Posts Tagged ‘Kirkwood Community College’

By Dave DeWitte
The Gazette

Photovoltaic cells collect solar energy at the Indian Creek Nature Center in southeast Cedar Rapids. The current system was installed in July 2003. The nature center collects solar energy using photovoltaic cells on the roof, which is converted to usable electricity to power fans, computers, lights and freezers. The center sells some of its electricity back to Alliant Energy. Photo by Jim Slosiarek.

Reporting a company’s carbon footprint, Eric Woodroof says, is a lot like reporting your company’s taxes.

“How many of you enjoy reporting your taxes?” asked Woodroof, chairman of the carbon reduction manager program at the Association of Energy Engineers.

Nobody at Alliant Energy’s 2009 Energy Summit raised a hand at the Kirkwood Community College Continuing Education Center.

Enjoyable? Definitely not. But a growing number of companies are calculating and reporting their carbon footprint in a trend linked to concern over climate change. There are several reasons to be first in your industry to report the data, Woodroof said.

“Marketing is the biggest one,” said Woodroof, who is based in Atlanta. “Companies want to be first to use it in their marketing. If you’re first, you will always be able to say you were first.”

Carbon trading opportunities are another reason. In some industries, such as cement manufacturing, early reporters may qualify for “early action credits” that have significant economic value.

Alliant Energy strategic account manager Laurie Appleget (left) and Scott Reid, Harper Brush vice president of manufacturing, tour an energy-efficient lighting retrofit at Harper Brush in Fairfield in 2007. The project reduced energy consumption by 20 percent while yielding 20 percent more light. Photo courtesy of Alliant Energy.

Customers are demanding that suppliers become carbon-conscious, Woodroof said. “Wal-Mart is asking all of their Chinese suppliers to begin doing it,” said Woodroof, who has been to Taiwan and mainland China five times in less than a year.

To calculate its carbon footprint, Woodroof said a company must complete two of the three potential inventories of its greenhouse gas emissions.

SCOPE I consists of direct emissions from assets that a company owns or operates, such as its manufacturing plants, office buildings, trucks, cars and forklifts.

SCOPE II consists of indirect emissions from purchases of electricity, steam, heating and cooling.

The SCOPE III category, which is not essential, consists of all other indirect emissions from upstream and downstream sources. It could include such things as the carbon emissions generated by the companies that dispose of your company’s solid waste, and the carbon emissions of the companies that deliver the raw materials your company turns into its products.

A good place to find a protocol for carbon modeling is on the Web site of the California Climate Action Registry, www.climateregistry.org/

“It’s a great teaching tool and gives a lot of examples,” Woodroof said.

One of the most important concepts is the Global Warming Potential Factor. It works like a multiplier to calculate the climate change potential of different kinds of greenhouse gases. A pound of carbon dioxide, by far the most common greenhouse gas, has a Global Warming Potential Factor of one. The global warming potency of other gases differ tremendously. A pound of methane has a factor of 21, while a pound of the refrigerant HFC-23 has a factor of a whopping 11,700.

By comparing the Global Warming Potential Factors of various greenhouse gases, Woodroof says it’s easy to see that a company might be able to make a greater dent in the greenhouse gas problem by tacking one relatively small refrigerant leak, for instance, than switching an entire building to high-efficiency light fixtures.

Conversion tables also can be used to calculate the carbon impact of the electricity a company uses. The amount of carbon emitted in generating electricity varies in different regions by the kind of fuel and equipment used to generate power. In California, the carbon impact of generating a megawatt hour of electricity is 878.71 pounds. The impact is almost twice that amount in Iowa because most of the electricity is generated here from coal-burning power plants.

Woodroof says numbers such as megawatt hours and carbon pounds mean very little to the public or even most corporate executives. To make a persuasive case that greenhouse gas reduction projects be undertaken, he recommends translating them into functional equivalents.

He personally has sold projects by putting benefits in terms like “taking 240 cars off the road for a year,” or “the equivalent of planting 940 acres of trees.”

“Put what it’s worth in terms they can visualize,” he said.

Woodroof said the “240 cars off the road” comparison went over like a lead balloon with one company, which happened to be in the oil business. The 940 acres of trees comparison went over much better.

Alliant Energy gave 16 Excellent in Energy Efficiency awards at the summit to schools, businesses and other organizations.

“Climate change is at the forefront of everyone’s minds right now, and energy efficiency is one of the best ways to preserve the environment,” Senior Vice President of Energy Delivery Dundeana Doyle said.

Actions taken by the 16 organizations save enough energy consumption to reduce carbon emissions by 35,000 tons per year, Doyle said.

Recipients included Kirkwood Community College, General Mills, Nordstrom Direct and Rockwell Collins.

By Dave DeWitte
The Gazette

Joy Nicholson, 56, of Cedar Rapids, employed 18 years at the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce, didn’t expect to spend the first four months of 2009 looking for a new job.

Joy Nicholson spent 18 years with the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce until she was let go in January. Photo by Jim Slosiarek.

Nicholson, executive assistant for public affairs, saw her fortunes change in seconds when she was called into a meeting one Friday in mid-January. The chamber was cutting costs, and Nicholson’s position had to go.

Nicholson had finished her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Coe College one course at a time during her years at the chamber and received a behind-the-scenes education in legislative issues affecting business by assisting the chamber’s lobbyist.

Despite her strong administrative background, Nicholson said jobs are so scarce that she’s considered switching fields.

“Your job is so tied up with your identity that it makes it tough,” said Nicholson, who began her job search in business administration.

Nicholson bought a new laptop and printer to use in her job search on the day after she was laid off. She’s taken an advanced workplace computer certification class and ACT’s WorkKeys assessment, a hiring tool used increasingly by Corridor employers, through Kirkwood Community College.

After five months of applying for at least two targeted jobs per week, Nicholson has gotten only three interviews.

On April 28, Nicholson was hired on a temporary basis as administrative assistant for the construction coordinator of the Community Resource Coalition in Cedar Rapids under the Emergency Public Jobs program. She sees the job as a chance to help the community rebuild from last summer’s flood and expects to find permanent employment before it runs out.

© Gazette Communications 2009

By Dave DeWitte
The Gazette

In 11 years at McLeodUSA (now Paetec), Ed Saunders, 49, of Coralville, survived numerous reorganizations and downsizings. So the senior network implementation analyst wasn’t entirely prepared when he was notified that his job was ending Dec. 9.

Ed Saunders survived numerous reorganizations and downsizings at McLeodUSA (now Paetec) until his job was cut late last year. Photo by Jim Slosiarek.

“I was the only person doing my job,” Saunders said. “I really didn’t think they could let me go.”

Even with a versatile information technology background through employment at IBM, McLeodUSA and the Iowa Communications Network, Saunders isn’t banking on landing another job in telecommunications. He has branched out and applied for positions at the University of Iowa and the Transportation Services Administration.

“Troubleshooting problems gives me a sense of satisfaction,” Saunders said.

With a wife who is employed and a severance package that lasted through April, Saunders is a little more comfortable than some.

Taking his 11-year-old twins to activities, working out and playing basketball with friends regularly give Saunders’ life a sense of normalcy that some unemployed Iowans lack. He is taking a medical terminology class at Kirkwood Community College that will make him eligible for more UI positions and is considering going back to college.

Saunders doesn’t feel the same sense of resentment some recently laid-off workers are feeling.

“Generally, when you are laid off, you’ve done something wrong,” he said. “Nowadays, it doesn’t really matter. There’s not as much of a stigma attached to it anymore.”

© Gazette Communications 2009

Caleb Byersdorfer of Iowa City walks Mia and Zephyr through Hickory Hill Park in Iowa City. Byersdorfer started his dog walking business called the Mobile Pack /Brian Ray, The Gazette

By Alyssa Cashman
The Gazette

IOWA CITY — Mia is having a coughing fit, and Zephyr can barely contain his excitement.

But with a gentle tap to his hind leg, Zephyr calms down, and with a reassuring rub behind the ears, Mia stops coughing.

There’s no denying it, Caleb Byersdorfer has a way with his furry clients.

Byersdorfer is a dog walker. He just started a dog-walking business, The Mobile Pack, in August, and said it is his dream job.

“It’s all about how you interact with the dogs,” Byersdorfer said. “I put off a very a calm energy.”

And energy is what The Mobile Pack is all about.

Keeping the dogs calm and controlled is the key to good dog walking, Byersdorfer said.

But strapping a leash on the pups and walking for 45 minutes is only the beginning of what he does.

Connecting and getting to know each dog is a vital component of his business.

“I’m a naturalist and I believe in positive reinforcement,” Byersdorfer said.

Whenever he gets a new client, he takes the dog out individually before grouping the canine with others for walks. He uses different training techniques for different dogs but eventually tries to group them together for socializing.

Any dog can be trained to be submissive and calm, he said.

Zephyr is Byersdorfer’s American pit bull terrier. Although he’s excited today, with someone other than his owner around, it’s far easier to focus the pup after a walk, Byersdorfer said.

“Exercise is the most important thing” he said. Without regular walking, all that pent-up energy can result in hyperactivity and general naughtiness.

On the walks, which usually last about 45 minutes, Byersdorfer keeps the dogs on a short leash but also tries to keep the leash loose. He is controlling the pace, not the dogs.

Some days, he straps on his Rollerblades to take the dogs for a spin.

After the walk, he’ll let the dogs roam around a bit more as a reward for a calm, controlled walk.

Although he has only three clients, he knows there is a huge demand for pet care and hopes to continue to expand his business and gain employees.

He values consistency and said he has the advantage of an outside eye — meaning he can more easily see gradual changes in a dog, like health deterioration.

Will he ever give up walking for the sidelines of management?

“I’ll never be a hands-off manager,” Byersdorfer said. “It forces me to get exercise, too, and I enjoy it.”

As his business grows, Byersdorfer is working his way toward becoming a certified professional dog trainer. He continues to take courses and research new methods, which he said sets him apart from the competition.

His wife, Rosanna, is his business partner, and she keeps tabs on the inner workings of the organization.

Although his job is unconventional, Byersdorfer couldn’t be happier.

“I like proving to people that things aren’t always what they think they are,” he said. “And I couldn’t see myself in a cubicle for the rest of my life.”

At a Glance

• Caleb Byersdorfer
• Age: 24
• Home: Iowa City
• Job: Dog walker, owner of The Mobile Pack
• Education: Associate in arts from Kirkwood Community College
• Family: Wife, Rosanna; dog, Zephyr