It was inevitable that the flush of excitement that fueled the formation of 20 ‘work groups’ at the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 summit would meld with reality. Since many of the groups share common visions, recently they and rovers acting on their own have started merging. It has been suggested by the city that this would be a desired outcome, and so, to their credit, five communications groups have decided to meet as one. The so-called “G5” includes members of the Engage 1.6 Million, Communications & Branding, Public Compact, Strategic Partnerships and Learning and Post Summit Momentum groups

Others are starting to join in conversations with groups they see sharing interests. At the 2009 SC2019 summit, public relations consultant Jennifer Parker helped the Advanced Energy Research and Commercialization group dream and draw pictures of a center that would “make Cleveland a ‘Mecca’ for tech but also bringing them into products and systems.” At today's Advanced Energy Generation group meeting, Parker admitted that they have not been successful researching advanced energy research and commercialization efforts. “So we’re looking to understand this group’s capabilities and see where can better partner.”

Green Building group leader Michele Kilroy also attended her first Advanced Energy meeting. Kilroy, head of the Northeast Ohio Green Building Coalition, explained how her group has a mission and metrics for how adopting better codes and retrofits could lighten the region’s carbon footprint. It led to a productive conversation about their energy efficiency focus and Advanced Energy, which is still discussing a proposal from power company Cleveland Thermal to use steam from industrial giants Mittal and Alcoa to generate 400 megawatts of power.

“What is the synergy between this and the green building group?” Advanced Energy co-chair Linda Sekura wondered.

For starters, both have the laudable goal of connecting homeowners with a one-stop shop that explains the menu of tax rebate programs for advanced energy and energy efficiency systems. “Do we need a place that explains all of the rebates?” asked Green Energy Retrofits group (and recent Advanced Energy) member, Jon Eckerle.

“There are a lot of people working at community development corporations (CDCs) who’ve been working on this for years,” answered Bill Callaghan, a member of Advanced Energy and Vacant Land. “It sounds like you’re talking about building a platform so that the knowledge is in one place.”

“My particular interest is somewhere between an energy audit and monitoring devices for energy,” continued Callaghan, who has worked in Cleveland for years on digital equity issues. “We have CDCs training people on home energy auditing, and then we have Google (Power Monitor) which have a pretty low threshold for cost. Some of it is about upping the resources and upping the ante – can we use this 2019 process to be strategic about it?”

It is possible the Advanced Energy group will benefit from its new connection to Green Building, a group that has moved beyond square one, due in part to a clear vision, projects that invite unaffiliated members to participate, and metrics to keep them focused.

The 2019 Green Building retrofits sub group will meet on Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Cleveland Environmental Center. The Advanced Energy group will meet again on Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. (location TBD).