Climate Prosperity Project

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Greener Denver Initiative A Climate Prosperity
Strategy
Climate Prosperity Project National Leadership
Meeting San Jose, CA February 21, 2009
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Project Sponsor Office of Economic Development
City and County of Denver Project
Coordinator Metro Denver Economic Development
Corporation
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Key Stakeholders Mayors Office / Greenprint
Denver Metro Denver Economic Development
Corporation Metro Denver WIRED Governors Energy
Office Connected Organizations for a Responsible
Economy Alliance for Sustainable
Colorado University of Colorado (Boulder), LEED
School of Business National Renewal Energy Labs
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Project Leadership Andre Pettigrew Executive
Director, OED Christopher Smith Project Lead,
OED Holli Baumunk Vice President, MDEDC Mary
Jeffries Energy Sector Lead, MDEDC Jeff Romine
Chief Economist, OED Lynn Sargent Green
Savings, OED Jennifer Zacker Green
Opportunities, OED Georgia Howard Green
Talent, OED
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The regional climate for Greener Denver
Challenges
Challenges
Opportunities
Strong energy research infrastructure matched
with entrepreneurial culture and spirit
Current financial crisis constrains adoption of
energy innovations
Economic
Harness regions distinctive renewable energy
resources and innovation assets
Environmental
Regions long history in fossil fuels may delay
industry and personal transformation
Transition of local strategy to 9 county regional
strategy
Political
Success in various regional initiatives sets
stage for climate prosperity approach
Social
High readiness to apply entrepreneurial thinking
and investment to new economy
Outdoor culture not fully translated into
sustainable economic actions
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What we intend to accomplish

• Goals
• To transform our dynamic economy
• To achieve our climate goals
• To ensure social equity in a sustainable future
• Objective
• Accomplish goals by 2020

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Industry Our Economic Drivers Work within our
regions 9 clusters to identify individual and
shared challenges and determine appropriate
actions that ? Reduce cost ? Improve
competitiveness and innovation ? Reduce
Dependency on foreign oil Community Our Homes
and Markets Engage our neighborhoods and business
districts by using a place-based approach to
achieve energy efficiency objectives Institution
s Major Infrastructure Help our cities, school
districts, hospitals and major public facilities
achieve greater efficiency and renewable energy
usage
Green Savings
Marketing /Outreach Education /Training Technica
l Assistance Financing
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Clean Tech Cluster Capitalize on metro Denvers
strong position as a center for the emerging
clean tech industry Size Today Renewable energy
companies 1000 firms related to clean tech
Employment 13,940 jobs, 6th largest
nationally Diversity and Depth Broad and
diverse industry sector wind and solar to
advanced materials and storage and
sequestration Research Infrastructure Assets
Leveraging NREL, university collaborations and
28,000 employee regional energy cluster
Green Opportunities

• Greening of Regional Cluster Supply Chains
• ? Aerospace
• ? Aviation
• ? Bioscience
• ? Energy
• ? Financial Services
• ? Information Technology
• ? Beverage Production
• ? Broadcast Telecom
• Financing Innovation
• Support innovations that bring technologies to
  market, optimize business operations and create
  workforce opportunities

Research Development Tech Transfer Commerciali
zation Venture Capital Traditional financing
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Preparation K-12 Readiness STEM Career
Academies ? Energy Red Rocks Early College ?
Math Science Creativity Academy ? Denver
School of Science and Technology Advancement
Occupational Professional Community Colleges
(WIRED funded) ? Front Range Energy Boost ?
Red Rocks Solar energy AA and certification ?
Solar Wind Apprenticeship Center Transformation
Retraining Adaptation Metro Denver Wired
Initiative Pipeline for high-tech-high
industries ? iCAST Trains unemployed for
careers in energy efficiency and solar
installation
Green Talent
Education Skills Development Career Paths
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Our key actions taken to date
Established Office of Economic Development Busines
s Development Small Business Opportunity
Workforce Development Housing and Neighborhoods
Services Greenprint Denver Initiative Citywide
2012 emissions reduction target Greening the
Democratic National Convention Green Vendor
Directory Industry Sector Partnerships New Energy
Economy Roundtables Green Community
Building Greener Denver Initiative Climate
Prosperity Project Strategic Framework
Action 1
Action 2
Action 3
Action 4
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Mobilize Convene Core Partners Metro Denver
Economic Development Corporation Metro Mayors
Caucus Governors Energy Office Analyze Launch
Collaborative Process Assess Regional Efforts To
Date ex Smart Grid Boulder ex. Colorado Energy
Coalition MDEDC Catalyze Identify Strategic
Priorities Green Savings Green Opportunities Green
Talent Realize Align Regional Efforts Metro
Denver EDC assumes lead responsibility Take best
practices and bring to scale Develop new
aggregation and delivery options Actualize
Build Partnerships Determine how to best sustain
strategic implementation
Step 1
Step 2
Our future actions
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
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Greening Denver Leveraging Assets for Climate
Prosperity
Green Opportunity and Talent (Supply)
Triple Bottom-Line Results
Climate Prosperity Input Advantages
Green Savings (Demand)
Greening Of Industry
Accessible Capital
Innovation Pipeline
Climate Change Progress
Clean Tech And Green Supply Chain
Next Generation Skills
Greening Communities
Logistical Advantage
Economic Vitality
Green Workforce and Entrepreneurs
Climate Change State Policies
Greening Of Institutions
Natural Resource Center
Enhanced Opportunity
We have the RESOURCES to succeed !
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Key obstacles to accomplishing our goals
Transform Economy Change Market
Behavior Overcoming resistance to change among
businesses, residents and policy makers to build
scale of demand to enable markets to
grow. Achieve Climate Goals Creating Greater
Greener Denver Securing regional ownership and
support for this effort Ensure Social
Equity Realizing that success is defined broadly
such that all members of the community benefit
from this effort
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Financial and In-Kind Resource commitments to
date
Metro Denver WIRED
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2. Analyze Provide comparative data to the
strategy process and share through open forums

• Mobilize Ready stakeholders to work together via
  early stakeholder outreachwith active media

3. Catalyze Convene the stakeholders to define
bottom-up, user-driven, market focused solutions
What about us?
Community role in creating Greener Denver at each
step
We are committed to engaging and sustaining
community participation
4. Realize Structure actions that are based on
commitment of community stakeholders, not just
top-down
5. Actualize Play our part in implementation and
tracking results
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3 ways national and global network can best
assist us
Help us attract additional financial support for
our efforts
Collect and distribute key research and best
practices from across the nation
Collaborate across regions to build market demand
and delivery to accelerate change
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