Sabin Sustainable Venture Prize Speaker Series Yale Center for Business and the Environment

Seattle's net zero energy and water independent Bullitt Center is the most advanced green office building ever built, designed to meet the stringent imperatives of the Living Building Challenge. Learn from Chris Rogers of Point32 how their innovative team designed and developed this office building of the future, and how the forward-thinking model can be replicated elsewhere. The Bullitt Center has been featured in the New York Times and Fast Company Magazine.

In 1950 less than 30% of the world's population lived in cites, by 2010 that figure was over 50%, and by 2030 it is expected to surpass 60%. To meet the needs of this massive demographic shift, new transportation infrastructure will need to be built, existing infrastructure repurposed and new technologies developed and deployed. These changes will require new and different approaches to planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining transportation solutions and systems. On September 16th at 11:45am, Professor Karen Seto led a discussion with three leading voices from the private sector for an in-depth exploration of the future of transportation in the US.

How can the US develop new sustainable transit systems for an increasingly urban society?
Considering that much of our infrastructure was built during the "car-era", how can communities repurpose or redesign that infrastructure to achieve a changing set of environmental, social and economic objectives?
In an era of constrained public budgets and spending, how can the transportation sector and governments reach their sustainability and carbon emissions reduction targets in the most cost effective manner?

The speaker series is co-sponsored by Yale Entrepreneurial Institute and the Yale Center for Business and the Environment.

Hundreds of new energy and resource companies have been launched over the last decade, but too few have reached commercial success. A breakthrough innovation won't generate financial return or environmental benefit unless it's executed at scale. What new strategies are available to scale up the most promising technologies and business models?

Please join the Yale Center for Business and the Environment for a panel discussion with leaders of Connecticut's growing entrepreneurial community to explore the challenges and opportunities of building a richer environment for startups.

In order to attract and develop successful new ventures, Connecticut is creating a network of organizations that aim to connect entrepreneurs to resources and to accelerate the growth of early stage companies.

Featured Speakers

Derek Koch - CEO of Independent Software and Manager of the Grid, New Haven's effort to build an innovation hub

Tim Coates - Managing Director of CTNEXT, Connecticut's Innovation Ecosystem

Casey Pickett - Director of Innovation for the State of Connecticut, Department of Economic and Community Development

Moderator

Ben Berkowitz - CEO and Co-Founder of SeeClickFix, New Haven grown startup and leader in Gov 2.0 technology

Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest Power, shares his personal journey as a serial entrepreneur in the renewable organic waste industry for the past 25 years. Mr. Sellew discusses how his past experiences helped shape Harvest Power's current business model that addresses one of the fundamental Cleantech paradoxes: how to prioritize sustainability while maintaining a healthy bottom line.