BOISE, Idaho -- The winter inversion season is a reminder of the daily pollution seen in valley communities across the West.

Inversions are weather patterns that occur when warm air acts like a lid, trapping colder air in valleys and causing stagnation.

When it's unable to move, air quality suffers and can even be dangerous for sensitive populations, including children and older people.

Austin Walkins, a senior conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, says inversions on their own aren't necessarily bad, but are intensified by certain activities.

"Pollution that comes from vehicle tailpipes, from wood stoves, from industrial facilities, normally goes up in the air, mixes and then gets blown away and dispersed," he points out. "During inversions, all of that just gets stuck in these valley communities. And so, it starts to have a really significant impact on public health."

Walkins says folks can improve air quality during inversions by limiting what they burn in wood stoves and by driving less. He suggests taking public transit if it's an option.

Walkins says he hears resistance from people who say one less car on the road won't help. But he maintains getting everybody on board is integral to protecting public health during an inversion.

"Every single bit of air pollution that we can keep out of the air benefits everyone," he stresses. "So, we encourage folks to be that leader in their community and say, you know, 'I know that everyone else is still driving, but I'm going to take the bus, and then I'm going to challenge my friends and family to take the bus.'"

Walkins commends Valley Regional Transit in the fight against tailpipe pollution with its recent purchase of eight electric buses. The low-emission transporters coming to the Treasure Valley will be the first mass transit electric buses in Idaho.

By Phil Roberts for Next City.
Broadcast version by Edwin J. Viera for New York News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

BlocPower, a clean technology start-up, is greening buildings in New York City and beyond. About 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings. And when buildings use oil or natural gas as a heating fuel, they also produce smoke that can cause or worsen asthma and other health problems.

In New York City alone, more than 10,000 multifamily buildings still use boilers that run on fuel oil or natural gas, and buildings that primarily serve low-income tenants are least positioned to pay for the expensive upgrades that would eliminate these emissions.

Enter BlocPower, a Black-owned, cleantech startup that works with these buildings to turn them green, swapping oil or gas for heat pumps. The startup helps buildings transition away from fossil-fuel-powered boilers and toward electric heat pumps, without paying large sums of money upfront. BlocPower - and its investors - are repaid from the savings on buildings' utility bills. In New York City, BlocPower has made it work for over 1,000 buildings, with 24 ongoing projects in other U.S. cities.

"Two of the barriers that we break down are customer acquisition costs and the lack of capital by building owners," explains Keith Kinch, General Manager and co-Founder at BlocPower. Building owners complete a survey on the BlocPower website and get an analysis of their building's energy savings potential. But many building owners don't have capital to finance these projects on their own, so BlocPower provides a no money down lease option. Building owners get a new heating or cooling system and save up to 70 percent on their energy bills. Kinch explains the importance of overcoming those two barriers with the company's unofficial motto: "We are turning buildings into Teslas!"

Once the heat pumps are installed, BlocPower uses the leasing revenue to cover all maintenance and repairs for 15 years. A proprietary software determines which buildings would benefit most from such a retrofit, and after installation, monitors, analyzes, and manages the heat pumps on every project to ensure optimal performance. BlocPower's revenues come from the installation profits, financing fees, and the enterprise contracts.

Heat pump technology - which is essentially an air conditioner (or a reverse air conditioner when used to heat a space) is not without its criticisms, depending on the existing energy source of a geographic location. Since heat pumps use electricity, if a home's electricity source comes from a coal-burning power plant, critics say that a heat pump simply moves emissions from one place to another. BlocPower still believes that heat pumps are important because they provide heat in the winter, cool air in the summer, and they run on electricity.

The scale of what BlocPower has done would not be possible without the NY Green Bank, a state-sponsored entity dedicated to helping finance investments in clean energy, which loaned the company $5 million. "They provide capital that traditional banks do not provide. They've done tremendous work in allowing us to complete projects," says Kinch.

It also helps that the company managed to partner with Goldman Sachs, which loaned them $50 million. It is hard to believe there was a time when BlocPower was not on Wall Street's radar, but those days are a mere memory now. When asked what changed, Kinch describes the simple way they got the attention of major investors.

"We had to prove that we're a viable company and have a record of accomplishments. We have both now," Kinch declares. "When we talk about the work it's not what we might do. We've done this work and we plan to do more. From Wall Street's end, I think there's more of an interest in investing in clean energy projects, because it's a market that will grow."

In a November 2020 interview, BlocPower founder and CEO Donnel Baird said that he sees a new asset class developing around national clean energy technology projects for investment banks and pension funds, independent of the fluctuations of the stock market. He believes that with the reduction in costs of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, solar energy, and smart heating technologies, this new asset class will become a long-term investment strategy, similar to a bond. (BlocPower did not make Baird available for an interview with Next City.)

BlocPower has done projects for nonprofit organizations, churches, and small commercial properties, but residential is where Kinch says the company looks at the most. "Owners of multi-family buildings in dense urban areas have the most to lose, because they've been underserved for years and don't have the capital."

For Kinch, the more money they receive, the more they can take their community level solution national. "It (the VC money) gave us more capital to finance projects across New York state. It allows us to expand the company by hiring the right people and build out our software tools so we can expand to other states like Pennsylvania and California."

Phil Roberts wrote this article for Next City.


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A successful program that helps low-income households weatherize homes and lower energy bills is setting its sights on improving the health outcomes of children and older Coloradans at risk of indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Ashley Feiertag, director of residential programs for Energy Outreach Colorado, spearheaded its Healthy Homes program, which recently won a $1-million dollar grant. She said the goal is to remove barriers for vulnerable households to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, improve indoor air quality, and reduce unsafe exposure to pollutants.

"In doing this we will help alleviate future health-care costs," she said. "We're also getting people signed up for community solar gardens. Those community solar credits help offset their utility bill."

Healthy Homes was one of three recipients of the ICLEI USA Action Fund, made possible through funding from Google, which aims to support innovative urban-based efforts to accelerate climate action through projects that are data-driven, highly replicable and impactful.

Feiertag said participating households will receive a thorough inspection of their home's energy efficiency, and experts will identify any sources of air pollution that can contribute to respiratory and other illness. In addition to adding harmful particulates to indoor air, appliances fueled by natural gas - including water heaters, furnaces, stoves and dryers - also contribute to climate pollution.

"So we're looking at replacing those with heat pump water heaters, air-sourced heat pumps, mini-split systems, induction stoves and electric dryers," Feiertag said.

Healthy homes has partnered with the City of Denver and area hospitals to identify those most in need of help. Feiertag hopes health-care providers will be able to write a prescription for these services for patients who are suffering from respiratory conditions, especially for families living in the shadow of highways, refineries and other persistent sources of air pollution.

"So if a person is experiencing asthma due to environmental factors, we will absolutely look at supplying them with a portable air cleaner," she said.

This story is based on original reporting by Elizabeth McGowan for Energy News Network, and is part of the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

An environmental advocacy group in Virginia has been working to bridge generational gaps. Third Act Virginia began as a group of elder climate activists who found the third act of their lives as part of the fight against climate change. Originally called Elderpower, the group merged with the national climate change advocacy group Third Act.

Bill Muth, co-coordinator of Third Act Virginia, has been fighting for a better environment for years. Recently, he has been working with kids from Open High School and finds empowerment from watching these kids turn their anger into activism.

"It's a very complicated emotional thing to move to activism," Muth said. "You have to first get in touch with your grief and your anger, and then you have to transform it somehow. And, we're not good at that. We're not good at emotions at all. And I'm not talking about kids, I'm talking about us, adults."

One of the core challenges has been making change happen. With the campaigns for banks to put funding toward climate programs, the group was not getting as many signatures as they thought they would. Another issue has been getting people to understand what climate change is, as some people feel it's such a broad topic. In spite of this, Third Act Virginia has been successful since they were one group that got the city of Richmond to declare a climate emergency.

Given his long experience with climate advocacy, Muth has found young people are not necessarily interested in advice from older generations. Instead, young climate activists just want to be heard.

"They want space and resources to be heard," Muth said. They want to be able to go into City Hall and be heard. They want to know when there's new construction happening in their neighborhoods well in advance so they can review the potential impacts."

He is proud of the work young activists are doing and regrets how the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed their work. But, as the world adjusts to life with COVID, he finds activists are working to make up for lost time. Muth added he does not feel he has to inspire younger activists, but he can find people willing to join their cause and help them find resources.