Listed in the "Top 50 Environmental Engineering Blogs"

AEC and Cleantech Trends blog was recently listed in the Top 50 Environmental Engineering Blogs « Online Engineering Degree Read more!

Article published on TriplePundit.com

"Do Global Clients need a Sustainability Strategy Today?" was published on TriplePundit.com; link is here. Read more!

What Sustainability Strategy Solutions do Global Clients want today?

(Note: this is the first post in a series of articles on developing, validating, and implementing a sustainability growth strategy for current (and future) market conditions. Overview blog post is here. The target audience is CXOs in technology companies and global Engineering Procurement & Construction (EPC) firms who are chartered to lead efforts to grow new revenue streams in this general market sector; as well as those executives in global enterprises who are considering implementation of such strategies.)

In the fall of last year, I wrote about the need for sustainability programs in the industrial sector, given the current economic climate (link). Since that time, we have seen market conditions deteriorate, but conversely, have also seen companies (both services and technology) who are starting to hire again to provide sustainability solutions to their clients. The purpose of this column is to provide some guidance on the state of the sustainability strategy market need; particularly in regard to enterprise systems. Notes from leaders from both the ‘sell’ and ‘buy’ sides of the equation provide additional data points on current trends.

Perspective from Sustainability / Environmental Executives

Many corporations have been focusing on very tactical and survival -based activities, such as cost control and risk / exposure management. The awareness for sustainability solution need (strategy, projects, implementation, reporting) is still relatively high, based on discussions I have had with executives in the energy development and discrete manufacturing industries; but that need is tempered by reduced internal budgets (and available staff), along with more immediate operating concerns (such as equipment maintenance, process safety, compliance, etc).

When sustainability programs compete against operations for resources and internal ‘mindshare’, one can get the ‘rubber band effect’, as an energy development executive referred to it: “the sustainability team gets ahead of itself on programs, and then gets yanked back”. A key issue: what sustainability metrics should be developed and adopted initially?

Another exec from the discrete manufacturing industry offers advice to solution providers: “don’t try to sell the ‘hearts and minds’ programs at this time: aim for the basic needs in environmental programs, such as self auditing programs, and look for opportunities to add value over time”.

And while corporate environmental, health & safety (EHS) departments still provide overall policy development and guidance, many sustainability initiatives (and leadership thereof) are being developed within business groups in the organization. “Initiatives for sustainability are being implemented in engineering departments, who may serve as ‘internal consultants’ to EHS and corporate sustainability staff”, an upstream energy development exec told me. “Sustainability leadership is moving from EHS departments to staff running business processes, such as supply chain management”.

So, from a management systems perspective, such as that for enterprise level risk or carbon management, it may be difficult to develop & sell a ‘top down’ solution. Initiative – specific strategies may be an easier sell.

Perspectives from the Engineering Industry

As I wrote last year, the global engineering procurement & construction (EPC) segment is positioned to provide a range of strategy and implementation services within key sustainability and cleantech segments (article link is here). How has this industry been impacted by current conditions? Talking to a number of executives, the common themes are as follows:

• What was once significant, backlog has been slowly been tapped and is diminishing, especially in the industrial sector and in international markets (which had been strong up to this point)
• Similarly, the increase in signed projects has slowed, as client projects have been delayed
• But, new markets are emerging (i.e. projects associated with the federal / state recovery act funds, energy mgt programs, and GHG inventory development); albeit slowly

Short Term Solutions of Interest

Notwithstanding the opportunities currently to provide energy efficiency & management solutions and GHG inventory / assessments, what are some of the focused sustainability solutions that appeal to executive level buyers today? Based on conversations above, the likely candidates include:

• Initiative Strategy Review (where a client is already performing energy management, GHG inventory assessment, Green IT programs etc; can you help them adapt their strategy to maximize value with current operating constraints?)
• Sustainability Diagnostic Review (evaluate current sustainability programs with focus on current economic conditions. Also, bring in any benchmarking information to competitors or across industries)
• Regulatory Landscape Review (given the myriad of state, federal, and NGO guidelines and proposed regulations, provide client – specific regulatory impact scenarios)
• Emerging Technology Review (appealing to CTO / CIO execs on advances in both IT based technology and ‘cleantech’ hardware)
• Executive Coaching (assisting influencers and other internal staff in evangelizing, educating, and selling sustainability solutions / strategy to internal decision makers)

Summary

Following the current market trends and anecdotes provided above, what are some of the key concepts to consider when developing and promoting sustainability solutions today?

• Pick ‘tactical’ sustainability projects (which may be an oxymoron…) such as strategies for maximizing the efficiencies of existing systems, buildings, and assets.
• You should articulate an accelerated ROI for your clients, but provide a 'platform' (technology based or process based) to allow your client to leverage incremental successes over time across his / her enterprise
• Assessment and benchmarking: executives place a high value on validation of industry trends and insights

Again, initiatives in sustainability ‘sectors’ such as Green IT, energy efficiency, and GHG inventory assessment are areas where solution providers may (and are) provide value to their clients. The purpose here is to find opportunities to assist clients in developing and implementing their sustainability strategies, in context with ongoing operating concerns.

The next article in this series will focus on technology – based sustainability solutions.

Read more!

Is there $$ to be made in Sustainability today?

For the past few months, I have been developing a market strategy for both technology and professional services firms to understand, validate, and implement growth initiatives that reflect current (and future) market conditions. (The origins of this strategy are provided in an online presentation I gave to the American Council of Engineering Companies - ACEC, link is here).

Significant input was received from executives at global energy development corporations and in the federal government who are considering implementation of these solutions, as well as from executives in technology firms and global engineering & design firms who may provide a range of technology - based solutions, from sustainability strategy through implementation of process improvements and emerging technologies (or cleantech).

Given the depth and range of content developed, I will be publishing a series of blog posts (and articles on leading online periodicals) covering key concepts and strategies. An overview of upcoming topics is provided below:

• What do global clients want now (and what will they pay for)?
• Benchmarking: What are other Tech & Services firms doing?
• The Critical Market Drivers of Concern
• Sustainability Technology Solutions: Focus on Specific Market Needs
• Developing & Selling a Sustainability Solution for both short term ROI and long term strategy

I may combine topics as articles / blog posts are published; would welcome comments or articulated interests in specific concepts.

Read more!

Bentley Software's "The Year in Infrastructure"

Bentley Software published their "Year in Infrastructure" book last month, which provides an overview of product / solution strategy, as well as highlighting winners of the BE Awards. As mentioned in previous posts, I was invited to judge two BE categories for technology excellence: "Sustainability" and "Sustaining the Environment". This book details those winners, as well as in other categories such as bridges, water, buildings, and transportation.

The 'e-book' version can be found via this link:

http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/bemagazine/beawards08/ Read more!

E&C Industry Review

This is a high level overview of E&C (Engineering & Construction) Market Drivers, Business Issues & Impacts, and associated technology solutions.

E&C Industry Review By Scott Boutwell Jan09

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: workflow gis)

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Developing a Cleantech Strategy (Slideshare presentation)

This is a condensed version of a presentation I gave to the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies). It provides a high level strategy for developing a focused growth strategy that incorporates cleantech and sustainability revenue streams.

Developing a Cleantech Strategy

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: technology commercialization)

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Sustainability Seminar Series (Slideshare presentation)

This is an overview of the sustainability growth strategy seminar I have developed for executives in the EPC, AEC, and environmental services industries.

Sustainability Seminar Series By Scott Boutwell Oct08

View SlideShare document or Upload your own. (tags: sustainability training)

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"Developing a Cleantech Strategy"; online seminar for ACEC

I am conducting an on-line seminar for the ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) this Thursday November 6th at 10:30am (PST); the title of which is “Developing a Cleantech Strategy”.

I will be covering sustainability & cleantech growth drivers, benchmarking strategies of global EPC firms, and providing a general framework for incorporating cleantech into an AEC / EPC strategy.

Link: http://www.acec.org/calendar/eventDetails.cfm?eventID=1027 Read more!

Seminar Series on Sustainability

I developed a seminar series on incorporating sustainability into corporate strategy, for executives in the EPC / AEC, water resources, and environmental services & consulting industries. The course information has been developed as a result of on - going projects, as well as from benchmarking studies I have conducted with global EPC firms.

An 'executive summary' of this series will be presented to ACEC (American Council of Engineering Companies) on November 6th; see my previous post describing this presentation.

You can view the document describing the 'Sustainability Series' by clicking on the Slideshare button on the right. Or, you can click here; registration for viewing is required. Read more!

New column on SustainableMinds

My column titled "In the age of financial meltdown, does sustainability matter?" was recently published by SustainableMinds; link is here. Read more!

New articles published on TriplePundit and Celsias

TriplePundit recently published an article I wrote: "In the Age of Financial Meltdown, does Sustainability Matter?" (note the provocative title....)

Celsias also published a column of mine; this one is titled "Will Crisis Management drive Sustainability Adoption". Read more!

Green Tech Market Trends, from the American Climate Values Survey

I had a chance to attend a briefing by EcoAmerica, which sponsored the American Climate Values Survey (ACVS), concerning climate change. Psychographic research was conducted by SRI to fully understand what motivates the American public to act on global warming.

This briefing was conducted with the purpose of sharing messages, defining specific population segments, and provide positioning information to foundations and policy groups (and perhaps 'green' product & solution companies that wish to influence (or sell to) consumer and commercial populations).

One area of interest to me was the opportunities for green technologies to influence public perception and consequently, policy making. The ACVS revealed that GreenTech is viewed favorably by those individuals who are "Onboard" (aware and motivated to act) as well as those who are "Agnostic" (those who are aware but have not engaged or acted).

The positive messages for greentech are:

• New source of jobs (very important given today's market climate)
• Americans' hope for climate rescue without having to make significant lifestyle changes
• Attraction to novel solutions

The ACVS also points out that greentech still requires 'dramatic' positioning (i.e. technology leadership, much lower costs and energy use, large economic benefit) to overcome any 'discounting' (the perception that greentech is accepted and expected).

While the 'high level' messages may not be new to those in the greentech business, I do think that the market segmentation, specific messaging themes, and strategies for overcoming global warming doubts (and associated greentech adoption) would be very valuable to greentech companies.

The ACVS is targeting foundations and policy groups to best utilize the results, but I would think that any company that seeks to launch a solution leveraging greentech would be very interested. Electric utilities, consumer product companies, retail, and professional services companies might benefit from review of the study and incorporation of key messages and themes.

Read more!

In the age of financial meltdown, does sustainability matter?

I was in the UK at a CIO workshop last week (post coming up), and missed a lot of the on -going maneuvering on the part of both political parties here in the US. It made me think about sustainability market drivers (again; yes, I need a life...), and whether we have turned the corner from sustainability as a 'vitamin' (nice to have), or an 'aspirin' (critical need).

Right now, I would guess that most people (consumers) and many corporations are focusing on very tactical and survival -based activities, such as cost control and risk / exposure management. Where sustainability programs are already established, there is probably little impact from the financial crisis, in terms of potential termination, cancellation, etc.

But where sustainability initiatives are being considered or reviewed, I would venture that many will be put on hold for the time being, as corporations sort through on - going programs and rank and prioritize those that are truly 'mission critical' for short term goals.

But there may be a silver lining.

One could say that the current populism will engender more awareness of social impacts associated with current and projected modes of doing business. That could feed into more interest in sustainability as the template of conducting business: doing what is right (do no evil?), taking care of your employees and those who are affected / involved in your business, and developing strategy & inititiaves for promoting long term viability.

Another potential benefit: whoever becomes president, there is no doubt (in my mind) that we are entering a new age of regulatory oversight. I believe that the 'wave' of rule - making for the financial markets will spill over to other industries / sectors, and will include new environmental and social metrics.

Some may see additional regulation as anathema to the overall concept of sustainability, but as I have posted before on crisis management (link), sustainability will not be adopted by the majority of corporations until such time that: they have to incorporate programs to be competitive; or, they have to comply with new regulations. Indeed, if you view the UK and Europe, sustainability adoption is due to stringent new rules in building design & construction, consumer product design, and waste recycling; all driving much more awareness (and acceptance) in the local populations.

There. Anybody feel better about the current mess we are in? Read more!

Software as a Service (SaaS): Applications to CSR

CSR, SaaS, GRC.....

(Note: nothing like starting a blog post with a whole bunch of acronyms...)

As CSR and GRC technologies are gaining traction in industrial markets, it is interesting to review how the technology (and solution) could be delivered:

• Perpetual, on-site licensing model, or
• Services based, on-demand model (i.e. software as a service, or Saas), or
• Hybrid model (SaaS architecture, but licensed to sit behind the client's 'firewall')

With SaaS established in the enterprise software market, what are some of the key solution and strategy issues that a CSR or GRC service offering should consider?

1. Develop a partner ecosystem that is aligned with SaaS delivery (i.e. not a set of system integration firms that rely upon rampant customization & integration)

2. Understand complete pricing & value dynamics (cost for the entire SaaS solution; what functionality and tech partners might be needed to provide a complete business solution)

3. Review and modify organizational design (particularly for sales: telesales and partner sales supported by account managers)

4. Refine / amend market strategy (initial entry into SMB sector to gain awareness, proof points, referenceable clients)

5. Lower the risk of adoption, and allow customers to move back to perpetual licensing if desired

Perhaps the adoption of SaaS in the GRC and CSR markets will mirror that of the adoption of business intelligence (BI) solutions.

Most BI applications were originally sold in the traditional perpetual licensing arrangement. This was probably a function of risk management; keeping confidential information such as HR records and financial projections inside the firewall. Gradually, those concerns abated, as more established software firms provided and publicly supported their SaaS offerings.

Many CSR technology firms are not starting with perpetual license offerings, so they do not need to migrate customers to new solutions and work with them in business process alignment. But they do need to prove that they consider 'risk management' an important component of their value proposition: data and applications security; managed data center access; multiple levels of user permissions & security; and company committment (i.e. financial security, product roadmap visibility; partner acquisition & alignment).

Read more!

Emerging Careers in Sustainability Consulting

Read an interesting overview of the career opportunities in sustainability consulting; both in traditional management consulting as well as with new boutique consulting firms (article on Triple Pundit). I think the E&C consulting industry is also a viable source of career opportunities as well.

(note: I posted a column on this market trend in the spring; CNET published an article on "Green is the new opportunity in consulting").

Both management consulting and engineering services firms (or engineering & construction firms; 'E&C's) are investing in sustainability practices. Management firms are building practices in environmental risk management, sustainability strategy (including organizational design, change management, as well as process design) and carbon management strategy.

The global E&Cs, such as Bechtel, CH2M, URS Corp, have some type of 'sustainability' practice. In many cases, this service offering is focused more on CSR reporting and strategy development; both growing segments.

I work with the global E&Cs as part of my practice, and I believe the bigger opportunity for 'talent' to enter this field is to focus on specific segments such as: buildings / facilities, energy development, water, transportation, and environmental. 'Sustainability' is being incorporated into many of these markets; with most of the interest coming from clients who want to manage their energy costs, minimize use (and costs) associated with resources such as building materials and water; and also manage environmental risks associated with past and current practices.

I actually think there is more potential for professionals who focus on these specific market opportunities in the short term, as industries such as process mfg, discrete mfg, energy development, retail, and real estate, for examples, are all turning to E&Cs for solution development and deployment. Read more!

Breaking the bond of the "Gatekeeper"....

You know who he (or she) is.

That person you have to deal with to get access into a client's organization. Could be the actual buyer, but many times is just someone who is paid to say 'no', and really does not have any power to say 'yes'.

And you are stuck with him...or her.

How do you break the bond?

I worked with a client this spring; providing business development services to access and develop new strategic accounts in the global Engineering & Construction sector. We had one global E&C account with revenues over $6B, but my client (software company) had very little visibility and access into the account. My role: providing company & industry insights, access to key executives, and refine the sales strategy; complementing and assisting the account manager and his team.

And his main contact in this company was simply...a pill. Someone who was almost hostile to the account manager, who in turn was oblivious to the verbal assault. But someone who did have the power to affect the terms of an enterprise level deal.

Ok, we can just go around him, using my relationships (which were at a much higher level in practice management).

Right?

This gatekeeper made it be known that we were NOT to go around him....everything HAD to be coordinated via him.

(Where's Dr. Phil when you really need him?)

Plus, the guy always wanted to meet over lunch.....hmmm; wonder why?

A new strategy was needed. One that minimized the gatekeeper's impact, kept the account manager motivated, and hopefully one that could turn this around.

What was accomplished:

- Killing with kindness (not a great ROI given the level of effort, but there was some minor amount of 'R')

- Me working with my relationships, and providing my account manager with 'plausible deniability':

("Honest, Mr Gatekeeper; I did not know Scott was talking to Ms. SVP of Corp. Dev!!")

- Appealing to the Gatekeeper's primary need: perform less work. We told him we could get other staff within his organization involved, and run all decisions through him. All the power, none of the hassle.

- Finally, working with executives (I was developing some 'benchmarking' for the industry....gave me a reason to reach out) who had a vested interest in our success (the SVP of Process Mfg, and key program managers who wielded enormous influence), and getting them to support our gatekeeper (not that easy to do, given the gatekeeper's internal reputation, as it was).

Rocket science? No.

Lots of lunches? Yes.

Thinly disguised compliments? Sure.

To summarize: taking a chance on alienating the gatekeeper (via my role....note: why do I have to be the bad cop?), getting key influencers involved, allowing the gatekeeper to maintain his position of authority, supporting him via other internal leaders (which made him feel good), and putting him in a position where he had to go forward or would be perceived as truly a gatekeeper.

It's funny, but gatekeepers do not want to be perceived as gatekeepers.

Who knew. Read more!

Business Models for Social Networking Sites

As a follow up to a previous post (here) on the need for social networking in sustainability communities, and the potential of social networking on a personal / individual level (here), there are some business strategies that may be followed for growth in this space.

Companies such as Viridus, Celsias, Ning groups, and others need to leverage their most important attribute: their network of users. The challenge is how to grow the network and retain & engage members; without alienating them. Facebook, for example, has growth exponentially; has attracted demographic groups beyond that of the college crowd, but still had a revolt on their hands when they reduced the (perceived) privacy of their users with new tracking applets. They are big enough, so that this was a minor bump in their growth; for a start up, that error could be disasterous.

How do we leverage the community? Here are some revenue building initiatives that may apply in the sustainability sector:

• Provide market research opportunities to outside corporations (allow corporations to test their brand image; new product releases, or to attract new talent via surveys)
• Allow targeted ads for user pages, profiles, groups, etc
• Design for internal use on a company's intranet
• Set up job posting (similar to E-lance and Guru.com) and job searching service
• Build in knowledge management (i.e. search, knowledge sharing, virtual communities, groups) and license third party access from vendors who may provide specific content and expertise

One area that intrigues me is building an internal site for a corporation; essentially creating a virtual community of sustainability professionals inside the firewall. The social networking company might also provide access to 'federated' data; profiles and groups outside of the firewall, with voluntary 'opt -in' procedures for users. This would minimize / eliminate any privacy concerns, and also motivate specific users groups to join, if they thought there were advantages to do so (job search inside a company, internal networking, specific content they were seeking).

A key challenge for this scenario would be how to integrate into other KM and intranet systems, so that the social networking site was not a siloed application.

Read more!

Will Crisis Management drive Sustainability Adoption? (also published on TriplePundit.com)

(This post was also published on TriplePundit.com)

Recent conversations with sustainability execs, including those in the product - centric industries (CPG, discrete mfg) and in technology firms, have centered around adoption of internal sustainability programs (that is: executive sponsorship and enactment of internal initiatives to create a sustainable organization and business model).

A central issue comes up: how to convince executives that sustainability programs are critical to the welfare, brand, and growth of their company?

As in any nascent market or as part of a new management trend, there are always 'thought leader' executives that 'get it' quickly; in this case: they understand the sustainability value proposition for their company, and more importantly, may articulate the specific programs and initiatives that need to be executed to acheive success.

But many execs are viewing sustainablity with a jaundiced eye; it may appear to be 'one more corporate exercise' as one exec told me. And many view sustainability as an additional layer of compliance (more on this in a future post).

This is not to denigrate or judge those executives who don't get it; the incentives for most of these people are ones that you would expect:

- Increase profitability
- Find and develop new product and services lines, or expand to new markets
- Attract and retain the best talent
- And, keep the company out of trouble (i.e. regulatory compliance, product liability mgt, maintain positive press and brand image, etc)

So what may drive sustainability adoption broadly throughout various sectors, beyond that of the 'thought leaders'?

Perhaps the lessons of the environmental regulations wave in the 1970 - 1980's are applicable; when corporations were hit with a multitude of regulations, such as hazardous waste rememdiation, toxics management, and clean air and water requirements.

I worked with corporate environmental officers in the leading process, discrete, and energy companies in that time period, and I was frustrated when I tried to advance proactive strategic environmental risk programs. The value proposition was simply: it pays to stay out of trouble by investing in such a program on an enterprise level.

This sales approach was not extremely successful.

Clients would listen and adopt strategic programs after a crisis hit; a spill or leak of hazardous materials, or evidence of disposal at a Superfund site, for examples. It is hard to invest in the future, especially for events that have not been experienced.

The driving force of adoption of more proactive, strategic environmental risk managment programs was 'crisis management': some companies found themselves in significant risk, in terms of past environmental management practices (or legacies'), with associated regulatory, cost, legal, and negative public image issues as a result. When viewed in this light, proactive strategies (such as sustainability) that encompass processes, people, and products, look like very good investments after all.

When we view sustainability program adoption today, there are certainly those companies who are visible due to their proactive approach (think Walmart), but: we are also drawn to environmental and health crisis's that have occurred; the Mattel issue with it's suppliers was a highly visible example of the need for a corporate sustainability program (or at least a sustainability initiative for the supply chain).

I would advance the idea that in the near term, the vast majority of corporations (i.e. those that are not 'thought leaders', and are in the population within 2 standard deviations of the bell shape curve of their sector) will not adopt sustainability programs unless faced with a crisis; either their own or one from a competitor or well known company. The crisis may not be a major one, but could be big enough to cause negative impacts on brand, customers or employees. They could be: product returns, worker health & safety, past environmental liabilities, losing key talent to competitors, or have a supplier face the same issues.

I don't think this adoption driver will continue on indefinitely, but given the lagging economy and business investment in key sectors (construction, manufacturing), many companies may defer on moving forward with enterprise level programs. When the economy turns around, adoption will probably hit some level of inflection point in the near future (2 years), where sustainability programs will not be a 'nice to have', but will be necessary to compete. But I do not think we are there yet. Read more!

Quick review of "Profit from the Peak" book: significant investments in sustainability and infrastructure?

I was provided a copy of "Profit from the Peak" from John Wiley & Sons, a new book on the history of fossil fuel development, and the associated investment opportunities that take advantage of emerging energy development as well as in targeted segments of 'traditional' oil & gas (i.e. discovery, development, refining, and distribution).

Just started reading it a week ago, but noted an area of particular interest: how the maturation of oil field development and 'peak oil' have spurred incredible investments in infrastructure (including development of sustainability / alternative energy projects).

There is a general consensus that we are past 'peak oil' (the optimum rate of production), and discovery of new major oil fields is not anticipated. Therefore, Middle East countries, who are awash in royalties, are now investing in and building infrastructure for refining, chemicals production, and distribution (will they invest in the retail side?).

This level of investment in infrastructure by Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Bahrain is simply amazing. These countries are investing in engineering & construction services to the general level of $350 billion in the near future. The reason for this investment level: the oil producing companies in the Middle East have determined that they if they can control more of the downstream lifecycle for oil & gas, they can substantially increase their profitability, compared to that associated with oil production. And with production and development investments not predicted to rise appreciably given the state of peak oil, this is the time to invest in other parts of the lifecycle.

And that requires skills and labor in engineering design, construction, and operations; along with significant requirements in materials (i.e. steel, cement, networks / telecom, monitoring systems, chemicals, etc).

What does this mean for the AEC sector, and for sustainability (specifically alternative energy development)? Some thoughts:

• Many of the global AECs are currently very active in the Middle East, and have set up new operations / offices there. The talent required to deliver on these projects is coming from multiple locales: India, China, EMEA, US. But talent availability remains a bottleneck.
• Given the huge level of investments and associated demand for talent, many of these global AECs are somewhat strapped for talent here in the US. One executive told me that between the two markets of Iraq rehabilitation and UAE development, that the US market for them has become secondary.
• The 'greenfield' opportunities (building new facilities, as opposed to retrofitting older ones) means that owners are very open to new technologies and designs; particularly those that will optimize use of precious resources in the area, such as water. Two primary sustainability markets are benefitting as a result: alternative energy development (solar PV), and water treatment, distribution, and recycling.

What does this mean to cleantech start ups? Build relationships with practitioners in the leading global AECs; not the corporate development or business development leaders. Why? The practitioners, in most cases senior program managers with client relationship and deployment responsibilities, are the ones who can make decisions on integration of new technologies, since their clients are the ones will who pay (as opposed to investment on the part of the AEC firm). I think this applies to early stage cleantech firms as well, that may still require success in a 'test bed' or pilot demonstration before scaling to a larger infrastructure project.

Interesting reading....may post again on other topics in this book.... Read more!