The venture capitalist in front of a rendering of the Lakeside project

The Green Innovator

Name: Amy Francetic
Age: 46
Cofounder: Clean Energy Trust

From her 16th-floor office in the heart of the Loop, this eco-minded venture capitalist can survey the green roof atop City Hall, the soaring headquarters of United Continental, and myriad banks and financial firms. The view is a reminder of her role as a catalyst—an “accelerator,” as she puts it—in the race to make the Midwest a hub of clean energy innovation.

In 2010, she cofounded the nonprofit Clean Energy Trust to do just that. Backed by the investment might of Michael Polsky, the CEO of the Chicago-based wind-generation company Invenergy, and Nick Pritzker, a local billionaire and former Hyatt chief, Francetic connects area inventors who have revolutionary ideas with venture capitalists and manufacturers who can bring them to market. And she is an energy consultant on two potentially game-changing projects: the $120 million Argonne battery research center and the 500-acre Lakeside community planned for the former U.S. Steel site.

Francetic talks about fostering an ecosystem in the way that a biologist would—only instead of seeds, she’s helping early-stage companies build the relationships they need to innovate faster. “My goal is to unlock the capital that’s sitting on the sidelines,” says Francetic, who spent the first half of her career in Silicon Valley, where she worked for a time at a business incubator funded by Microsoft’s Paul Allen.

With her Lake Forest address and finance-jargon-laden pitch, Francetic is far from the stereotypical environmentalist. But she believes that the projects her small team has ushered along—among them a manufacturer of high-performance electric engines (HEVT) and a group of Northwestern University metals researchers looking to advance a more secure form of natural gas–storage (NuMat)—have the potential to make more efficient (and less toxic) products that decrease our country’s reliance on foreign oil. “Ultimately, it has to be about more than money,” she says. “It has to be about impact.”

Chicago-based LuminAID wins Clean Energy Challenge

By Julie WernauTribune reporter
  forwarded By Greenest Engineering in Chicago




Andrea Sreshta and her business partner were in Japan in2011 when an earthquake left millions of people without power. They realized that lightweight, inflatable, solar-powered LED lights could fill the lighting needs of a population in crisis.

Their Chicago-based company, LuminAID, won top honors Thursday at the third annual Clean Energy Challenge in Chicago, earning $100,000 in early stage capital in a competition that pitted 17 clean tech teams from across the Midwest against each other for more than $300,000 in cash prizes.

Food, water and medicine are shipped in by the truckload in a crisis, said Shreshta, but light is not. LuminAID's lamps can be shipped flat, printed with logos or instructions and are lightweight -- 100 weigh about 20 pounds.

"The light was on the 'Today Show' at the start of the year for 30 seconds," Sreshta said. "We sold $30,000 worth of lights in eight hours."

The company has been setting up partnerships with distributors around the world to assist everyone from the 1.3 million people who lacked light after an earthquake rocked Haiti to the 12 million refugees living in camps around the world.

On a stage worthy of a TED talk, innovators -- some with little more than an idea and others who had won similar competitions elsewhere -- faced a panel of about three dozen judges who, American Idol-like, could make or break their futures.

Among the judges were Pin Ni, president of Wanxiang Group, which now owns battery maker A123; a bevy of venture capital firms; representatives from Johnson Controls, Abbott Laboratories and United.

The contest brought together the nation's top researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers to uncover the most promising cleantech startups in the Midwest.

Bearing Analytics, a start-up out of Purdue University, won the $100,000 prize in the student category for its temperature and vibration sensing technology that can alert manufacturers to bearings creating enough friction that they could stop working or catch fire.

Andrew Kovacs, a co-founder, told judges that such problems do $50 billion a year in damage and lost time in everything from the auto to the wind industries.

If a bearing stop an auto assembly line, he said,it could cost $22,000 per minute until the problem is fixed. In another case, he said, a bearing in a 100-car coal train caught fire and it took so long for the conductor to walk back to the source the car and bridge below it were engulfed, cuasing $2 million in damage.

"This competition ... is often the first step toward moving new technology out of the lab and into the marketplace," said Amy Francetic, executive director of Clean Energy Trust, a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the development of clean-energy businesses in the Midwest.

This year, eight early-stage firms and nine student-led start-ups competed. Three new awards, the $50,000 McCaffery Lakeside prize, the $20,000 Outstanding Female Cleantech Entrepreneur prize and the $10,000 Invenergy Renewable Idea prize were also awarded.

SkySpecs, a University of Michigan firm that uses unmanned aircraft to monitor sewers, wind turbines and bridges, won the Invenergy prize.

Amplified Wind Solutions, out of Washington University in St. Louis, won the Female Cleantech award. The woman-run firm has a system to amplify wind power and sees a market in the cell phone tower industry, for power cell towers in remote locations that are off-the-grid.

SmarterShade, a South Bend, Ind., company with a film that can turn windows opaque with the flip of a switch, was awarded the McCaffery Lakeside Prize.

At the last minute, the judges chipped in $10,000 of their own money to support Ornicept, an Ann Arbor, Mich., start-up that can track and analyze bird populations with cameras and cloud computing software. The company told judges that they believe their technology will support wind development, which is often required to send team of researchers into the field, at great expense, to study bird populations before setting up a wind farm.

Finalists from the previous two Challenges have raised more than $30 million in funding to date and have captured top honors at national competitions, including the National Clean Energy Business Competition, Cleantech Open and the Rice Business Plan Competition.

Last year, Chicago-based NuMat Technologies, a startup led by two Kellogg students, a Northwestern graduate student and a research professor, won $100,000 in the student division of Chicago's Clean Energy Challenge, followed by more than $1 million in other business-plan competition prizes.

The company, as part of a consortium that includes Des Plaines-based Gas Technology Institute, Northwestern University and a natural gas engine maker, also received $1.5 million in funding from the Department of Energy to be used to help commercialize the product.

NuMat invented a material that acts like a sponge for natural gas, reducing the amount of pressure needed to fill a tank of the gas by 80 percent.

Des Plaines River - Green Images

Des Plaines River Trail - Green and Sustainable

Right when we started, this egret flew over We took on the Des Plaines  River Trail again, starting from the Wadsworth Road access and heading north to Rt. 173. We (mainly me) were trying to walk further each time we went out. This was a roundtrip distance of about five miles.

There were a lot of open spaces, sprinkled with stands of oaks. This was about the time that temperatures were starting to rise every day. Not too many insects, either.
It was nice that halfway up, there was a water pump, for horses. Didn’t see any riders that day, but there was evidence that we walked around.

As I walk, besides trying not to die of heatstroke, I try to observe the whole scene and remember advice on photography. Occasionally, I remember to look back to where I’ve been (Look behind you – there might be a better shot!) At Rt. 173, there is a car-parts lot on the west side of the trail. Coming up on that point, I remembered that little nugget and turned around.

To my surprise, there in a tree was a Baltimore oriole! I hadn’t seen one in years, not since Massachusetts, and there was one that I would have missed if I didn’t turn around! I got two out-of-focus shots before it flew off, but I was happy. New addition to my digital bird album!

I think it was on this walk, that I really started watching the treetops for movement, and listening for bird calls. This led to lots of sightings of new birds, and sometimes decent photos, and actually helped the walk go faster and easier – the halts for picture-taking didn’t count as rests, but they helped!


Another new bird for me? This duck and her family was swimming in a small pond close to where we started. I didn’t see a male, though there was an American coot in a tree nearby. I had to come home and look it up – a wood duck! Another new bird for me!

They were swimming around and still there when we came back

Des Plaines Sustainability Report

Des Plaines Releases Sustainability Report

The City of Des Plaines is pleased to announce the completion of its first-ever Sustainability Report. A collaborative effort between City staff, elected officials and community representatives, the report details projects Des Plaines has undertaken over the past decade to reduce its environmental impact, explores best practices for new opportunities, and identifies the targets that will bring the City to its goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report will be available on the City’s website www.desplaines.org/sustainability beginning on Earth Day, Friday, March 22, 2013.
Funding for the report was provided by a grant from the US Department of Energy, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), issued in 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks to the work Des Plaines has undertaken through this grant, the City has received other benefits, including free energy audits of the City Hall and Public Works facilities. For additional information on the Sustainability Report call Des Plaines Civil Engineer Derek Peebles

 

Oakton's New LEED Building

Oakton Community College Science and Health Careers Center - New LEED Building

In 2014, a new building will rest beside the lake at the heart of Oakton Community College’s Des Plaines, Illinois campus. The 93,000-square-foot facility will celebrate the campus, which sits within a forest preserve, and reinforce the college’s commitment to sustainability.

The three-level center, widens as it rises to create a new campus gateway and reduces the building’s footprint (i.e., the amount of land it occupies). This tiered strategy also shades the building’s windows, as well as a plaza beside the lake.

The Oakton campus https://www.oakton.edu/ is next to the Des Plaines River flood plain. Designers used piers to raise the building seven-and-a-half feet above ground; during floods, water will actually flow beneath the building.

A Healthy LEED

Oakton will seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for the facility from the U.S. Green Building Council. The facility’s high-performance systems maximize solar heat gain and mitigate winter winds. For instance, one system uses exhaust air to preheat and cool supply air. This cuts heating and cooling loads. The daylight harvesting system brings natural light to 75 percent of the classrooms, while an energy-generating photovoltaic sunshade keeps the building cool during summer months.

LEED Replacement

Federal Government Looking To Replace LEED by a different standard

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design may be usurped as the sole green-rating program endorsed by the U.S. General Services Administration for federal buildings.
In what has become a protracted review of the federal government’s use of green-building systems, the GSA published a notice Feb. 5 in the Federal Register seeking public comment for an additional 60 days on how the government uses third-party certification systems. It is at least the third attempt by the GSA to gain insight into public attitudes.
The GSA owns 1,500 commercial buildings nationwide and leases space in another 8,100, representing 370 million square feet of occupancy. The federal government as a whole owns or leases approximately 370,000 buildings with more than 3.36 billion square feet.
The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act mandates that the GSA recommend to the U.S. Secretary of Energy every five years how the federal government can best use ratings programs and other tools to ensure the nation’s largest user of commercial buildings is operating a “high performance” portfolio.
In the law’s initial implementation, the GSA recommended the LEED program alone to the Energy secretary. But as part of the first five-year review, completed last May, the GSA evaluated two additional systems, the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge and Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes.  

The federal government has been a leader in the green-building movement, reducing its own energy and water use by substantial margins, said Jason Hartke, vice president of national policy and advocacy at the U.S. Green Building Council.
But federal agencies including the GSA are under presidential executive order to do more, to “lead by example” to cut greenhouse gas emissions and exist sustainably while “leveraging” the federal government’s unique position in the marketplace to encourage development and production of “environmentally preferable materials, products and services …”
Interest in the GSA’s decision has been intense not only within the government’s ranks but also those of the private sector. The American Chemistry Council complained that the federal government should not rely solely on LEED after a proposed update to the LEED system was to include more requirements surrounding the use of chemicals in building materials. After its own internal review, the GSA convened an ad hoc “discussion group” that included its representatives and others from the departments of Defense, Energy, Agriculture, State, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency.
That group has concluded, after multiple meetings and two public hearings, that none of the three standards meets all of the federal government’s needs but that parts of Green Globes and LEED fit best.
\

HOME INSPECTION IN CHICAGO

Greenest Home Inspections in Chicago

A professional home inspector can play a very important role when you are buying your next house. An inspection helps a buyer understand the condition of the residence. It also helps the seller provide accurate information, which helps make the sale. Because a home is such a major purchase, you will need to exercise considerable discernment. Here are a few pointers to help you avoid pitfalls.


The U.S. DOE has a nice section related to doing your own home energy audit and home inspection.

First, understand that this review is not an appraisal. An appraisal protects the lenders financial interests and is the banks way of determining if the property is worth what you have agreed to pay. On the other hand, your inspection protects you, the buyer or seller, by identifying structural or mechanical problems with the house.
Buying real estate can be an attractive proposition in an economy where home prices are down tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Would you believe some people only spend 15 minutes deciding on the residence they want to buy? Keep in mind that no purchase is perfect, and you should never buy a home without having it inspected first.
This is especially true if you want to buy one that has gone through a foreclosure. You absolutely must have it inspected. It is possible the previous owner may have sabotaged it in anger over a desperate situation. As astonishing as it may seem, home inspectors have found such problems as headers cut from steps, rafters cut in attics, electric wiring cut, and in one instance reported motor oil had been poured over flooring and carpeting.
The thorough analysis of a home inspection brings to light areas that need attention so unpleasant surprises can be avoided later. Investing a few hundred dollars in now can save you thousands down the road.
The walk-through should take at least two hours and could take as many as six hours. This varies depending on the size of the residence. Your professional service person will examine the foundation, roof, gutters, all types of siding, doors and windows, electrical wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, and appliances. He will be on the lookout for fire hazards, mold, and emissions of carbon monoxide and radon gas.
Though it is not necessarily required, he may also check driveways and sidewalks, the porch, patio, balcony, septic tank, and the garage or other buildings that go with the property. Some of these may require an additional fee.
Your inspector should be properly qualified for your state and local area and should have all the necessary equipment to do the job. You can expect his services to cost roughly $400 to $800, depending on the size of the property and the area of the country in which you live.
The report he provides you should be very specific and detailed. It should not be just a quick checklist. It is a good idea for the report to be accompanied by photographs. Your report should include digital pictures to document the findings. Your inspector should take time to answer any questions you have and define terms you are unsure of.
Exercise caution when choosing your home inspector. While getting a recommendation from your real estate agent may sound like a good idea, consider choosing an inspector yourself. Avoid any possible conflicts of interest by getting an independent inspector.
Ask trusted friends and coworkers for referrals. Listen to their concerns and criticisms as well. Check for recommendations from the American Society of Home Inspectors  http://www.ashi.org/
Verify the inspectors credentials. How long has he been doing business? Does he have a license; what is the license number? 
A home inspector can be worth his weight in gold. When he does his job, he will help you gain perspective about the home you are buying. You need to know the positives and the negatives. That will help avoid pitfalls and keep all parties involved from having unrealistic expectations about the property.