What is the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal?

Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Team, kick-off meeting

Two and a half years ago, Congressional members presented the broad brush strokes of a federal Green New Deal. Slash greenhouse gas emissions from the energy, transportation, construction, and agriculture sectors; modernize the grid and fortify cities against climate disasters. Details of the plan, though, were left for later.

Congressional representatives framed the Green New Deal and started the conversation. Now we at the local level get to decide what we want the details to be. Over the next 15 months, residents and workers in the city of Richmond, California, will discuss and plan for our own Green New Deal.

In 2021, when Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin proposed a Green New Deal for Richmond she added the word “Blue” to the title. Her intent was to highlight Richmond’s 32 miles of shoreline as well as give a nod to the Labor movement. And the conversation about Richmond’s Green-Blue New Deal ramped up.

In September 2021, then Economic Development Director Shasa Curl released the Request for Proposals for a Richmond Green-Blue New Deal Workforce Development Plan. In November 2021, Bay Area-based consulting firm Appraccel along with subcontractors Groundwork Richmond, Safe Return Project, MIG, HR&A Advisors, Abbe & Associates, Medema Consulting, and Inclusive Economics, submitted a proposal for the work. Our kick-off meeting was held on June 21, 2022 and the Appraccel team’s work began. 

Do you have questions, comments or suggestions about the Richmond Green-Blue New Deal? Contact Appraccel’s project manager at thegreatpivot at gmail dot com.

Building Owners May Be Losing Money by Not Investing in Energy Efficiency

If you were the Chief Financial Officer of a business with $120,000 in profits to invest, where would you park this cash? In a money market fund yielding 0.39% annually — or in deep energy efficiency retrofits for your building that provide an 18% annual return?

When building owners consider upgrades for their commercial properties, energy efficiency may seem like a bottom-line expense that could be postponed. But when you take a deeper look at the costs and benefits, it becomes clear that energy efficiency yields a better return than most alternatives.

The surprising economic benefits of energy efficiency

New reports from the Peninsula Advanced Energy Community (PAEC) show the economics of eight energy efficiency measures for five building types: office, municipal (fire station), school, multifamily residential, and retail. Using a consistent approach to calculate payback, each report analyzes these same eight technologies:

1. LED lighting conversion
2. Building Management Systems (BMS) and advanced controls
3. Reduction in phantom loads
4. Higher-efficiency windows
5. Improved insulation quality
6. Replacement of obsolete air conditioning with higher-efficiency systems
7. Heat pumps as replacements for natural gas space heating
8. Alternative water heating systems

Not surprisingly, the PAEC reports found that certain measures tend to have a faster payback, such as installing LEDs and reducing phantom loads. Other measures have longer payback times, such as replacing windows, implementing BMS, and switching to alternative water heating systems.

Building owners usually cherry-pick the energy efficiency measures with the fastest payback. But they’re missing a significant opportunity, according to the PAEC analyses. Bundling the eight energy efficiency measures, even those with longer paybacks, still offers an attractive rate of return — and ensures that deeper retrofits will happen.

For example, in the report on office buildings, the payback for each energy efficiency measure is shown in the following chart:

Payback Analysis (years)
Source: PAEC report, Final Economic Benefit-Cost Analysis of Energy Efficiency and Fuel Switching Measures

When considered on its own, just replacing single-pane windows with dual-pane energy-efficient windows in an office would provide a 12-year payback. But when this measure is bundled with six others, the payback for office building retrofits is just 5.4 years. The PAEC report calculates that the internal rate of return for these eight measures together is 18%, a higher return than you could get with most other investments.

What accounts for the economic benefits?

The five PAEC analyses standardized their approach to include incremental capital costs, available incentives, incremental operations and maintenance costs, and annual energy cost savings — and the incentives are significant.

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) offers businesses and government agencies in southern San Mateo County 0% on-bill financing. This means that when the property managers of commercial and government buildings agree to energy efficiency upgrades identified in a PG&E energy audit, the utility will pay for energy efficient equipment and installation work by contractors up to $100,000. Then PG&E will roll the costs and savings into the customer’s bill over the next five years. This program makes it much easier for commercial property owners to opt in to energy efficiency projects.

Further benefits from energy savings

In addition to attractive paybacks, bundled energy retrofits offer dramatic energy savings. To compare energy use between five different building types before and after retrofits, the Energy Use Intensity (EUI) provides a standard measurement of a building’s annual energy use per unit area. The following table allows us to compare the  EUI and average payback for each modeled building type.

Energy efficiency before and after: Five modeled types of buildings
Source: PAEC report, Final Economic Benefit-Cost Analysis of Energy Efficiency and Fuel Switching Measures

Energy efficiency’s role in building advanced energy communities

Energy efficiency is a critical first step in building advanced energy communities (AEC). Once that important first step is taken, the stage is set for these key elements of an AEC:

• Low or zero net energy buildings
• Abundant solar electricity
• Energy storage and other distributed energy resources
• Solar emergency microgrids for power management and islanding of critical loads during outages
• Charging infrastructure to support the rapid growth of electric vehicles

These elements together scale up clean local energy, support grid reliability, and minimize the need for new energy infrastructure costs such as transmission and distribution upgrades.

The goal of the PAEC initiative is to advance the expansion of AECs in California. Millions of buildings in the state need to be retrofitted. The graphic below shows the types and numbers of buildings that the California Energy Commission would like to see upgraded to the latest building and energy efficiency standards.

As policymakers, utility executives, municipalities, and other government agencies attempt to overcome the barriers to AECs, the PAEC economic analyses shine a light on how to frame energy efficiency upgrades. By showing how financially attractive it can be to bundle energy efficiency measures, the PAEC initiative inspires property owners in the public and private sectors to take the first key step toward implementing AECs and advancing our clean energy future.

What Puerto Rico teaches us about power resilience for all communities

Manatí, Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria | Photo: José Reyes

guest post by the Clean Coalition

In September 2017, Hurricane Maria slammed into Puerto Rico, knocking out power for the entire island and damaging 80% of the island’s energy transmission and distribution system. The United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is tasked with repairing the current system, a process that is expected to take months and cost $5 billion.

FEMA will be repairing, not upgrading, an antiquated electricity distribution and transmission system powered primarily by fossil fuels.

On the island of Puerto Rico, which is roughly the size of Connecticut, 3.4 million people depend on the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA). PREPA uses a fuel mix of 47% petroleum, 34% natural gas, 17% coal, and 2% renewable energy. With the grid currently down, diesel generators are providing power to those who can afford them.

Both the diesel generators and PREPA’s fuel mix provide the island with dirty electricity — and both are barely affordable options for the people of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican Americans pay $0.24-$0.48/kilowatt-hour (kWh) for their electricity, compared to an average price of $0.13/kWh on the United States mainland. Now is as good a time as any for Puerto Rico to upgrade to clean local power.

Since the hurricane, both Tesla founder Elon Musk and Virgin head Richard Branson have publicly advocated for microgrids to provide a cleaner, cheaper, more resilient option for islands in the Caribbean that depend on imported fossil fuels for electricity. In an area with abundant solar energy, using clean local energy is the obvious choice to get Puerto Rico up and running as soon as possible.

After disasters like Hurricane Maria, a bare minimum of power is essential for relief and recovery efforts. Emergency responders, hospitals, and water utilities that provide clean drinking water need electricity. Solar emergency microgridscombine solar photovoltaic panels, energy storage, and monitoring, communications, and controls, could deliver electricity instantly and indefinitely for disaster response.

Puerto Rico’s difficulty in performing emergency response services highlights the importance of resilient backup power systems. This need is not limited to Puerto Rico. Every village, town and city should be thinking about what services they need to keep running in the event of a natural disaster. In California, the Peninsula Advanced Energy Community (PAEC) is working with hospitals and municipal governments to plan affordable, clean, and resilient power systems that combine energy efficiency, local renewables, electric vehicle charging stations, energy storage, and monitoring, communications, and controls. During a power outage, essential services can island themselves from the grid and still function.

In San Mateo County, CA, the City of Atherton is preparing for resilience in the face of earthquakes and fires. When planning their new zero net energy Civic Center, the city included a solar emergency microgrid for their police station. If a large earthquake or fire knocks out power, emergency responders will still be able to field calls and respond to community requests for assistance.

Planning for disasters is more important now than ever. This year, the back-to-back hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, and the wildfires that have decimated communities in the West, shone a light on the importance of a resilient electricity grid. It’s time to upgrade our aging, dirty grid with cleaner electricity systems that can withstand shocks from natural disasters and provide emergency power when it is needed most.

The PAEC is a groundbreaking initiative to streamline policies and showcase projects that facilitate local renewables and other advanced energy solutions like energy efficiency, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The PAEC will create pathways to cost-effective clean local energy and community resilience throughout San Mateo County, the City of Palo Alto, and beyond. The PAEC is a collaboration between the Clean Coalition, the California Energy Commission, Pacific Gas and Electric, and an array of municipalities, emergency response jurisdictions, schools and universities, and corporate entities. For more information, please visit www.clean-coalition.org/PAEC.

Be A Cathedral Builder

The people who started construction of Santa Maria Cathedral in the 13th century knew they would not live to see the gothic cathedral finished.

The original architects, workers and patrons built the church in Northern Spain as a prayer, hoping to ensure their place in heaven. They also wanted to create something beautiful that would leave a legacy for future generations.

Seven centuries later, the cathedral is showing its age. Gothic arches have started leaning as subterranean dampness has compromised the foundation. The town of Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain wants to preserve this important piece of their heritage for generations far into the future. To do so they have been working hard to stabilize the foundation.

Walking through this church I wondered if the United States is thinking about the well-being of generations seven centuries from now. My first thought was that we are doing the opposite of this. In many ways we are actually leaving a legacy that will be a curse for future generations: radioactive nuclear waste, greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere that are changing the global climate, and depleted top soil around the world.

At the same time, there are many people working to build a sustainable future for the benefit of the future. The number of renewable energy systems being installed continues to grow. We are building more zero net energy buildings. In some places topsoil is being regenerated. Creating resilient systems that allow society to bounce back when there are natural disasters and other shocks could be our legacy that benefits future generations.

Our society needs to think beyond satisfying our own needs and think about the investments we need to make in building a sustainable future. Our gift to future generations could be renewable energy systems, zero net energy buildings, efficient transportation systems, regenerative agriculture and a circular economy. We just need to spend more time thinking like the 13th century cathedral builders.   

Net Zero Superhero

After watching one of the many superhero movies Hollywood churns out, have you ever wished you had a superpower? The Avengers, Batman, Superman, Spiderman, and next summer Wonder Woman, all inspire us, if only for a moment, to heroism in service of a higher calling. Then we realize we can’t fly, shoot a sticky spiderweb or vanquish an army by slamming down our oversized hammer, and we go back to our comfortable daily lives.

But consider that in a way we all have superhuman powers. A superpower can just mean being exceptionally skillful at one thing. My question to you is what is your superpower and how will you use it to save the planet? Given the rapid unraveling of nature’s resilience in the face of climate change, the Earth needs your superpower now more than ever.

We need your talent, your passion, your charisma, your financial analysis skills and your technical skills to help businesses become more efficient. Not just a little more efficient, a lot more efficient. Net zero efficient.

Here is how net zero will make the business community more sustainable and protect our planet.  

·        Net Zero Energy – After reducing lighting, HVAC and plug load energy demand, size on-site solar so the building generates as much electricity as it uses

·        Net Zero Waste – After mapping the quantity and flow of materials through the operation, find ways to reduce, reuse, recycle or compost 90% or more of waste

·        Net Zero Water – Reduce total water consumption, use non-potable sources as much as possible, and recycle and reuse water in order to return the equivalent amount of water as was withdrawn from all sources, including municipal supply, without compromising groundwater and surface water quantity or quality.

Fortunately, the value proposition of net zero saves companies money, enhances employee productivity and increases market share.

What’s stopping you? Rather than waiting for someone else to come save the planet, let’s do it ourselves.  

Create Your Dream Sustainability Job

Are you unhappy with your job? Many people are.

Every time I teach my 15-hour class “Managing Sustainable Change in an Organization” at UC Berkeley Extension at least a few students ask how they can find a job in sustainability. The truth is, there aren’t as many jobs as there should be doing energy efficiency, water conservation, waste prevention, alternative commute mentoring and pollution prevention within a business. These projects are usually done on an ad hoc basis by whoever within the organization cares most about making them happen.

Just like the idea that if you can’t find the book you want to read you should write it, if you can’t find the job you want you should create it. Where you already are.

I have seen a number of people create their own sustainability project manager job at the company where they work. They start small. They find a few small projects to work on during their lunch hour or at night then give their boss a heads up they want to work on these projects on their free time.

Once they implement these projects and can quantify the benefits, they ask to be able to work on additional projects a few hours/week during the work week. Then half time and eventually full time if they can prove the value proposition.

The key algorithm involves calculating tangible bottom-line benefits. Consider the following hard and soft benefits.

• Operational cost savings (energy, water, materials, waste)
• Employee engagement
• Employee productivity
• Increased sales from green branding
• Competitive advantage
• Risk reduction

Management is always looking to trim operational costs. Those are the hard costs. The much larger potential benefits are in the soft costs within the other bullets. If management has been talking about wanting to improve employee engagement or increase sales from green branding, this may be the perfect time to initiate a business sustainability program. 

Harness 360 Degree Virtual Reality to Tell Your Company’s Sustainability Story

Several years ago at a business sustainability conference I attended a session titled “Why Are Corporate Social Responsibility Reports So Bad?” The presenter asserted that CSR reports didn’t tell you much about a company’s environmental impact or present context for their sustainability efforts.

Over the past several years, CSR reports have evolved into slick on-line websites with lovely pictures and colorful graphics. They state sustainability goals and the company’s progress toward those goals. But there’s still something missing.

Where’s the Energy?

When I’ve heard people from New Belgium Brewery or Seventh Generation speak at conferences about their company’s sustainability efforts, their enthusiasm for the topic is contagious. Watching their slides and hearing their stories I am swept up and a voice inside me says “I want to work there!” These presenters are excited to be part of a company where business is a force for social and environmental change, to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

By contrast, when reading through CSR Reporting’s Top 10 CSR reports of 2015, the palpable energy I hear from sustainable business conference presenters is missing.   

Take CSR Reporting to the Next Level

In the spirit of continuous improvement, which is the cornerstone of corporate sustainability efforts, it’s time to take sustainable business storytelling to the next level. Give the public a tour of your net zero energy buildings, smart microgrid and zero waste program with a five minute 360 degree virtual reality video.

Here is a net zero energy building in Sunnyvale, California. Would you like a guided tour to hear about how they achieved net zero with the building envelope, lighting controls, HVAC system and solar? I would.  

Photo: Bruce Damonte

The latest 360 degree VR cameras are being used to give virtual reality tours of $35 million estates for sale or tours of Amsterdam. Let’s put these $60,000 cameras to use helping companies tell their sustainability stories in engaging new ways.

Attract and Retain the Next Generation of Employees

For companies that want to attract the best and brightest Millennials, keep in mind that their generation likes trying new technologies, appreciates openness and transparency, and cares about environmental issues. Using 360 degree VR to bring a corporate social responsibility story to life is a strong recruitment tool. The first step is to think through the story you want to tell.

What more information about a talented group that can help you with this? Message me on LinkedIn.

Commercial Property Owners Who Retrofit for Zero Net Energy Win Big Now and Later

Conventional wisdom tells us zero net energy (ZNE) buildings are difficult, risky and expensive. This perception comes mainly from people who have not built any yet. They will soon. By 2030, all new commercial buildings in California will be required to generate as much energy as they use. Fortunately, there are intrepid innovators who are figuring out how to drive down the costs of ZNE retrofits. Not only are they showing us what mix of building technologies can achieve this goal but that doing so has immediate benefits and is less expensive in the long run.

Kevin Bates with Sharp Development Company was one of the speakers on a Zero Net Energy panel I moderated earlier this month for the policy and planning non-profit SPUR in San Francisco. Running through the costs and benefits for a recent ZNE building he developed, Kevin showed how much value he created for his real estate investor who received a 6.5% market capitalization rate (rate of return).

With an up-front investment of $49.84/square foot, SharpDevco created additional value of $100.29/sf. The costs and benefits include:

·       Reduced operating costs over 15 years of $83.08/sf

·       Value of above-market rent over 15 years of $36.92/sf

·       Additional rent received due to early lease-up (3 months to rent out instead of the average market time of 18 months) of $22.81/sf

·       Additional leasable square footage due to 6” of exterior insulation (building grew 326 sf) of $7.32/sf

Over and above the $100.29/sf of additional value, the building owner enjoys lower reserve requirements (for HVAC replacement, tenant improvement reserves, etc.) of $29.85/sf.

Building Technologies Used to Achieve ZNE

The development team used the following mix of air handling, lighting and solar photovoltaic technologies to retrofit the building for ZNE.

HVAC

- Insulated the outside walls to R-20 with insulation and electrochromic glass

- Insulated the roof to R-40 with 1.5” of foam and reflective coating outside and 10” of BAT inside

- Used exposed interior concrete thermal mass to help maintain indoor air temperature overnight

- Installed ceiling fans, operable skylights and windows for natural air exchange and night-purge ventilation of warm air (night flushing)

As a result of these measures, the size of the HVAC system needed dropped from 100 tons to 22 tons resulting in impressive first-cost savings.

Light Loads

- South-facing skylights maximize daylight harvesting 365 days a year while minimizing thermal gain

- Electrochromic glass eliminated the need for blinds

- From an hour after sunrise to an hour before sunset all year long the building has 19 footcandles of light which reduces the need for artificial light.

Energy Usage Intensity and Solar Photovoltaics

Employing this mix of technologies resulted in an Energy Usage Intensity (EUI) reduction from 91 to 22.5 which shrank the size of the solar PV system by 75% and allowed the building to achieve a ZNE bill at a lower initial investment cost.

Unexpected Benefit

This property was completed on spec, meaning Kevin Bates did not have an owner or tenant in mind when renovating the space. The fact that the commercial space rented in just three months is a testament to how appealing the ZNE space was to potential tenants. Abundant natural light, healthy indoor air quality, soothing native plant landscapes and solar panels all contributed to the desirability of the property. Hopefully this project will inspire others.

Find Funding for Your Business Sustainability Projects

Your CEO agreed in theory to the slate of sustainability projects the company’s green team developed. Installing solar panels, doing an LED lighting retrofit, installing a native plant landscape, and going for zero waste would be great. Even better, she agreed that having someone work part time for six months to manage all these projects would benefit the company. Unfortunately, your CEO isn’t sure where the money will come from for the equipment and labor costs. Time to check the couch cushions for loose change.

Every company thinks they run a tight ship, that there’s no extra money around. Here are four places to look.

1)     Pull together 12 months of energy, water and garbage bills   

This may sound obvious but operational costs are variable. Energy, water and garbage bills deserve more scrutiny. Adding up 12 months of bills will help you decide which bill is worth focusing on and whittling down. One distribution company we worked with was surprised their garbage bill was $80,000/year. We then set to work expanding their recycling program and cut that bill in half.

2)     How much are you spending to replace and train employees each year?

Companies spend 13 -213% of annual salary to replace each employee. Less for lower wage workers and more for executives. Total up how many employees left and were replaced last year. A portion of this is your potential savings. Sustainability projects help attract and retain the top people.

3)     How much would revenue increase if potential customers perceived your company as green?

For businesses that want to expand sales among Millennials and people who identify with Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS), a strong sustainability program helps. Competition among breweries and wineries is particularly fierce. Wineries and breweries source ingredients for their products from nearby water ways and the land. Customers have an intimate connection with these products since they go into their bodies. 

How much potential revenue does your marketing department project could be gained by growing market share with these two groups?

4)     Conduct a deeper hunt for cost savings

There may be treasure buried in your accounts payable ledgers. Careful examination of supplier expenses could yield savings that add up to real money. We start by examining 10 quick wins. Based on 25 years experience doing expense analyses, we find an average of 23% savings in each of the 10 expense categories

Questions?

Contact Appraccel by email (info at appraccel.com) or on LinkedIn for more information about how we can help you uncover savings that you can invest in a strong sustainability program.

10 Ways to Reinvigorate Your Company’s Sustainability Program

Employee enthusiasm for sustainability ebbs and flows. If your company’s energy around sustainability needs a boost, here are some steps you can take.

1.      Games – Online game Energy Chickens encourages employees to reduce energy use in their office. Each employee is assigned a cartoon baby chicken. If they use less than the average amount of energy in the office, their cartoon baby chick grows and thrives. Use more than the average amount of energy in the office and their baby chick becomes sick and dies. The game is a fun way to encourage people in the office to adjust their computer power settings

2.   Contests – Tired of being the “Recycling Police” in your office? Set up a recycling contest where employees compete for prizes. With a “Cash for Trash” contest, remind employees what can and can’t be recycled, then pick one department each week and check all the trash and recycling bins. Out of all people recycling perfectly, randomly draw two names and give them each a $25 gift certificate or pair of movie tickets. Then publicize their names to the office. If your company has eight departments this contest will only cost $400.

3.    Highlight one to three new initiatives – A long list of potential office greening tips is exhausting to most people. Highlight a few at a time and present them as little things people can do to make a big difference.

4.      Reinvigorate your green team –Breathe new life into the green team every six months with a new approach, emphasis, or team building activity.

5.      Harness the genius of net present value – Want to upgrade the HVAC system or install a heat pump? Pitch management to invest with a Net Present Value calculation. Many business managers want to see a one or two year return on investment. NPV is a way to garner support for projects with longer paybacks. NPV adds up the costs and benefits of a project over the life of the equipment. Simply stated, if the NPV is positive, the company should seriously consider investing in the project compared to other investment opportunities

6.      Update performance appraisal metrics – Employees prioritize projects listed in their performance appraisal. Human Resources plays an important role in whether or not sustainability projects happen at work. Facilities Management personnel performance appraisals are key for companies that want to make sure sustainability project happen. At the end of the year facilities managers are often rated on how many trouble calls they resolved. Having performance metrics like reducing energy use per square foot and completing a course on heat pumps would help. 

7.      Update mission statement – Companies with a loyal organizational culture have the following elements in common:

• a mission statement that reflects the company’s value as a driver of social and environmental change,
• management that provides open access to financial information and the business plan, and
• training to grow their employees.

8.      Provide paid time off to volunteer each year – Companies with loyal employees are given paid time off to volunteer for non-profits doing environmental or social work in their community.

9.      Ask for support from green celebrities - At looktothestars.org, you can find a celebrity’s favorite charity. Matt Damon of the Bourne Conspiracy movies champions Water.Org which brings clean drinking water to those living in extreme poverty. Once your company makes a tax-deductible donation to that celebrity's favorite non-profit, send a note to the non-profit about your company’s greening efforts and ask their people to send a message in support of your company’s sustainability program. Publicize this support to your employees.

10.   Ask for the mayor’s support – Mayors in various cities have professional athletes and celebrities on the payroll to talk up how sustainable and green their city is. At U.S. Conference of Mayors events, mayors want to be perceived as green. Tap into this competition by asking your city’s mayor for a written statement of support for your company’s greening efforts to date. Then publicize it to your employees.

Global environmental trends and sustainability can be heavy topics. The best way to generate support and rally the troops is to keep your company's efforts simple, interesting and fun. 

The Secret Weapon of Effective Sustainability Project Managers

A few years ago I interviewed dozens of sustainability project managers (SPM) at medium-sized businesses to better understand what enabled their success. The interview boiled down to three questions. Think about your best sustainability project. What conditions external to your company helped you be successful? What conditions supported you within your organization to complete the project? What qualities do you possess that helped you realize a successful outcome?

One person’s answer to the last question surprised me. When I asked what it was about him that helped him complete a challenging project he said “my charisma.” He explained “Look, I was asking my co-workers to give up their lunches, nights and weekends to help our company achieve LEED green building certification. It’s a lot of work. People only spend their free time on things that are meaningful to them with people they enjoy.”

The more I thought about the most effective SPMs I knew, the more this answer made sense. The SPMs I was thinking about not only had strong technical, financial analysis, and communications skills. They also had charisma. SPMs often struggle with limited resources and need to enlist help from people in the organization that do not report directly to them. Green teams usually have employees from various departments. For the leader of the company’s sustainability efforts to be effective, they need the three essential components of charisma so they can charm people to want to help them. Those three essential elements are presence, power and warmth.

Fortunately, charisma is a quality people can cultivate. Olivia Fox Cabane’s book The Charisma Myth explains the fine points she fosters with CEOs and other leaders to help them become more influential, persuasive and inspiring. What’s interesting is that developing personal magnetism starts with figuring out which kind of charisma best fits your personality: focus, visionary, kindness or authority. Oprah Winfrey’s presence is key to her focus charisma. Apple’s Steve Jobs had visionary charisma. Radiant warmth from the Dalai Lama shows he exhibits kindness charisma. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has authority charisma.

Companies often hire sustainability managers with strong technical skills. While understanding the engineering aspects of renewable energy, energy efficiency, water conservation and zero waste projects are important, those sustainability managers who also have strong people skills that inspire behavioral changes will help their organization reach their ambitious sustainability goals faster.