BeeP Blog

If Kennedy could put a man on the moon in 10 years, we can transition our energy dependence off of coal and oil.

Last night at a private home in Menlo Park I had a chance to meet Congressman Inslee, one of the few voices brave enough to champion clean energy and the benefits of a clean energy economy . Inslee’s book, Apollo’s Fire, calls for a Kennedy-scale goal for our energy challenge.  Just as Kennedy challenged the country to put a man on the moon in 10 years, he thinks we can and must address a nationwide transition to a clean energy economy.

Congressman Inslee is a rare breed- a well-intended politician trying to fight the good fight. He thinks he can win the Governor’s seat, and I hope he’s right. I don’t hear anyone else sticking their neck out for energy alternatives on the same scale. Plus we had a Switzer Foundation Fellow, Holmes Hummel, working with his group on energy policy, and she’s one of the best policy analysts i know on energy. OK, she’s the ONLY one i know…but God is she smart. See her in action: http://www.govenergy.com/2010/Workshop/Presentations/HolmesHummel.aspx

You can be a BayLEAF too.

Ran into our friend, Cal Cars founder Felix Kramer, who told me about others of our kind: Nissan Leaf owners (I guess we are called BayLeafs’).  I carpooled down with my pal Holly Kauffman-an extraordinary environmental advocate, world-changer, and fellow-mom. Fellow or wanna-be BayLeafs can check out this little clique at: http://www.sfbayleafs.org/

Ever wonder where the utility vendors go to meet buyers? DistribuTECH is the nerdy show for all shapes and sizes selling anything to utilities, from million $$ line-crawling robots that replace dangerous human helicopter repairs, to CODA Energy offering utility storage solutions. Every January they gather, and this year San Antonio, Texas was where it all went down. Blue Practice helped host a customer marketing council for Silver Spring Networks. Our client CODA Energy had the CODA all-electric sedan at their booth, and announced their impressive new venture. Silver Spring had a super cool Google earth flyover that let us zip around and “visit” the near real time deployment of smart meters and what can be learned from the meters. I could not take my eyes off the demo–seriously! Here’s proof:

What an honor to be invited as guests of Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability to the most advanced, energy efficient space for humans of any government building designed yet. The new NASA base, co-designed by William McDonough+ Partners, will support just over 200+ scientists studying earth-climate models, as well as a group of scientists for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), an airborne observatory housed inside a 747, one of the most advanced astronomy studies underway.

The event was so top secret we can’t name attendees, but if you look closely you might recognize a few  of the most important names in sustainability design and leadership today.

95% of the building’s energy is sourced from renewables- solar, wind and on-site geothermal pumps. The site-specific location is incredible, with tons of natural light that follows the sun’s arc (only 40 days of the year will even require artificial light) and the ability for the ‘earth astronauts’ (I love calling them that!) to adjust the air/heat to their own individual comfort level.  I won’t steal my team’s thunder, so many more details will be announced soon, and a dedication ceremony is in the works.

For more on this spectacular achievement, please take a look at the NASA Ames Sustainability Base: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/sustainability-base/