Hall of Fame football coach Bill Parcells infamously lamented his lack of input in personnel decisions when departing the New England Patriots by saying, “They want you to cook the dinner; at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” The Jordan Institute, a nonprofit energy reduction think tank in Concord, was having something of the opposite problem, completing the shopping list only to watch from outside the kitchen as someone else whipped up the meal.
Thanks to the creation of Resilient Buildings Group, a recently created for-profit subsidiary of the Jordan Institute, dinner is now served in-house.
And the staff members continue to work to find efficient ways for you to cook your dinner without the heat from the oven escaping through invisible nooks and crannies.
The Jordan Institute has operated as a nonprofit since its inception in 1995 following a bequest from Doyle and Lenore Jordan, creating energy-reduction solutions for clients all over New England. But the construction projects would have to be handed off to contractors, who often would fail to follow through on many of Jordan’s suggestions.
With dwindling public funding making things difficult for Jordan to stay afloat as it was currently constituted, the board of directors recently voted to create Resilient Buildings Group, a subsidiary that will allow the organization to see projects through from beginning to end. Though the driving force may have been the uncertainty surrounding public funds, the outcome is something Jordan staffers consider little more than a natural evolution.
“We recognized we couldn’t continue as a nonprofit the way we’ve been set up, so this is our solution to it. And we’re pretty darn excited about it,” Laura Richardson, interim executive director of the Jordan Institute, said. “This will allow us to grow again.”
It’s a time of significant change at Jordan, as Richardson has stepped in as executive director following the resignation of Dick Henry, who held the position for more than six years. Henry was “a powerful force” and the face of the organization, Richardson said, and his departure was followed shortly thereafter with the decision to change the direction of the company by creating RBG, a move that has been official for a little more than a month. The Jordan Institute will continue to be a presence in the policy field, where it has developed a strong reputation, Richardson said.
Jordan has long been a leader in the field of energy solutions, helping to reduce energy use and costs by creatively tweaking buildings. The majority of carbon emissions come from buildings, Richardson said, and in New Hampshire the majority of energy goes toward heating, most frequently with oil. The company has focused on helping to eliminate the wasted energy escaping from buildings while striving to create cleaner solutions, such as wood pellet fuel.
“We’re a mission-driven organization seeking solutions to climate change,” Richardson said. “And we do that through addressing energy wasted in buildings. The goal is to turn this into what is normal. These are no longer pilot projects.”
Among Jordan’s greatest successes is an industrial warehouse in the North Country that was hemorrhaging heat to the point that snow never stayed on the roof despite the northern locale. Jordan helped insulate the outside of the building before siding it, did some air-sealing and electrical work inside and changed the fuel source from oil to wood pellets. The end result: an 80 percent reduction in heating costs and a 54 percent reduction in energy use.
The group also encountered an historic building in Claremont that included retail space and low-income apartments and had large windows made of plexiglass and one thermostat on the premises, which led to freezing conditions downstairs and sweltering conditions upstairs. The upstairs occupants would open their windows during the winter, and the escaping heat led to what Richardson called the “stack effect.” Ultimately, the Jordan Institute didn’t have to replace the windows – instead it provided air sealing and insulation and again switched to wood pellet fuel.
The building experienced more than a 50 percent decrease in heating costs and is now near 100 percent occupancy. There is also a thermostat in each unit.
Not all projects were completed so successfully, though, because Jordan was handing off its suggestions to construction crews and contractors. The exciting part about the creation of RBG is that every detail will be followed through to the finish by members of the Jordan and RBG staff.
“Now, we’re one-stop shopping here,” Dana Nute, who will head up RBG as general manager and is director of project implementation at Jordan, said. “We can deliver everything and give clients the quality product and be more of an owner advocate than a regular contractor would. It’s a real plus, and it’s a continuation of what we want to get done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create more energy-efficient buildings.”
When Jordan or RBG is consulted on a project, they provide an energy audit that includes a look at annual energy use for three years, in comparison to weather conditions (temperature, etc.). That data is then compared to similar buildings. Often, an industrial machine is brought in to blow the air out of the building in order to discover leaky spots, and the organization analyzes where energy is wasted while considering lighting, heating and cooling systems and the amount of fresh air coming into the building.
Jordan and RBG staffers don’t just talk the talk, either. Richardson lives “off the grid,” she said, in a home that uses 1,500-kilowatt hours per year, 87 percent less than the norm. She and her husband power their home with solar panels, heat with passive solar and use a cordwood gasifier for hot water, using between three and four cords of wood per year. She also drives a Toyota Prius to help offset her long commute to Concord from the mountains.
“This is what I read; this is what I eat, drink and sleep,” Richardson said of energy reduction. “This is what excites me. I’m really passionate about it, and I try to be a role model and leader, and the company does, too.”
As RBG takes hold, Jordan will continue in the “energy think tank” style, Richardson said, with RBG become the project-related arm. And the organization is treading onto new ground with both eyes still on the future and remaining at the forefront of energy reduction.
“This is just a normal evolutionary process, and we look at it as a very exciting one,” Richardson said. “We don’t want to do things just to make people happy; we want to get things done. We want to make sure we’re actively creating solutions.”
To learn more about Resilient Buildings Group, visit resilientbuildingsgroup.com. For more on the Jordan Institute, visit jordaninstitute.org.
