Jim Hunt on Sustainability
This interview took place at the Sustainable Operations Summit in Monterey, California.
Jim Hunt, the Chief of Environment and Energy for the City of Boston, believes that some of the best drivers for sustainability are innovative financial models, not new technologies. Though solar panels and wind turbines are promising to both governments and businesses, it is the funding and support of these technologies that gets them off the ground and into people’s hands.
Hunt has seen more and more sustainability coordinators in government offices since his position was created by Boston mayor Thomas Menino three years ago. On the corporate side, Hunt has seen more social responsibility officers at the executive level.
However, Jim Hunt believes that the most fundamental position that both businesses and governments can create is that of an energy manager. The person in this position would be tasked with implementing energy-efficiency initiatives, as well as monitoring realtime energy performance in buildings and operations.
Creating these new positions and applying more informed sets of financial support are key to creating a culture of sustainability at every level of business and government.
Curtiss P. Martin grew up in a geodesic dome on the side of a mountain in Southern Appalachia. Now he serves as ScribeMedia's clean technology editor in a tall building in downtown Manhattan.
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