1. Notes from the Field:
VERGE DC Conference 2012
John Lehnert
Sustainable Urban Development
Presidio Graduate School
April 22, 2012

2. Verge DC: Overview
A project of GreenBiz – research, events
Convergence of four key technologies:
• Energy
• Building
• Transportation
• Information
All of these are vital for urban sustainability
Recorded event content available at: http://www.greenbiz.com/microsite/verge

3. Century of the City
Demographics & Economics:
• 50% world population (now)  70% (2050)
• Top 100 cities comprise 30% of world GDP
• Middle class: 1.8 B (now)  4.8 B (2030)
Upside: larger cities = more efficient / effective
Downside: look at Nigeria today (NY Times)
Panel discussion: Cities as a Catalyst for Sustainability
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/world/africa/in-nigeria-a-preview-of-an-
overcrowded-planet.html

4. Century of the City
“Citystates” - states of cities define how they matter
1) Connected
2) Decisive
3) Adaptive
4) Collaborative
5) Visceral
6) Personal
7) Experimental
http://www.greenbiz.com/sites/default/files/SustainAbility_Citystates_March2012_0.pdf

5. Energy: The New (resilient) Grid
• Utilities:
“dinosaurs”
• Micro-utilities:
need price info
• Data in real time
• Monitoring
(e.g. Opower)
Interview: Jon Wellinghoff, FERC
Panel discussion: Liberating Energy Data

6. Buildings: Energy Efficiency
Built environment is leading user of electricity
Key Trends:
• Measure/monitor
• More project data
• Behavior > tech
• People = sensors
Accelerating Green Building Market Transformation (Pyke)
Panel Discussion: Revolutionizing the Built Environment
http://cm.asu.edu [campus metabolism] – enlisting students to reduce energy use
http://www.envisioncharlotte.com/ - targeting/tracking/displaying bldg energy use

7. Transportation: Electric Vehicles
EV (autos, motorcycles)
Must address access to power
Convergent benefit:
Cars as grid power
storage
Technology:
Lighter materials = lower battery-power needs
Panel Discussion: Paving the Way for a National Network of EV’s
Daniel Kim (Lit Motors)
Interview: Amory Lovins – see also “Reinventing Fire”

8. Information: Big Data
The “Global Brain”
• Humans connected/augmented
The Internet of Things
• 50 B devices
• Using ambient energy
Urban Datasets
• London DataStore
Tim O’Reilly
Kent Dickson (Tendril)

9. Information: Tools
AMEE:
Carbon footprint of everything
Tendril:
Connecting everything

10. Citystate: Adaptive/Experimental
Technology – Code for America
• IT solutions to urban challenges
Technology – City of San Francisco
• SFPark
Policy – City of Philadelphia
• Differential stormwater billing
Financial – B of A
• CDFI funds for energy efficiency
Panel discussion: Cities as a Catalyst for Sustainability; Jennifer Pahlka (Code for America)

11. Citystate: Collaboration / Competition
City of Philadelphia
• Recycling competition (3x increase)
• Dow – white roofs ( + heat tracking by NASA)
Social
Sharing/Access Economy Web Mobile
• City as a Service Prod
• Car Sharing & Svcs
Lisa Gansky: “The Mesh”
Robin Chase (Zip Car, Buzzcar)

12. My view of Convergence…
Transportation Energy Building
Data  Tools  Analysis
INFORMATION
Enables
Relationships
Learning
Innovation
CITIES