Nov17

Creating A Green Buzz

By Jennifer Warner Cooper

(Photo by STEPHEN DUNN)

ADAM K. NEY is co-founder and president of AuctorVerno, a Bethany-based consulting firm offering services that promote environmentally sound design and construction. He is shown above on the rooftop of 30 Lewis St. in Hartford, a building that will have a “green” roof — a flat roof on which native shrubbery and gardens can be planted.

Q. AuctorVerno is Latin for "green building." How do you define the term, and what types of services does your company offer?

A. A green building is a building that incorporates environmentally sound practices in energy efficiency as well as environmentally sound products that are used in the building's construction. Whether with a new construction project or an existing building that is being rehabbed, builders can use products that are recycled or reused. They might use a low-toxic-emission product like low [volatile organic compound] paint, or wood that has come from sustainable forests. Green buildings might also have state-of-the art energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, or even have distributed energy generation through micro-gas turbines, fuel cells or solar panels.

My company is a consulting firm that acts as a moderator, a facilitator, a green matchmaker. We provide a service called "greenstorming" whereby we engage customers to dip their toe into the water and find out more about green building. We also act as a matchmaker between our customers and green product and service providers. We then create what we call a "green buzz" by giving these projects some notoriety and PR on our website.

Q. There is a relatively new business measurement called the "triple bottom line." What does it mean?

A. The triple bottom line is a mindset, a philosophy, a culture that says that there are three areas that companies should look at and measure: their financial return on investment, their environmental stewardship philosophy and their sense of social responsibility. Many companies today report back to shareholders on all three of these.

Q. Some say that pursuit of the triple bottom line and a greener operation is a passing fad, a type of New Age gimmick. In your experience as a consultant, how seriously are businesses taking this?

A. Having done some research, a lot of the larger corporate entities are taking the triple bottom line very seriously, and my company helps small and mid-size businesses to engage in some of the same practices. For instance, the owners/developers of 30 Lewis St., the old University Club in Hartford, have had a lot of experience in commercial real estate development and had heard about green building.

Through their interactions with us, they decided that going green was the right thing to do, not only for their future tenants, but for the surrounding community. They'll be using eco-friendly paints and interior décor products, as well as a state-of-the-art heating and cooling system. They've decided to go with a green roof for the building. This will be a flat roof on which they can plant native shrubbery and gardens.

The idea is that these plants capture [carbon dioxide] emissions out of the air in addition to providing another layer of insulation to the building. A green roof also provides a nice setting for tenants where employees can have lunch or meetings - very different from a boardroom.

Q. You're still working full time for CBIA, but are determined to get this green consulting business off the ground. Why is that?

A. With CBIA, I've had the opportunity to work on a few projects that were related to green building and green technology, as well as on corporate responsibility projects, transportation projects and workforce development projects, all of which hit on sustainability.

In my free time, I really started to look at some of these things, and saw that there were good stories to be told. I went to CBIA management and let them know of my plans to start this business. They've given me a lot of flexibility, and I use vacation time, nights and weekends on the consulting. It's been very rewarding.

Tom Friedman, both in his column in the New York Times and at the Connecticut Forum in April, said "Green is the new red, white and blue."

There is a new and growing subset of our population that some people refer to as geo-greens or crunchy-cons. These are folks who might be a little conservative in thought, but have a tint of green to their mindset.

We may drive SUVs and play golf, we promote business and creation of jobs, but at the same time we shop at Whole Foods, have shares in organic markets and embrace energy efficiency at home.

I like to think of this group as a future voting block; we're not necessarily hugging trees and singing "Kumbaya," but we are recognizing that we can all be better citizens and stewards of our environment.

Jennifer Warner Cooper is a free-lance writer from Glastonbury.

November, 2006