The Eco Tenant Act

I had the pleasure of attending a remarkable event last week, called SEE (Social Entrepreneur Exchange) Innovation. Hosted by the Children's Museum in Kitchener, Ontario, it was a call to arms / networking event for people with ideas about social change, entrepreneurship, and enterprise. Each $20 entry fee is converted into two $10 chips, which participants are required to give away over the course of the evening to causes, ideas, and organizations that they wish to support. We also received one Two Hour time chip, also meant to be given away.

Participants are asked to present a 'pitch', for either an organization they are working with / starting, or an idea that they would like to see implemented. Admittedly, I was reluctant to pitch, being more of the wallflower type at these events. But an idea that has been swimming around in my subconscious for over a year now suddenly rapped on the back of my frontal lobe and wanted to be heard. Hence the birth of the Eco Tenant Act.

The pitch at "See" was a maximum of 60 seconds. I'll try my best to scribe it here (no doubt enhanced by selective memory ;)

"I am an architect, living and working in Waterloo Region, who specializes in green building and energy efficiency retrofits. Most of my clients are homeowners, and all of them are people with money, people who own their homes. It is great work, but it fails to address over 30% of our housing stock, the rentals. Programs like EcoEnergy have been amazing in addressing single family owned homes, but for the most part leave behind rental housing. Landlords have little incentive to invest in energy upgrades, since tenants most often pay the utility bills. The IPCC has identified building retrofits as the most cost effective way to reduce CO2 emissions.

I propose a micro credit or micro grant fund, accessible to tenants, to address energy efficiency retrofits and repairs. Replacing a broken window or door, insulating a wall, servicing or replacing a furnace, are all quick and simple jobs that could be done by local contractors, who would be paid directly out of the fund. Local utilities and municipalities who are looking for incentives with measurable results could fund based on real energy bills, and measure success of the program based on kilowatt hours and Btu's saved."

The response was unexpectedly enthusiastic, and my little box was heavy with poker chips by the end of the night. Whether I've ended up with a small army of 2 hour volunteers, or a hundred bucks to launch a whole new career, is still a mystery, but it is amazing what a galvanizing effect this can have on a vague concept of social enterprise. I think the phrase goes something like: "light a fire under your ass".

I'll keep you posted!