USGBC Louisiana Advocacy Committee

Meeting Minutes
6/12/08
Attendees
Charlie Chartier, Chartier & cchartier@speccai.com 985-626-
Chair Associates 7800
Grasshopper Latter & Blum info@commercial504.com 504-638-
Mendoza 0839
Paul Richard Latter & Blum prichard@latterblum.com 504-757-
5759
Cesar Rodriguez Make It Right crodriguez@makeitrightnol 504-620-
a.org 3217
Steve Picou LSU Ag Center spicou@agcenter.lsu.edu 504-838-
1170
Tony Laska Conservation tony.laska@csgrp.com 504-
Services Group 579.3633
Linda Stone, Co- Global Green lstone@globalgreen.org 504-525-
Chair 2121 x186
Thomas Rush GNO, Inc. thomasgr02@hotmail.com 651-343-
4168
Anisa Baldwin USGBC abaldwinmetzger@usgbc.o 202-701-
Metzger rg 0681
Rachel Weber FutureProof rachel@futureproofnola.co 504-342-
m 4925
Petra Marar FutureProof petra@futureproofnola.co 518-461-
m 3938
Kate Barkmann Wink Design Group jkbarkmann@winkinc.com 225-907-
3752
Deborah Langhoff Council President djlanghoff@cityofno.com 504-658-
1065
Corey Schoff Schoff Design cs@schoffdesign.com 985-626-
7800
Chad Odom LA Thinks 504-451-
7457
Troy Von Otnott South Coast Solar troy@southcoastsolar.com 504-940-
8250

The meeting began at 11:30am and consisted of open discussion, with some of the
major concerns, updates and announcements as follows:

• Minutes from May 8 Advocacy Committee were reviewed and accepted.

• Charlie Chartier gave a LEED training at the library in St. Tammany and received a
letter stating that they are going to build their new library to LEED standards

• Charlie also noted that the Louisiana USGBC chapter received a $30K matching
grant from USGBC’s main office so that they can hire an executive director.
Sponsorships are needed to match the grant.

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• Grasshopper Mendoza is pleased with the progress of the Horizon Infrastructure
and Water Management working group…Grasshopper I didn’t take good notes here
—pls remind me if there are some highlights I need to include. The next meeting
will be Tuesday, July 7, 11:30am at City Park Botanical Gardens.

• Thomas Rush announced that GNO Inc. is working with a green building material
company that is considering moving to New Orleans. They currently manufacture
Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) for residential and commercial use and are
considering expanding to geothermal systems. Chad Odom mentioned that they
should be apprised of Eco-Park.

• Thomas noted that Michael Hecht, President and CEO of GNO Inc. is becoming more
interested in sustainability because there are substantially more green business
opportunities than even a few months ago. Someone ? also mentioned that a
national council for sustainable business is considering coming to New Orleans.

• Tony Laska gave an overview of the Louisiana State Energy Plan (SEP), which
breaks down how the state will spend its $71M allotment of federal energy
efficiency stimulus (ARRA) funds.

• Troy Von Otnott said that South Coast Solar is working with Johnson Controls to bid
on a performance contract for state buildings.

• Charlie asked the group to think about ways to allocate the green building related
funds in the SEP. Anisa Baldwin Metzger mentioned that the Louisiana USGBC
chapter can write letters of support for grant applications for ARRA funds.

• Troy Von Otnott then provided a brief description of three renewable energy bills
that have a good chance of being passed this session:
o SB91—Creation of commercial energy tax credit; may be capitalized with SEP
ARRA funds; amendment has been added to help fossil fuel burning plants
burn cleaner by incorporating biomass
o SB92—Fixes current renewable energy tax credit: allows for transferability
and stacking of credits.
o SB224—Authorizes municipalities to establish sustainable renewable energy
financing districts, which will provide financing bonds for renewable energy
on any tope of building. Troy is going to bring the statewide administer of
this type of program from California and do an event for public officials on
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 how to set up the financing districts. It usually takes 6-9 months to get the
bonds issued.

• Troy also noted that the U.S. Secretary of Labor is coming to New Orleans in 10-12
days to talk about green jobs training.

• Finally, Troy mentioned that there is a video up on South Coast Solar’s website
showing their installation of solar panels on two of Global Green’s houses in the
Lower 9th Ward.

• There was a brief discussion on advocacy where it was clarified by Charlie and
Anisa that the group is a USGBC committee and therefore must subscribe to the
mission of the USGBC, which is “To transform the way buildings and communities
are designed, built and operated, enabling an environmentally and socially
responsible, healthy, and prosperous environment that improves the quality of life.”

• Before everyone left Chad Odom passed out a summary of The ReGen Group’s
Sustainable New Orleans Plan, which is a proposal for stimulus funding including a
lot of green job training.

• Tony passed out a letter to Representatives Waxman & Markey dated May 1 asking
for a robust allocation of allowances to energy efficiency to be included in the
American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). It is signed by about 150
nonprofits and energy related businesses.

• The next Advocacy Committee meeting was set for Friday, July 10 at 11:30am.