Westborough firm gets second chance in Big Easy
Conservation Services Group has plan for the rebuild
On Sept. 1, 2005, Westborough-based Conservation Services Group had plans to be at a New Orleans City Council meeting to deliver a proposal on improving the city's energy infrastructure.
But Hurricane Katrina, which leveled the Big Easy on Aug. 29, 2005, made the issue of aging energy infrastructure moot.
Until now.
Two years after Katrina changed the New Orleans landscape forever, CSG will get a second shot.
Details of the company's plan are to be presented to city councilors this month, Cowell said.
New Orleans' unique situation post-Katrina offered Cowell's group a rare opportunity to help the city develop a comprehensive plan from the ground up in an environment where speed has traditionally been favored over thoroughness, Cowell said.
"Most disaster recovery is characterized by absolute immediacy," Cowell said. "People end up short-cutting a lot of important details."
CSG's plan focuses on the smaller, but more widespread, home and small business re-building projects, leaving larger, institutional recovery policies to the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Cowell.
Saving through spending
Improving the building practices of area homebuilders and contractors through better training and more affordable energy efficient equipment, Cowell said, could help residents save as much as 25 percent on energy costs. Those savings would then in turn be used for the larger infrastructure redevelopment the city needs.
Cowell estimated that approximately $200 million would be needed to provide the necessary education and equipment required to get CSG's initiative off the ground. The money would come from banks, emergency relief funds, and other public and private institutions, he said.
The banks would realize a return on their investment through the savings of individual homes and businesses outfitted with more energy efficient equipment and construction methods, Cowell said.
If a homeowner saves $25 per month on energy costs, they can in turn afford to pay $15 a month to help reimburse the fund that supplied them with their new equipment, while still pocketing the $10.
Cowell admitted that the plan will take some convincing and a certain leap of faith on the part of planners and investors, but stressed that now is the time to implement efficient policies in the city.
"The focus is on the near term rebuilding," he said. "That's where most of the lost opportunities will be. If we don't intervene now, people will end up putting in equipment and designs they can't replace."
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments