Attended a law school event, hosted by Echoing Green, on whether markets can deliver energy efficiency.
The discussion was NYC centric. Who knew that in NYC, buildings are responsible for 2/3 of green house gas emissions? In most other cities usually transportation is the main culprit.
The NYC real estate market is an interesting one. Since it is mainly rental, the incentives to reduce energy costs lie with the tenant (who pays the energy bill) but the person responsible for making the efficiency improvements is the owner of the building. Sort of a catch 22 here. Neither one has any stake of improving energy efficiency. Specially the low hanging fruit, that can bring down energy costs by around 30%.
The other challenge is financing. With most commercial buildings having pre existing debt already (and battered credit ratings), how can you enable them to take on additional expenses in retro fitting a building? Even though you know that there will be future savings, most banks won't lend to such an undertaking since it's 1) it's not considered safe and 2) there is no collateral (you can't take away the insulation that's put in if the owner defaults).
Lastly, there is really very little data on the impact of efficiency improvements. And this makes undertaking any retro fitting a bigger risk. On this front, the Clinton Foundation is doing some pioneering work on the empire state building, retrofitting it and making all the energy savings data publicly available. Great example of public private partnership.
So given these issues - how do you structure a market solution to address this issue? Clearly there is money to be saved (made?). Or maybe non-profits are better suited to address this.
Worth further investigation...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
End of my 2nd week
And there is a lot going on here.
I started the semester thinking I'd have a ton of free time, and in some respects I do, but there just is a lot going on and you easily get sucked in to so many different things.
This is what I'm taking this semester
1) Intro to Financial Management (should have placed out of this)
2) Stats (should have placed out of this as well)
3) Into to Public Policy by Rogan Kersh - I'm back in undergrad again, 200 person class room. I thought this was a private university? What's happening here? Jokes aside, looks like Kersh is going to make this a really interesting course
4) Intro to Social Entrepreneurship - The one class that I'm really psyched for. So far the class has been real fun. Doesn't get much better than Ben&Jerry's ice cream in class.
Looking at my schedule of this week though, I also had the
1) Career services event (fairly useful)
2) The stern business plan competition kick off (this is really going to suck up a ton of my time this sem)
3) The acumen "dog and pony show" @ stern - this was more a social thing to hang out with Sophie
4) Executive and Legislative clash policy seminar - extra credit for Public Policy. Glad I went, learnt something new.
5) Student faculty reception - nice, but didn't get to talk to Paul Light :(
6) WEFA kick off meeting - the finance club at Wagner, they really want to make sure they don't sit on their asses this year.
7) Bridge bash - most fun event of the week. I'm going to enjoy working with this crew.
8) Columbia's conference on the financial crisis - which I had to skip because of so much else going on.
Just looking back at this week, I'm going to have to start being very judicious with my time. And I'm def not making the mistake of trying to study/read at Puck. All I do is talk and socialize there. Very unproductive. But I did get to meet a whole bunch of cool people.
I started the semester thinking I'd have a ton of free time, and in some respects I do, but there just is a lot going on and you easily get sucked in to so many different things.
This is what I'm taking this semester
1) Intro to Financial Management (should have placed out of this)
2) Stats (should have placed out of this as well)
3) Into to Public Policy by Rogan Kersh - I'm back in undergrad again, 200 person class room. I thought this was a private university? What's happening here? Jokes aside, looks like Kersh is going to make this a really interesting course
4) Intro to Social Entrepreneurship - The one class that I'm really psyched for. So far the class has been real fun. Doesn't get much better than Ben&Jerry's ice cream in class.
Looking at my schedule of this week though, I also had the
1) Career services event (fairly useful)
2) The stern business plan competition kick off (this is really going to suck up a ton of my time this sem)
3) The acumen "dog and pony show" @ stern - this was more a social thing to hang out with Sophie
4) Executive and Legislative clash policy seminar - extra credit for Public Policy. Glad I went, learnt something new.
5) Student faculty reception - nice, but didn't get to talk to Paul Light :(
6) WEFA kick off meeting - the finance club at Wagner, they really want to make sure they don't sit on their asses this year.
7) Bridge bash - most fun event of the week. I'm going to enjoy working with this crew.
8) Columbia's conference on the financial crisis - which I had to skip because of so much else going on.
Just looking back at this week, I'm going to have to start being very judicious with my time. And I'm def not making the mistake of trying to study/read at Puck. All I do is talk and socialize there. Very unproductive. But I did get to meet a whole bunch of cool people.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Room to Read
My first day at Wagner, and I don't have any classes. Instead I attend a talk given by John Wood, founder of Room to Read.
This guy is the latest hot thing in the non-profit world. Quit Microsoft to start room to read. There are things he said that really hit hard. "The poor are too poor to afford education, but until they have it they will always be poor".
Room to Read has grown super fast, faster than any NGO out there. Their catch line is 9 countries in 9 years. They started out building libraries, but now address a host of issues in education in the developing world.
Very slick presentation. And he knows how to use numbers and stats to his advantage. Compare the cost of a aircraft carrier to the number of years of education it could buy a girl child (a million). A crowd like ours ate that stuff up. Not to say that I am not impressed with what he has done. The focus he's brought on the issue alone is worth accolades. But I am very skeptical of the sustainability of this effort. They are building schools and partnering with the Nepal ministry of education who will provide teachers. Now if Nepal is anything like India (and I guess it's worse), finding teachers to work in rural villages will not be easy. And these guys have built 756 schools in 9 years. Yeah, sure it costs 30,000 USD to build a school, but is it effective? Why grow at break neck speed if the work you've done currently won't be sustainable?
Probably true that in education, results have to be measured over time, and they have commissioned a 5 year study (they are currently in year 2). So will wait for the results.
I did leave the room inspired. And I now appreciate more the ability to use numbers to your advantage, specially when you sprinkle individual anecdotal stories to clutch at the audiences heart strings.
There was one question from the audience, that I found very insightful. What were Room to Read's tipping points? 1) Fast magazine wrote an article on John, 2) His book came out and really put him on the bookshelves of the right power players, 3) Clinton Global Initiative brought him in as a speaker (3 times), and that just raised the stakes and finally 4) Oprah - she just made Room to Read go viral.
This guy is the latest hot thing in the non-profit world. Quit Microsoft to start room to read. There are things he said that really hit hard. "The poor are too poor to afford education, but until they have it they will always be poor".
Room to Read has grown super fast, faster than any NGO out there. Their catch line is 9 countries in 9 years. They started out building libraries, but now address a host of issues in education in the developing world.
Very slick presentation. And he knows how to use numbers and stats to his advantage. Compare the cost of a aircraft carrier to the number of years of education it could buy a girl child (a million). A crowd like ours ate that stuff up. Not to say that I am not impressed with what he has done. The focus he's brought on the issue alone is worth accolades. But I am very skeptical of the sustainability of this effort. They are building schools and partnering with the Nepal ministry of education who will provide teachers. Now if Nepal is anything like India (and I guess it's worse), finding teachers to work in rural villages will not be easy. And these guys have built 756 schools in 9 years. Yeah, sure it costs 30,000 USD to build a school, but is it effective? Why grow at break neck speed if the work you've done currently won't be sustainable?
Probably true that in education, results have to be measured over time, and they have commissioned a 5 year study (they are currently in year 2). So will wait for the results.
I did leave the room inspired. And I now appreciate more the ability to use numbers to your advantage, specially when you sprinkle individual anecdotal stories to clutch at the audiences heart strings.
There was one question from the audience, that I found very insightful. What were Room to Read's tipping points? 1) Fast magazine wrote an article on John, 2) His book came out and really put him on the bookshelves of the right power players, 3) Clinton Global Initiative brought him in as a speaker (3 times), and that just raised the stakes and finally 4) Oprah - she just made Room to Read go viral.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Pre term week
This week was pre term week. And I really wasted this opportunity. I was waitlisted for 2 of the 3 classes I wanted to take. And the remaining activities, I just sort of blew off.
Not very smart of me. An entire week of activities and I attended just 2 events. Didn't even make it to happy hour.
Here is what I did attend:
Small Wallet, Big City - This was fun. Having lived in NYC for so long, I knew most of it already. But there was a lot of NYU specific stuff that I wasn't aware of. Who knew I could get cheaper movie tickets through NYU. Yay for Ticket Central! And if you are taking NJ Transit to Newark Airport, it's cheaper to buy the ticket for the stop after Newark Airport instead of buying direct to Newark. Who knew?
Running Efficient Meetings - This was the only pre term "class" that I actually get into (did I mention I hate ALBERT). What I found most helpful was how to construct an agenda for a meeting. I never thought of clearly listing out what the end outcomes of a meeting would look like (instead of just meeting objective). And while I have started doing prep work for a meeting I chair, I never thought of assigning prep work to other participants to 1) get their buy in and 2) enable the meeting. She recommended "How to Make Meetings Work" by Michael Doyle and David Straus. I'm going to try and pick this up at the library.
Not very smart of me. An entire week of activities and I attended just 2 events. Didn't even make it to happy hour.
Here is what I did attend:
Small Wallet, Big City - This was fun. Having lived in NYC for so long, I knew most of it already. But there was a lot of NYU specific stuff that I wasn't aware of. Who knew I could get cheaper movie tickets through NYU. Yay for Ticket Central! And if you are taking NJ Transit to Newark Airport, it's cheaper to buy the ticket for the stop after Newark Airport instead of buying direct to Newark. Who knew?
Running Efficient Meetings - This was the only pre term "class" that I actually get into (did I mention I hate ALBERT). What I found most helpful was how to construct an agenda for a meeting. I never thought of clearly listing out what the end outcomes of a meeting would look like (instead of just meeting objective). And while I have started doing prep work for a meeting I chair, I never thought of assigning prep work to other participants to 1) get their buy in and 2) enable the meeting. She recommended "How to Make Meetings Work" by Michael Doyle and David Straus. I'm going to try and pick this up at the library.
Student retreat - Iroquois Springs
I'm 30 and going back to camp.
I was apprehensive about this whole out in the middle of nowhere, singing Kumbaya with my fellow Wagner newbies. Thankfully, this camp wasn't anything like what I expected (trust exercises and "3 facts about me" conversations).
My fellow Wagner classmates are a varied and damn cool bunch. It was the first time I was part of a policy discussion where I didn't have much to offer. And after meeting them, I've realized that I have a heck of a lot more traveling to do.
The faculty were super approachable, making me feel all warm inside about my choice of school. There is a strong sense of community, you feel it right when you get to camp. I'm really impressed with how smoothly they pulled off the entire thing. From all the "activities", to just getting us to mingle and network. And the surprise beer and wine at the campfire was just what we needed. It wouldn't have been the same with only Smores.
There were a number of quotable quotes, but the one that stood out was Dean Schall's - "Vision without a strategic plan is a hallucination". I think I'm going to really enjoy my 2 years at Wagner. I'm going to learn so much about myself. I can't wait!
My only suggestion - next year pick a place that is a lot warmer, or one that has thicker blankets.
I was apprehensive about this whole out in the middle of nowhere, singing Kumbaya with my fellow Wagner newbies. Thankfully, this camp wasn't anything like what I expected (trust exercises and "3 facts about me" conversations).
My fellow Wagner classmates are a varied and damn cool bunch. It was the first time I was part of a policy discussion where I didn't have much to offer. And after meeting them, I've realized that I have a heck of a lot more traveling to do.
The faculty were super approachable, making me feel all warm inside about my choice of school. There is a strong sense of community, you feel it right when you get to camp. I'm really impressed with how smoothly they pulled off the entire thing. From all the "activities", to just getting us to mingle and network. And the surprise beer and wine at the campfire was just what we needed. It wouldn't have been the same with only Smores.
There were a number of quotable quotes, but the one that stood out was Dean Schall's - "Vision without a strategic plan is a hallucination". I think I'm going to really enjoy my 2 years at Wagner. I'm going to learn so much about myself. I can't wait!
My only suggestion - next year pick a place that is a lot warmer, or one that has thicker blankets.
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