This was submitted as my final project for my technical writing course. It is a hypothetically written recommendation report on sustainable energy initiatives for the City of Beech Grove. I am no expert on sustainable energy, but this is intended to present some of my technical writing skills including use of a simple and clear language, page design, as well as photos, figures, and captions.
Dan Leeming of the Planning Partnership provides an overview of sustainable planning principles for the CaGBC's Sustainable Building Advisor Program in Apr 2012
Dan Leeming of the Planning Partnership provides an overview of sustainable planning principles for the CaGBC's Sustainable Building Advisor Program in Apr 2012
LEED for Commercial Interiors
LEED for Commercial Interiors is the green benchmark for the tenant improvement market.
LEED for Commercial Interiors is the recognized system for certifying high-performance green tenant spaces that are healthy, productive places to work; are less costly to operate and maintain; and have a reduced environmental footprint. It gives tenants and designers, who do not always have control over whole building operations, the power to make sustainable choices. Making these choices during tenant improvements and interior renovations can dramatically affect the indoor environment.
This rating system was developed specifically for tenants in commercial and institutional buildings who lease their space or don’t occupy the entire building.
LEED for Commercial Interiors was designed to work hand-in-hand with the LEED for Core & Shell rating system, used by developers to certify the core and shell of a project and prepare the building for environmentally conscious tenants.
Global Alternative Compliance Paths are available for this rating system.
Links:-
LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Rating System
LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Checklist
FACED WITH CLIMATE change and environmental degradation many cities are turning to Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) solutions to enhance climate resilience as well as restore the health of ecosystems.
Presentation on "greening the gray" projects in Onondaga County, NY. Presented at the 2012 NYWEA Conference by Bob Kukenberger, Gray Infrastructure Program Manager, CDM Smith.
Blue and Green Cities The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban...Robert Brears
This book offers new research on urban policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water resources sustainably. The author argues that urban water managers have traditionally relied on grey infrastructural solutions to mitigate risks with numerous economic and environmental consequences. Brears explores the role urban water managers have in implementing blue-green infrastructure to reduce ecological damage and mitigate risk. The case studies in this book illustrate how cities, of differing climates, lifestyles and income-levels, have implemented policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water, wastewater and stormwater sustainably to reduce environmental degradation and enhance resilience to climate change. This new research on urban policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water resources sustainably will be of interest to those working on water conservation and policy.
Water is the elixir of life. All human and economic activities are centered around water.However water is not available in abundance. On the contrary burgeoning demand for water is putting pressure on this resource.Water cooperation is therefore the need of the hour between various stakeholders as a measure to achieve economic growth and eradicate poverty peacefully.The presentation shows the current position, future trends, necessity for water cooperation and some examples of cooperation in India.
IJERA (International journal of Engineering Research and Applications) is International online, ... peer reviewed journal. For more detail or submit your article, please visit www.ijera.com
A presentation by Theodore L. Grabarz, AIA, ASLA Sustainability Director, City of Bridgeport.
Bridgeport Harbor and Riverfront Recapture
Legal and Land Use Training Workshop.
City of Bridgeport Sustainability Program
BGREEN to Be the Future.
Earth Day 2014 — Ideas and innovations toward a better futureAECOM
Around the world, in a wide variety of forms, we see common sense combining with sophisticated innovations to make a real difference in our environments, lives and future. We are proud to contribute a few ideas and innovations of our own.
Rotas tecnológicas para o tratamento dos resíduos sólidos urbanosD-Waste
Esta é uma apresentação de José Henrique Penido Monteiro realizada no seminário da FADE-BNDES que aconteceu no Recife (Brasil) em Maio de 2012. A apresentação é sobre os aspetos sociais, económicos e ambientais do tratamento de resíduos de acordo com as conclusões da COMLURB (Autoridade Municipal para a Gestão de Resíduos do Rio de Janeiro
LEED for Commercial Interiors
LEED for Commercial Interiors is the green benchmark for the tenant improvement market.
LEED for Commercial Interiors is the recognized system for certifying high-performance green tenant spaces that are healthy, productive places to work; are less costly to operate and maintain; and have a reduced environmental footprint. It gives tenants and designers, who do not always have control over whole building operations, the power to make sustainable choices. Making these choices during tenant improvements and interior renovations can dramatically affect the indoor environment.
This rating system was developed specifically for tenants in commercial and institutional buildings who lease their space or don’t occupy the entire building.
LEED for Commercial Interiors was designed to work hand-in-hand with the LEED for Core & Shell rating system, used by developers to certify the core and shell of a project and prepare the building for environmentally conscious tenants.
Global Alternative Compliance Paths are available for this rating system.
Links:-
LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Rating System
LEED 2009 for Commercial Interiors Checklist
FACED WITH CLIMATE change and environmental degradation many cities are turning to Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) solutions to enhance climate resilience as well as restore the health of ecosystems.
Presentation on "greening the gray" projects in Onondaga County, NY. Presented at the 2012 NYWEA Conference by Bob Kukenberger, Gray Infrastructure Program Manager, CDM Smith.
Blue and Green Cities The Role of Blue-Green Infrastructure in Managing Urban...Robert Brears
This book offers new research on urban policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water resources sustainably. The author argues that urban water managers have traditionally relied on grey infrastructural solutions to mitigate risks with numerous economic and environmental consequences. Brears explores the role urban water managers have in implementing blue-green infrastructure to reduce ecological damage and mitigate risk. The case studies in this book illustrate how cities, of differing climates, lifestyles and income-levels, have implemented policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water, wastewater and stormwater sustainably to reduce environmental degradation and enhance resilience to climate change. This new research on urban policy innovations that promote the application of blue-green infrastructure in managing water resources sustainably will be of interest to those working on water conservation and policy.
Water is the elixir of life. All human and economic activities are centered around water.However water is not available in abundance. On the contrary burgeoning demand for water is putting pressure on this resource.Water cooperation is therefore the need of the hour between various stakeholders as a measure to achieve economic growth and eradicate poverty peacefully.The presentation shows the current position, future trends, necessity for water cooperation and some examples of cooperation in India.
IJERA (International journal of Engineering Research and Applications) is International online, ... peer reviewed journal. For more detail or submit your article, please visit www.ijera.com
A presentation by Theodore L. Grabarz, AIA, ASLA Sustainability Director, City of Bridgeport.
Bridgeport Harbor and Riverfront Recapture
Legal and Land Use Training Workshop.
City of Bridgeport Sustainability Program
BGREEN to Be the Future.
Earth Day 2014 — Ideas and innovations toward a better futureAECOM
Around the world, in a wide variety of forms, we see common sense combining with sophisticated innovations to make a real difference in our environments, lives and future. We are proud to contribute a few ideas and innovations of our own.
Rotas tecnológicas para o tratamento dos resíduos sólidos urbanosD-Waste
Esta é uma apresentação de José Henrique Penido Monteiro realizada no seminário da FADE-BNDES que aconteceu no Recife (Brasil) em Maio de 2012. A apresentação é sobre os aspetos sociais, económicos e ambientais do tratamento de resíduos de acordo com as conclusões da COMLURB (Autoridade Municipal para a Gestão de Resíduos do Rio de Janeiro
Is Renewable Energy Really Sustainable?CSR-in-Action
One of the major trends in our present world is the global rush to renewable energy captured from natural processes. While the world moves to generate clean energy systems that do not contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change, non-inclusion of social consciousness and several other impacts on the ecosystem are unveiling the grey areas of these renewables.
Generally, any intention to satisfy a given dimension of sustainability at the cost of others, for example conserving the environment without considering the health hazard or economic hardship to the people, becomes an unsustainable practice.
Therefore, is renewable energy really sustainable? Find out in the set of following slides.
When you hear the word, retrofitting, many images come to mind. One in particular is the idea of rummaging around your parent’s closet in search of 70s or 80s disco duds and then trying them on... Instead, this is my working definition, if you will.
“Integrated Solutions in Sustainable Green Energy and Transportation”Green Parking Council
Mark Gander, GPC Board member and AECOM Director, was among a group of leading scientists, researchers, innovators, officials, and corporate leaders to present recently at the World Green Energy Symposium (WGES) at the City University of New York (CUNY) in New York City.
His “Integrated Solutions in Sustainable Green Energy and Transportation” presentation focused on clean renewable energy; transportation; electric car vehicles; green parking; and place-based strategies such as an eco-district or transit-oriented development that are comprehensive ways to optimize land use efficiency, energy and water and to create jobs.
3
Environmental Impact:
The Big Picture
The planet’s population is now approaching 7 billion—an increase ofabout 5 billion people in just the past five decades—and the total pop-ulation is likely to increase by another 1 billion people in the next
decade. Analysts now expect that the ranks of the middle class (people who
may want your products!) will swell by as many as 1.8 billion in the next 12
years.1
You’ve probably seen similar projections, and even though you know
intellectually that an extra couple of billion people represents a sustainabil-
ity challenge, it can be hard to relate those huge numbers to your job. So, to
make the scale more real, let’s work through what it would mean to give the
next 1 billion middle-class citizens of the world a single 60-watt incandes-
cent light bulb.
Each bulb weighs about 0.7 ounce, including the packaging, so a billion of
them weigh around 20,000 metric tons, or about the same as 15,000 Toyota
Prius cars. As an engineer, you know that multiplying anything by 109 makes
a big number, but even from this simple case you start to get a feel for how
dramatic the scale is in real-world terms.
Next, let’s turn on those light bulbs. If they’re all on at the same time, they
would consume 60,000 megawatts of electricity—and that would require 120
new 500-megawatt power plants to keep them burning. Luckily, our imagi-
nary middle-class consumers will use their light bulbs only four hours per
day, so we’re down to 10,000 megawatts at any given moment. However, that
means we’ll still need 20 new 500-megawatt power plants. If coal-fired, each
of those plants burns 1.43 million tons of coal per year.2
That doesn’t sound like a good idea from an eco perspective, so let’s try
solar power for our light bulbs. If we use current commercially available solar
31
technology, we’ll need roughly 50 square kilometers of solar panels, or more
than one-third the land area of either San Francisco or Boston. Hmmm. So,
let’s try wind power instead… We’ll still need one-tenth of all the wind power
produced in the world in 2007, just to keep those new light bulbs on for a few
hours a day.
This is the scale we’re dealing with when we’re talking about a billion con-
sumers of any product or service. Thousands or millions of tons of material.
Thousands or millions of megawatts. And it keeps going. Think about the raw
materials consumed to make those light bulbs, the energy consumed by com-
muting factory workers, the packaging materials, the ships and trucks used
for distribution, and ultimately, the waste that is involved when we have a
billion light bulbs. And if we’re having trouble delivering a single light bulb
to a billion people sustainably, what happens when these billion people want
stoves, refrigerators, TVs, computers, cell phones, radios, and cars? What hap-
pens when they want street lights, low-cost air travel, hotels, and restaurants?
You get the idea.
As engineers, we are already challenged by the environmen.
This was a presentation at the CCTA (Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association) meeting of 3/18/14, in New Bern, NC. A major concern is that Craven County currently has a very weak wind law. The talk was about why they should upgrade it to what neighboring Carteret County has done.
Community Microgrids: Savings and resilience for local governments (1/25/18)Clean Coalition
The Clean Coalition was a partner organization for the The Promise of Microgrids conference, which took place on January 25, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. Frank Wasko, Program Director for the Clean Coalition, participated on a panel discussing local government microgrids.
Citizen Engineers in ActionWe package engineers as pr.docxmonicafrancis71118
Citizen Engineers in Action
“We package engineers as problem solvers rather than creators and innovators
who address the grand challenges of our time—environmental contamination,
world hunger, energy dependence, and the spread of disease . . .
How did we let this happen?”
—Jacquelyn F. Sullivan,1 co-director of the Integrated Teaching and Learning
Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder
Around the world, Citizen Engineers are making a real difference inimproving the quality of life. Some are working in the companies youpass by every day, making a difference in the products that we use in
our daily routines. Others are applying their passion and expertise to solving
fundamental problems that people face. As a conclusion to this book we
thought we’d highlight a few inspiring examples of the kinds of things real-
world Citizen Engineers are working on today.
Engineers Without Borders (EWB), a nonprofit humanitarian organization,
is partnering with developing communities worldwide in order to improve
their quality of life. This partnership focuses on the implementation of sus-
tainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally
responsible engineers and engineering students. Here are just a few of their
recent projects.
• In Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh, the student-teacher duo of Niruttam
Kumar Singh and Harvansh Yadav have made a cow dung battery
that lights up electric bulbs, charges mobile phones, and brings alive
radios.2
• Undergraduate engineering students are currently building a bridge
across a gorge in a small town in Nicaragua. The students have sur-
veyed the entire project site and are now in the process of designing a
bridge to span the gorge and allow for pedestrian travel during the
rainy season.3
• Thousands of residents of rural villages in India are receiving quality
eye care thanks to a collaborative effort between an Indian hospital
215
17
network and the researchers at the University of California, Berkeley,
and at Intel Corporation who have developed a new technology for
low-cost rural connectivity.4
• Engineers at PlayPumps International designed the PlayPump5 water
system, which provides easy access to clean drinking water, brings joy
to children, and leads to improvements in health, education, gender
equality, and economic development. Installed near schools, the
PlayPump system doubles as a water pump and a merry-go-round. It
also provides a way to reach rural and peri-urban communities with
potentially life-saving public health messages.
In Panama, students and researchers are using small wireless sensors to
help answer big environmental questions. Warren Wilson College and CREA,
a nonprofit organization in Panama, are implementing a geographic informa-
tion system (GIS) and wireless sensor network on the 1,000-acre Cocobolo
Nature Reserve in Panama. Tiny Sun SPOT sensors6 will provide an inexpen-
sive, easy-to-program platform for monitoring all kinds of things: the impac.
Citizen Engineers in ActionWe package engineers as pr.docx
Technical Writing Final Project
1. A Sustainable Beech Grove
TO: Beech Grove City Council Members
FROM: Katrina Korn, ENGL 421 Student
DATE: December 13, 2011
SUBJECT: A More Sustainable Beech Grove:
Recommendation Report
A Sustainable
Beech Grove
1
2. A Sustainable Beech Grove
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and motivation…………………………………………………….3
Turning methane gas into power…………………………………………….4
Proposal………………………………………………………………………..4
Plan……………………………………………………………………………...4
Solar panel initiative……………………………………………………………….6
Proposal ……………………………………………………………………...6
Plan……………………………………………………………………………...6
Wind turbine farm initiative…………………………………………………...8
Proposal……………………………………………………………………….8
Plan……………………………………………………………………………...9
Concluding remarks………………………………………………………………..10
References……………………………………………………………………………..11
2
3. A Sustainable Beech Grove
Background and Motivation
Currently, Beech Grove lacks any sort of sustainable energy initiatives. Before
three specific proposals and plans to implement them are addressed, background
information is needed to drive home the increasing importance of using sustaina-
ble energy. Several companies, organizations, and communities across the coun-
try are expressing – and acting on – the important issue of sustainable energy for
a more sustainable future. Indianapolis Power and Light, Habitat for Humanity,
EDP Renewables, enXco are just a few examples. Beech Grove will benefit from
collaborating and being inspired by these entities to make the transition to a city
that is aware of and promotes the necessity of alternative energy sources recog-
nizing that one day these may be our only options for power.
It is often easy to be apathetic about using alternative energy because we are not
likely to see the rewards from it or the consequences of not using it in our life-
time. Not only will these efforts reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the environ-
ment and make the future a better place for future generations, it will grant
Beech Grove the recognition it deserves as a city planning for a better future from
residents to other cities alike. The following three initiatives will be presented in
the following format:
Proposal (What) – reasoning behind the initiative
Plan (How) – resources (human, technology) needed and actions to be taken to accomplish the proposed
initiative.
Bringing these ideas to fruition and making them a reality will take hard-work, fo-
cus, time, and a desire to instill their importance in others. Interacting with com-
munity leaders, community members, and making them feel involved in the for-
ward effort will be key to the success of these recommendations. The remainder
of this report presents three key initiatives for the city.
3
4. A Sustainable Beech Grove
Turning Methane Gas into Power
*It should be noted this initiative is different from that listed in the proposal
memorandum.
Proposal
Methane gas is a product of deteriorating organic waste in landfills and sewers.
Since Beech Grove has both of these types of facilities within its borders, con-
verting this harmful gas to useful power is an obvious choice. Hancock County in
Indiana and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have evidence that con-
verting methane to useful power works. This is one potential power source that
can be tapped while reducing environmental insult from methane emissions
(Weilbaker). According to the EPA, landfills are the third largest source of me-
thane emissions with the greatest opportunity loss (LMOP). A search of reports
reviewing this type of initiative was conducted over the last several weeks and I
have discovered a multitude of reasons methane is an excellent source for sus-
tainable energy. To begin, methane is being continuously produced as long as sol-
id waste exists. Chances are this will be for an extremely long time. It is pro-
duced naturally by decaying organic waste. Landfills and sewers are both obvious
sources of methane-producing organic waste. Beech Grove has a sewer system
and a small landfill that are perfect sites for harness energy produced by the
burning of this chemical. Not only are emissions from methane burning cleaner
than petroleum, the process will also reduce harmful methane in the atmos-
phere. This effort calls for expertise beyond our current resources, and collabora-
tion with an energy or engineering company can potentially help with this ven-
ture. The added cost of hiring a company to install and maintain technology will
surely be unremarkable compared to the positive impact on the atmosphere. For
instance, Hancock County hired Granger Electric Company to fund their project
from which revenue is split between granger and the county itself (Hancock
County Solid Waste Management District).
Plan
As with any practical new initiative, there is a need for resources, capital, land,
time, technology, and human resources. The EPA should be contacted first and
foremost. The EPA is the source of information about using methane from land-
fills and is a potential source of funds (Weilbaker). The largest source of funds
and information comes from the Landfill Methane Outreach program, or LMOP
(LMOP). In some instances, the EPA also provides operational support in setting
up the technology.
4
5. A Sustainable Beech Grove
Technological requirements include but are not limited to vertical or horizontal
wells through which methane is collected by a vacuum mechanism (LMOP).
Please refer to the figures below detailing these two types of systems. Both
types are not necessary and the types needed will be determined by the techno-
logical experts. These photos were taken from the EPA’s LMOP page (LMOP).
Figure 2—A horizontal collecting well (LMOP)
Figure 1—A vertical collecting well (LMOP)
The collection system will cost a total of $24,000/acre with a maintenance cost
of $2,250 (LMOP). If the cost of the system is split between our city and a con-
tracting company such as Granger Electric and the EPA, this initiative could be
quite feasible. The entire effort will require oversight by the city board of sanita-
tion in addition to any hired expertise.
5
6. A Sustainable Beech Grove
1.) Solar Panels
Proposal
One year ago, I had the honor of organizing and participating in an alternative
Spring Break program through Habitat for Humanity called Collegiate Challenge.
Without going into great detail, the Habitat for Humanity campus chapter of Pur-
due University organizes and sends around 50 students to different Habitat for
Humanity affiliates across the country to serve families in need of decent, afford-
able housing. Last year, I participated in one of these trips to Port Huron, Michi-
gan. One of the ways we served that community was by going conducting infor-
mal door-to-door surveys about how residents view Habitat for Humanity’s mis-
sion and role in their community. Michigan has been one of the hardest hit states
in terms of the recent and ongoing economic downturn, and some residents had
critical views of Habitat for Humanity’s “Greenhouse” prototype. This house was
completely powered by sustainable energy modalities including solar panels.
Personally, hearing their concerns about capital resources gave me perspective
on the limits of these types of endeavors. In other words, I have a better idea
about the type of investments this may require from the city. Financial concerns
for business and residents will be the largest obstacle to overcome for the suc-
cess of this endeavor. No extra land is necessary for this type of sustainable ener-
gy, only willing residents, businesses, and a company to provide and install the
panels.
Plan
Because the installation of solar panels involves serious capital investment that
may be beyond the means of several homeowners in this town, a door-to-door
survey needs to be conducted by city representatives or volunteers to assess the
interest of the general public. Marketing and promotion is just as important as
the technology. This survey can be conducted over several weeks (5-7) at differ-
ent levels to ensure those who are willing to install solar panels are truly com-
mitted. Beech Grove will need to form a task force or a committee of volunteers
(likely current board members or city workers) to move the effort forward and as-
sist homeowners in the purchase and installation of these solar panels. In addi-
tion, a city wide mandate could be made requiring businesses to use solar panels
to power at least 25% of their energy needs. Depending on the financial status of
the company, the city should budget a portion of funds to assist businesses until
this effort is established. Again, each company is different and therefore those
with smaller incomes will be given a longer amount of time to implement this
new requirement (up to three years for companies with the smallest incomes).
6
7. A Sustainable Beech Grove
A local company that sells solar panels needs to be contacted and consulted for
their opinion on the best type of solar panels for businesses and/or residents so
that they may ship and install the panels. Evergreen Solar is one such company.
Another option for funding and publicity is to contact Habitat for Humanity of
Indianapolis and propose they build a “greenhouse” similar to the one in Michi-
gan mentioned above in this section. They would also be able to provide in-
sight into the best companies from which to purchase the solar panels. Compa-
nies such as the Western Indiana Sustainable Energy Resource or WISER
(Bergstrom) Indiana are also great resources because they exist to implement
and promote sustainable energy in Indiana. The figure below outlines how a
solar panel functions (Wyse).
Figure 3—Energy production by a solar panel
7
8. A Sustainable Beech Grove
2.) Small Wind Farm
Proposal
Indiana has recently seen some changes across its landscape, including the addi-
tion of several solar panels by many different companies. The companies are too
many to name, but a large concentration of these wind farms exist in Benton
County in Indiana. Specifically, I have done extensive research on the joint effort
between Indiana Power and Light (IPL) and enXco, a renewable energy company
that uses wind power, solar, and biomass energy (enXco). Collectively, they creat-
ed the Hoosier Wind Farm in Fowler Indiana that became functional in 2009
(enXco). Refer to the photo below. I chose to include a background of this pro-
ject for this report since the wind farm developed here will need to be similarly
small due to the restricted amount of land available at the broken down Amtrak
railroad yard. The railroad yard is a perfect site since trains have not run out of
the facility for years and has largely become a “railroad graveyard” for broken
down cars.
Figure 4 – Wind turbine in Fowler, Indiana
8
9. A Sustainable Beech Grove
Plan
Our model for development of this wind farm will require land surveying, analy-
sis, construction, and a means to push this energy into the power grid to power
our city. The Amtrak facility will provide approximately 108 acres of land for
wind farm development (Guenzler). We will use enXco and IPL’s Hoosier Wind
Farm as a model for our own project. Each of our 53 wind turbines can generate
over 2500 kilowatts of power at any given time (Layton). Here is the develop-
ment model from enXco: Note: These stages were taken directly from the web-
site (Project Development).
enXco's experienced team of personnel can perform all phases of project development - taking a wind energy pro-
ject from a "good idea" to a fully functioning facility.
enXco engages in a rigorous process to identify and evaluate the potential of prospec-
tive sites; taking into account transmission, interconnection, permitting, and environmental concerns. We continue
to actively search out viable and profitable energy sites throughout North America.
Once a site is identified, enXco's dedicated and experienced Development
Team begins a thorough site-evaluation protocol. Our Resource Assessment Group performs quality control tests
of meteorological data, analyzes the resource of the site, and completes a preliminary design of the equipment
layout. Preliminary assessments of energy potential are carried out internally. At the same time, land is acquired,
and environmental and technical studies are performed.
enXco's Project Finance Group provides an indispensable element to our renewa-
ble energy portfolio by structuring and securing project construction and long-term financing, closing over one bil-
lion dollars in financing by utilizing innovative approaches. During this phase, Power Marketing is completed either
through a Power Purchase Agreement with a utility, or the sale of the project in its entirety through a turnkey con-
tract.
enXco's Technical Services Team is involved in the design and construction of
each renewable energy project. Because every project is unique, the Technical Services Team utilizes its exten-
sive experience to optimize everything from equipment selection to site layout. Strict management of engineering,
procurement, and construction ensures projects are completed on time and on budget.
9
10. A Sustainable Beech Grove
The final result of the efforts of the Project Development and Construction teams is an asset (the energy project) capable of
producing a revenue stream for periods of 20 to 30 years. The Owners of the asset rely on those revenues to provide the re-
turn on their investment, and enXco Asset Management assures that the financial goals of the project are met.
Asset Management services include the financial management, business reporting, and forecasting of a project's perfor-
mance. Additional services are focused on record management to stay current with federal, state, and local requirements and
ensure ongoing compliance.
A company such as enXco would be great to work with because they have experi-
ence with building and maintaining small wind farms.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the proposals and plans presented within this report are to be con-
ducted under the authority of the city. This is an effort that will have effects
reaching far beyond our current city council members and residents. All of these
proposals will provide sustainability for the future of Beech Grove by providing
not only reliable sources of energy but reliable sources of jobs for future inhabit-
ants of the city. This project has been an eye-opening experience for me not only
in terms of learning about sustainable energy, but challenges associated with
communicating with various companies on a tight deadline. Strict testing and
quality assurance measures must be undertaken according to a protocol that was
likely developed even before the physical site development began, adding anoth-
er complicating factor. This will be an ongoing effort for decades and centuries to
come. From what I have learned, sustainable energy is a field with challenges be-
yond finding what forms of energy to use, but rather challenges of going from a
concept to real, tangible product such as a wind turbine.
10
11. A Sustainable Beech Grove
Works Cited
1. Allison Weilbaker. “Landfill Methane to Power.” Technical Writing Online.
Purdue University 2011. Web. 10 December 2011.
2. Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) | US EPA . (2011, October 25). US
Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from <http://
epa.gov/lmop/>
3. Hancock County Solid Waste Management District. (n.d.). Hancock County Sol-
id Waste Management District. Retrieved December 10, 2011, from<http://
www.hancockenvironment.com/landfill.htm
4. Bergstrom, Bethany. “Technical Background Report: Research Report.” Tech-
nical Writing Online. Purdue University 2011. Web. 11 December 2011.
5. Wyse Solar Solutions. 2011. Web. Accessed 11 December, 2011. < http://
www.wysesolarsolutions.ie/>
6. enXco. 18, November 2010. Web. 2011.< http://www.enXco.com>
7. Chris Guenzler. “Amtrak Beech Grove Shop Tour.” 13, April, 2007. Web. 2011.
<http://www.trainweb.org/chris/beech.html>
8. Julia Layton. “How Wind Power Works.” HowStuffWorks, 18 November 2011.
Web. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-
power4.htm>
9. “Project Development” enXco. 18, November 2010. Web. 2011. <http://
www.enXco.com>
11