Over the course of a sustained two-year effort, a group of 30 students within the Denver Public School District convinced the School Board of Education to approve a climate policy that helped the district become a national leader in climate action. Leanne Kittle, Executive Director of Sustainability, is responsible for developing and steering Denver's Climate Action Plan, which already saves the school system $5 million annually through carbon-cutting initiatives. LeeAnn joins host Josh Dorfman on the show. Riley Loveland Falvey, Associate Director at the New Buildings Institute, also joins the conversation to highlght efforts across the country where public school students are disrupting learning as usual to create a super cool climate future.

Utah is at the forefront of a major shift in residential solar energy. Rocky Mountain Power, the state's energy utility, is enrolling thousands of residents in Wattsmart, a pioneering program offering financial incentives and payments to homeowners who install grid-connected batteries alongside solar panels or retrofit older solar panel systems with new batteries. Rocky Mountain Power weaves these batteries together into a "virtual power plant" that keeps energy rates low, cuts carbon emissions, and fortifies the energy grid. Yet, convincing homeowners to adopt solar plus battery systems that are still expensive can pose challenges. In addition, a shifting landscape of solar incentives scared many solar companies into leaving Utah.

But one company stayed and went all in on solar-plus-battery systems. ES Solar steadily learned how to sell these systems to homeowners and profitably install and maintain them. To date, ES Solar accounts for 96% of all Wattsmart program installations, positioning the company at the forefront of a new residential solar era in America.

Zach Randall, Vice President of Sales for ES Solar, joins Supercool to discuss the solar landscape in Utah and the future of solar power in the United States.

Show Links:
Guest: Zach Randall
Company: ES Solar
Initiative: Rocky Mountain Power Wattsmart Battery Program

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Let's go to Vancouver, where Josh speaks with former Mayor Gregor Robertson, elected on a platform to make Vancouver the greenest city on the planet. Over three terms, Gregor's administration spearheaded many sustainability initiatives, including North America's largest sewer heat recovery system, which has provided zero-emissions heat and hot water to 6,000+ apartments in the False Creek neighborhood since 2010, when Vancouver hosted the Olympics. We also speak with Lynn Mueller, the inventor of that system and the founder of SHARC Energy.

Mayor Robertson also shares perspectives on his current role as the special envoy representing 13,000 cities in UN global climate negotiations to elevate cities' priorities in concert with the Global Covenant for Mayors on Climate and Energy.

Show Links:
Guests: Gregor Robertson and Lynn Mueller
Company: SHARC Energy
Organization: Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy
Initiative: Sewer Heat Recovery System Vancouver's False Creek Neighborhood

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In 2009, Gundersen Health System embarked on an audacious journey to generate all of its power from local, renewable energy sources. By 2014, the organization headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, succeeded. Alan Eber was right there near the beginning, first as Manager of Engineering and Energy and eventually rising to Director of Gundersen Envision, overseeing the entire energy and sustainability arm of the organization. Alan joins us to share this remarkable story of climate innovation. Harnessing the likes of wind, solar, geothermal, cow manure, landfill gas, and methane created from the operations of a local brewery, he and his team oversaw the development and implementation of a vast array of clean energy technologies. The results are a reduced carbon footprint, $5 million in annual energy savings, improved health conditions in the communities Gundersen serves, and lower healthcare costs for its patient populations. Eber is now CEO of Eneration, helping other healthcare systems pursue what he and his team accomplished at Gundersen.

Show Links:
Guests: Alan Eber
Company: Eneration
Initiative: Gundersen Envision
Health System: Emplify Health

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The low-carbon future is unfolding faster than most of us realize. In the U.S. alone, over 600 towns and cities are implementing climate action plans. Supercool explores civilization’s dynamic response to climate change, the people and places leading the way in cutting carbon emissions while saving money and improving our quality of life. Hosted by Josh Dorfman, climate author and entrepreneur, the show highlights today’s most innovative climate solutions that fit the modern world and bring society into balance with nature. Each episode showcases real-world examples and the data that backs it up, like hospitals running on renewable energy that saves $2 million each year, green-certified school buildings that improve student performance in math and reading, and how increased tree cover reduces crime in our inner cities. What if the future is actually supercool?

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