It has been more than two years since Rudy and Asheen launched this Cleantech Dinner series for Net Impact Boston, discussing and debating the roles of cycled materials, clean energy, and appropriate technologies in a company striving for a positive “net impact”. Do the ideals with which we kicked off this dinner discussion series still hold?

We culminated this “cleantech” and “sustainable business” content development by running an intensive all-day Sustainable Innovation Workshop for some corporate and nonprofit clients recently. With this workshop and a couple dozen meetings’ worth of your insights behind us, we will revisit the motivating definition that we first posited together in 2007. Namely,

A sustainable company is one that:

• —Uses the waste of another industry as its input as much as possible, and minimizes the use of virgin materials extracted from the earth;
• —Creates output that can be used by another industry or returned to a natural state, and minimizes waste that can’t be used by another industry or returned to a natural state; —and
• Uses the least amount of energy to achieve the desired outcome, and uses energy ultimately derived from renewable sources.

Is this still a good working definition for a cleantech company? Is “cleantech” even the right word, now that the term has been co-opted by investors — or should we really be calling this the “Sustainable Business Dinner Series” or something else entirely?

Join us for an evening of lively discussion and active introspection as we review the tenets of corporate environmental sustainability, to work toward a new definition and set of values for this long-running dinner series.

New to the Cleantech Dinner Discussions? It’s just an informal group of folks — always with some familiar and some new faces — who gather over dinner and drinks to debate topics of cleantech and sustainable business. You can view previous cleantech dinner discussion topics at http://netimpactboston.org/category/events/cleantech-dinners/. The discussions are kicked off by experts, who have included leading faculty, EPA heads, and Fortune 500 sustainability officers. Read more about who’s behind the dinner series:

• Asheen Phansey: http://quakingaspenllc.com/about/who-we-are/
• Rudy Ruggles: http://quakingaspenllc.com/about/partners/

We hope you’ll join us! Space for the dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Asheen at asheen@netimpactboston.org to reserve a seat. Please also note the nominal fee of $5 added to normal dinner costs for nonmembers.

Date: Wednesday, July 22

Time: 6:30-8:30pm

Featuring: Terry Swack, Co-founder and CEO, Sustainable Minds LLC

Cost: Free for Net Impact members, $5 for non-members

Location: Andala Coffee House & Cafe: 286 Franklin St., Central Square, Cambridge (http://www.andalacafe.com)

Product design teams are being asked to assess the impacts of their products and understand how design changes affect the products’ life cycle performance, while uncovering opportunities for innovation. Currently, there is no standardized way to address these requirements. The opportunity is to operationalize environmentally sustainable (‘green’) product design.

Because 75% of manufacturing costs are committed by the end of the concept stage, the decisions about materials, energy, recycleability and longevity have locked in a product’s environmental life cycle performance. It’s too expensive to change the design later. Product concepts are numerous and loosely defined. Time, available data and budgets limit the ability to create detailed models to conduct ‘what-if’ analysis. Now environmental impacts must also be considered. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to assess the ‘green-ness’ of products and identify opportunities for improvement and innovation. However, the cost, time and expertise required for full-scale LCAs exceed the reach of most product teams - and cannot be used for loosely defined or rapidly evolving product concepts. Operationalizing green product design starts with bringing life cycle thinking and a whole product systems approach to the front of the design process. The result is more sustainable, innovative products, lower costs by eliminating re-engineering, and greater competitive advantage!

Terry Swack will lead this month’s discussion, focusing on the path her company has taken to incorporate this knowledge and approach into the design process and look at some of the benefits, and challenges, of creating an on-demand business in this sector.

Ms. Swack is the co-founder and CEO of Sustainable Minds, an organization focused on helping product designers incorporate sustainable design principles into their work from the very beginning of the design process. To do this, the company created web-based software based on the Okala approach to life cycle assessment that acts as a decision support tool for designers. For more information, see their website at http://www.sustainableminds.com/

Space for the dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Rudy at rudy.ruggles(at)comcast.net to reserve a seat. Please also note the nominal fee of $5 added to dinner costs for nonmembers. You can view previous cleantech dinner discussion topics at http://netimpactboston.org/category/events/cleantech-dinners/

Today’s consumer is bombarded by eco-friendly messages, yet many are still unaffected and have grown suspicious because of all the greenwashing that surrounds the green industry. What is the best way to educate consumers on how to separate greenwashing from information, marketing from standards and self-declared certifications from the true certification process?

Stas Antons is a co-founder of Jump To Green, Inc., a software company that facilitates greener choices through interactive technologies. Recently, Jump To Green has launched JumpGauge™ technology, that tracks the greenness of products and services and presents them in easy-to-see visual format. We will discuss all aspects of eco-labeling, and Stas will touch on his company’s unique solution.

Prior to Jump To Green, Mr. Antons worked as a Director of Software Engineering in the financial industry, and has over 15 years in software engineering and management. In the course of his experience, he regularly briefed corporate leaders and executives on initiatives, proposal and project data.

Space for the dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Asheen at asheen@netimpactboston.org to reserve a seat. Please also note the nominal fee of $5 added to dinner costs for nonmembers. You can view previous cleantech dinner discussion topics at http://netimpactboston.org/category/events/cleantech-dinners/.

Emile Chin-Dickey will be leading a discussion around defining a green home. The discussion will cover topics ranging from energy efficiency and green materials, to cost-effectiveness and how an individual’s value set can impact what goes into their home.

ZeroEnergy Design (ZED) is an integrated architecture and energy consulting firm focusing on green modern home design and zero energy homes and buildings. The firm takes a calculated approach towards sustainable and green architecture by incorporating the fields of mechanical design and financial analysis into its design process. You can read more about ZED at http://www.zeroenergy.com.

Space for the dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Asheen at asheen@netimpactboston.org to reserve a seat. Please also note the nominal fee of $5 added to dinner costs for nonmembers.

Farron Levy is president of True Impact (www.true-impact.com), which provides web-based tools and consulting services to help companies measure the triple-bottom-line value of their environmental, health & safety; community involvement; HR; and other corporate-citizenship-related activities. Drawing on this, and his previous experiences in a variety of social and private enterprises, Farron will lead a discussion among dinner attendees on practical approaches to measuring social, financial, and environmental value.

Previously, Farron has served as a partner and the director of cost-benefit-analysis services at SmithOBrien, a social auditing firm; an analyst with Industrial Economics, an environmental and economic consultancy; and has managed urban economic development projects for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Social Venture Network, and CitySkills. You can read his full bio at http://www.true-impact.com/about.html.

Space for the dinner is limited, so please RSVP to Asheen at asheen@netimpactboston.org to reserve a seat. Please note the nominal fee of $5 added to dinner costs for nonmembers.

We have a year full of thought-provoking and fun events lined up for everyone, but it will require engagement on behalf of all members – present and future – to make our collective activities a success. Our primary goal for 2009 is to extend the conversation around corporate social responsibility to more friends, colleagues, and CSR leaders in Boston and to invite them to join the dynamic community that is Net Impact Boston. Our city is truly an epicenter for change from social entrepreneurship to socially responsible investment to alternative energy engineering, and Net Impact is uniquely placed to bring together people, who together can make a difference in how we work and how we live.

Over the course of the next twelve months, your NIB leadership team will create numerous opportunities to connect with other NIB members and the Boston CSR community. We hope that you will take advantage of your membership to attend these, as well as share with us your suggestions for how to improve and to grow our initiatives. Starting on January 7^th, we have an extended leadership team meeting in Cambridge and anyone interested in playing a larger role in shaping this year’s activities is invited to participate. At the end of this month, we also have an important fund raiser for our Net Impact Boston/MBAs Without Borders Light Up Uganda project, which we hope you will attend. In February and beyond, look forward to the highly acclaimed CleanTech dinners, industry-specific panels, consulting projects, community service outings, site visits, Third Thursday happy hours, and the much anticipated second annual speed networking evening. And this is just the beginning!

If you are a new member, welcome. If you are an existing member, it is great to have you on board for another year. If you are a lifetime member, we honor your commitment to the long-term vision of the organization. If you are not yet a member, please consider joining. It is a historical time of change and the more the merrier on this journey.

All the best for a socially and environmentally responsible 2009 from your friends at Net Impact Boston!

Kindest regards,

Holly Fowler

President

How much is cleantech worth? A few months ago, there was talk of a cleantech “bubble” as investment dollars flowed into biofeul, solar, wind, power storage, and energy reduction companies. Al Gore joined venture capital superfirm Kleiner Perkins to boost their “green technology” investment capabilities. Now, with the financial markets in turmoil, investments in every sector are in retreat and nowhere more so than in cleantech. So, where is the true value of cleantech? How are companies going to be capitalized and how are cleantech installations going to be financed? Michael Harrity, an adjunct lecturer in finance at Babson College, is creating a course on how to evaluate and finance cleantech investments and business opportunities. Join us for this month’s Cleantech Dinner Discussion where Michael will outline the ideas behind the course and invite feedback and input to help with its further development. Whether you are interested as an outside investor, someone looking at cleantech options within a company, someone who follows the industry, or as someone working for a cleantech firm who wants to understand how to communicate your company’s value better, you will no doubt have a lot to add to this discussion and get something out of it as well.

Michael Harrity’s CV can be found on Babson’s website here.

If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Rudy Ruggles at rudy(at)netimpactboston.org

Date: Wednesday, September 10th
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Led By: Tom Ward, VP of Marketing and Sales at Stellaris
Location: The Asgard (350 Mass Ave, Cambridge – Near Central Square) http;//www.classicirish.com/asgard_about.html
Cost: Free for Net Impact members, $5 for non-members

This month’s Cleantech Dinner Discussion will feature Tom Ward, VP Marketing and Sales, Stellaris Corporation, an award-winning solar power technology firm. Those who have participated in our previous Cleantech Dinners will realize that being a company in the solar energy business does not automatically qualify it as fully “cleantech” by our definition, since we look not only at the products of a company, but also at its processes and its underlying values. That said, Stellaris is indeed focused on incorporating sustainable business practices into its approach to meeting the need for advanced solar power technology. This will be an excellent opportunity to look at the multiple facets of “cleantech” as they intertwine, and sometimes conflict, within a single company.

More about Stellaris:
Stellaris’ ClearPower™ technology reduces the cost of solar power while greatly improving photovoltaic (PV) module aesthetics. This radically different approach to constructing modules incorporates passive concentrating optics and can utilize virtually any type of photovoltaic (PV) material. Stellaris’ design can be incorporated into flat plate solar modules as well as building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications such as curtain walls and skylights. The technology reduces solar module manufacturing costs by decreasing photovoltaic material requirements, increases electrical output by reducing optical inefficiencies, minimizes maintenance cost by eliminating mechanisms that track the sun, and augments energy production on cloudy days. The company won first prize at the 2006 MIT Enterprise Forum’s Ignite Clean Energy competition, Energy & Power category runner-up honors in the 2006 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovations Awards, and was invited by award-winning architect Michael McDonough to display their ClearPower solar PV design at WIRED Magazine’s NextFest in both 2006 and 2007. Website: http://www.stellaris-corp.com

More about Tom Ward:
Tom Ward is Vice President, Marketing and Sales, Stellaris Corporation. Tom has over 20 years marketing and sales experience developing new markets with an emphasis on emerging technologies for early-stage companies. His marketing experience includes the Gillette Company, and startups Atlantic Cellular and VideoGuide. Additionally, Tom was Director of Marketing at Bread & Circus before the company’s acquisition by Whole Foods Markets. Prior to Stellaris, Tom was VP Marketing & Product Design at startup interactive TV company, VideoGuide/TVGuide On Screen, where he was awarded multiple patents. Tom earned an MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a BA from Middlebury College in economics.

Please RSVP to Rudy Ruggles, rudy.ruggles-at-comcast.net, to reserve a spot.

Date:

This month, Jason Karas will lead a discussion about the motives behind both individual and corporate green actions. We will explore the merits and pitfalls of driving change through top-down vs. grass-roots activities, and Jason will share his observations about what works in corporate America.

Jason’s company, Carbonrally, is a web platform offering individuals and groups a fun, simple and social way to have a measurable impact on climate change. Carbonrally publishes periodic science-based “challenges” which involve personal changes in behavior. The site enumerates the personal CO2 impacts associated with the challenges, and also reports combined scores for teams and the entire community. As of June 2008, Carbonrally’s individual members and 300+ teams have reduced CO2 emissions by over 260 tons, helping it earn a rating as one of Time Magazine’s Top 50 Websites of 2008. Carbonrally is based in Cambridge and is backed by angel investors from some of the leading Internet companies in the business—check it out at http://www.carbonrally.com.

Jason isn’t your typical Internet entrepreneur. He has over a decade of experience in corporate strategy and product development in the telecom and Internet industries; for example, he helped launch 7 new mobile services for European mobile carrier Orange. Jason holds Masters Degrees in Environmental Economics and Business Administration from Duke University.

Space is limited, so please RSVP to Asheen at asheen(at)gmail.com to reserve a seat. Please note the nominal fee of $5 added to dinner costs for nonmembers.