As the future energy profile develops, businesses could face higher costs and more risk associated with increasing supply uncertainty. As a result of this uncertainty, energy management will become an increasingly important strategic arena. Across industries, businesses will have the opportunity to build competitive advantage through efficient management of energy costs. Those that don’t will fall behind. Certain businesses have already started investing in sustainable energy use as a way to achieve competitive advantage. This panel will focus on those businesses, and on the best practices that are emerging from their efforts.
Central questions to be answered:
- Describe the primary motivation for your investments in energy sustainability
- Did you consider this a strategic/competitive advantage from the beginning?
- What has been the primary benefit you have realized?
- Describe the biggest challenges you have encountered in launching your initiative
- Internal challenges/opposition
- Implementation issues/learning curve
- Are your competitors catching on?
- What’s the future of energy sustainability for your business?
- How have the 2009 trends you discussed in your report played forward?
- Are there specific industries where this is more important/how does this vary by industry?
- What is the low hanging fruit in this space?
- How is lasting advantage built?
Moderator
Andreas Schneider, MBA student and VP of Finance, GW Net Impact
At GW, Andreas is focusing on sustainable urban economic development. He is currently interning with the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, where he assists with real estate development and sustainability initiatives. As NetImpact’s VP of Finance, he takes care of budgeting and reimbursements, helps manage fundraising efforts, and assists with event planning.
Speakers
Peter A. Molinaro, Vice President, Federal and State Government Affairs, The Dow Chemical Company
Peter Molinaro is Vice President of Federal and
State Government Affairs for The Dow Chemical Company based in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for supervision of federal and state government affairs professionals, advocacy management and maintaining relationships with national political and governmental organizations. He leads the company’s advocacy efforts on U.S. energy and climate change policy. Prior to joining Dow, Peter was Assistant Director of Government Affairs for Union Carbide Corporation.
After beginning his career in local government, he joined Union Carbide in 1981 as Manager of Community Affairs and then spent several years as Regional Manager of Public Affairs, responsible for state government relations in the northeast. He has just completed 31 years of service to the combined companies.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, member of The Business-Government Relations Council, executive committee member of the Public Affairs Council and is Past Chairman of the Federal Government Affairs Committee of the American Chemistry Council.
He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Hartford and a Bachelors degree in Political Science from Central Connecticut State University.
A native of Danbury, Connecticut, he is married with two daughters and currently resides in Oakton, Virginia.
Margaret Henry, Director, Sustainability & CSR, Sodexo, Inc.
Margaret Henry is the Director of Sustainability
& CSR for Sodexo. In this role she leads Sodexo’s sustainable supply chain work and measurement of performance on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. She has worked for the past three years to create the strategy, tools and mechanisms for improving sustainability achievements across the organization. She was born and raised in Berea, Kentucky and has lived in agricultural communities in China, Mozambique, Brazil, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Professionally, she has worked with World Wildlife Fund, the Sustainable Food Lab and Sodexo to move sustainability to the mainstream in food procurement and provision globally. She has a BA and BS from Brown University and Master’s Degree from Princeton University. When not working or cooking and eating delicious food, she can be found in her garden or training for the next marathon or triathlon.
Chris Lloyd, Executive Director of Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility, Verizon
Christopher T. Lloyd is Executive Director – 
Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility. He is responsible for developing and implementing Verizon’s corporate responsibility strategy. Verizon’s goal is to deploy the transformational power of its broadband and wireless networks to create long-term value for its shareholders and the communities it serves. Creating business and community value is what we call “Shared Success” and we have three focus areas:
- Shared Solutions: create solutions that help communities improve the quality of education and health care
- Shared Service: enhance how we use our philanthropic assets domestically and internationally to deliver solutions in education, energy and health care to underserved communities
- Shared Sustainability: reduce the environmental impact of our operations and supply chain and use our broadband and wireless services to help the country transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy
Chris began his career in 1983 with New England Telephone. He has held numerous positions in the Accounting, Real Estate Operations, Engineering and Human Resource departments at Verizon’s predecessor companies including New England Telephone, Bellcore, NYNEX and Bell Atlantic. For 13 years he managed environmental and safety issues. In 2004 he joined Verizon’s Public Affairs, Policy and Communications team in Washington, D.C.
Chris earned a B.A. in European History/German from Middlebury College, a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, an MBA from Northeastern University and a Certificate in Environmental Management and Policy from Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Chris and his wife Mary Ellen have 3 children.
Davor D. Kapelina, President & CEO, AtSite
Mr. Kapelina founded AtSite in 1993 and oversees the company’s various solution and industry sector practices – all focused on improving building performance through better energy efficiency and overall sustainability. He has 25 years of experience in various sectors of the buildings industry, and has managed the design, construction, and operations of various types’ buildings for a wide range of clients. He is a leader in energy efficiency and sustainability, through both advocacy and the authoring of high performance sustainable platforms for organizations ranging from local non-profits to large, multi-national corporations. Mr. Kapelina is also very active in the local community, having served on the Building Subcommittee of the Independent Sector, as a Building Commission member of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, on the Ad Hoc Fund Raising Committee for Goodwill Industries International, on the Corporate Gifts Committee of the League for People with Disabilities, and on the Northern Virginia Council for the Children’s National Medical Center. He has lectured on real estate, building operations, energy and sustainability in a number of forums including NAOIP, ULI, ASAE and, his alma mater, the University of Maryland.
Ryan Hodum, Manager for Projects and Business Development at David Gardiner & Associates
Mr. Hodum has over six years of experience in energy efficiency, renewable energy and climate change policy. He is a cleantech adviser to start-ups and corporations alike. At DGA he assists clients with topics ranging from supply chain energy efficiency to employee engagement to clean energy finance strategies. He has a proven ability to apply management and problem solving skills in support of various carbon abatement techniques. He served at the U.S. Department of State, managing an international clean energy partnership to deploy energy efficiency and renewable energy in China and India. Mr. Hodum has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Hispanic Studies from the College of William and Mary, and a Master of Arts in Global Environmental Policy from the School of International Service, American University. He speaks fluent Spanish. He is an Advisory Board Member of Efficiency Exchange, a VA-based clean energy start-up. He is a frequent contributor on clean energy deployment in China to Renewable Energy World and Voice of America.
