Category Archives: New Jersey

Join us at the NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference June 14-16, 2022

Posted on Friday, 3 June, 2022 by | Leave a comment

The 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference will be held virtually on June 14-15 and in-person on June 16 at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick.

The conference will feature 36 sessions, a virtual and in-person exhibit area, and ways to connect with fellow attendees as it brings together bold ideas, innovative solutions, proven concepts, and best practices for creating better, more inclusive, and equitable places where people live, work and play.

The conference format will feature a mix of concurrent sessions that are pre-recorded, live-streamed, and in-person. The virtual sessions will be available via Pheedloop, the conference platform, with Zoom integration.

We look forward to gathering in person on the final day of the conference at the Hyatt in New Brunswick.

How can we reimagine and redevelop more equitable cities?

Answers to these and other questions, along with many innovative ideas, will be presented through 36 sessions, a virtual and in-person exhibit area, and opportunities to connect with fellow attendees at the 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference hosted by @NewJerseyFuture and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association @njapa.

See you on June 14-16! Register today! #NJPRC22

Scroll down for more information or click to register: https://pheedloop.com/njprc22/site/home/

We know that many New Jersey communities are struggling with a multitude of economic, social, and environmental challenges. How can we create more equitable areas to live, work, and play?

Connect with New Jersey elected officials, professionals, and community leaders to discuss bold ideas, innovative solutions, proven concepts, and best practices for creating better, more inclusive places at the 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference.

Join us virtually on June 14-15 and in person at the Hyatt in New Brunswick on June 16. New Jersey is at a turning point, and the only way we can propel our state toward a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future is together!

Hundreds of visionary New Jersey professionals, elected officials, and community activists will be discussing how to restart, recover, and reimagine land use in a rapidly changing environment. The three-day conference features 36 sessions, a virtual and in-person exhibit area, and opportunities to connect with fellow attendees. Register today!

https://pheedloop.com/njprc22/site/home/

Registration Rates

  • Member: $300
  • Non-Member: $350
  • Elected Official: $250
  • Speaker: $250
  • Student: $200


Registration includes a full access pass to all conference programming including:

June 14-15: Convening virtually from 9:00am – 1:00pm each day

  • Eighteen (18) virtual sessions, including 2 plenaries
  • Virtual exhibit floor and networking
  • Virtual session videos will be available to all registered attendees for three months following the conference.

June 16: Convening in person at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick from 9:00am-5:00pm
The in-person offerings will follow safety guidance provided by the CDC and NJDOH.

  • Eighteen (18) in-person sessions, including 2 plenaries.
  • Exhibit floor and various networking opportunities.
  • Breakfast, lunch, and reception in the exhibit atrium.
  • Note: In-person sessions will not be recorded.

 

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Posted in Community, Events, New Jersey, News, Redevelopment, Sponsors

2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference June 14-16

Posted on Monday, 2 May, 2022 by | Leave a comment

How can we reimagine and redevelop more equitable communities?

Answers to these and other questions, along with many innovative ideas, will be presented through 36 sessions, a virtual and in-person exhibit area, and opportunities to connect with fellow attendees at the 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference hosted by @NewJerseyFuture and the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association @njapa.

See you on June 14-16! Register today! #NJPRC22

Scroll down for more information or click to register: https://pheedloop.com/njprc22/site/home/

We know that many New Jersey communities are struggling with a multitude of economic, social, and environmental challenges. How can we create more equitable areas to live, work, and play?

Connect with New Jersey elected officials, professionals, and community leaders to discuss bold ideas, innovative solutions, proven concepts, and best practices for creating better, more inclusive places at the 2022 NJ Planning and Redevelopment Conference.

Join us virtually on June 14-15 and in person at the Hyatt in New Brunswick on June 16. New Jersey is at a turning point, and the only way we can propel our state toward a more sustainable, resilient, and prosperous future is together!

Hundreds of visionary New Jersey professionals, elected officials, and community activists will be discussing how to restart, recover, and reimagine land use in a rapidly changing environment. The three-day conference features 36 sessions, a virtual and in-person exhibit area, and opportunities to connect with fellow attendees. Register today!

https://pheedloop.com/njprc22/site/home/

Registration Rates

  • Member: $300
  • Non-Member: $350
  • Elected Official: $250
  • Speaker: $250
  • Student: $200


Registration includes a full access pass to all conference programming including:

June 14-15: Convening virtually from 9:00am – 1:00pm each day

  • Eighteen (18) virtual sessions, including 2 plenaries
  • Virtual exhibit floor and networking
  • Virtual session videos will be available to all registered attendees for three months following the conference.

June 16: Convening in person at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick from 9:00am-5:00pm
The in-person offerings will follow safety guidance provided by the CDC and NJDOH.

  • Eighteen (18) in-person sessions, including 2 plenaries.
  • Exhibit floor and various networking opportunities.
  • Breakfast, lunch, and reception in the exhibit atrium.
  • Note: In-person sessions will not be recorded.

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Posted in Events, New Jersey, News, Redevelopment

Executive Director’s Year-End Letter

Posted on Monday, 16 December, 2019 by | Leave a comment

The Climate Crisis and What We’re Doing About It

Financing the Transition to a Regenerative Economy
With the Aim of Restoring the Climate and the Earth

Download PDF version of our year-end letter here

Executive Director’s Year-End Letter 2019

“Being alive right now means rethinking boundaries, pushing on the walls of your imagination. It means feeling around in this world for another one.” (Dan Zak, “Everything is Not Going to Be Okay: How to Live with Constant Reminders that the Earth Is in Trouble,” Washington Post)

Dear Friends and Supporters,

2019 has been a pretty tumultuous year for us, including both substantial achievements and disappointing setbacks. The good news is that Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) legislation is on its way in New Jersey, with both the Legislature and the Governor endorsing some version of this long-awaited financing tool. We expect PACE to be operational in 2020, and it could be as early as first quarter.

The first version of PACE legislation was introduced and passed into law in 2011; unfortunately it was flawed, and the Christie Administration took advantage of these flaws to block any meaningful action. Our organization, operating as New Jersey PACE, has been seeking to amend this law for more than seven years, during which time we co-authored at least three prior versions that were rejected. While in retrospect it seems unreal, there were good reasons to believe that PACE could be implemented in each of these years, despite the resistance of the banking industry and of the Governor’s staff at the time.

Evolving and Expanding the PACE Model

But since PACE is still not available in New Jersey (and many other jurisdictions), we continue to seek demonstration projects for the two alternative clean energy financing approaches that we have developed in partnership with structured finance experts, including a major NJ social impact investment fund. Once successfully piloted, these “PACE/Alternatives,”* as we’ve called them, including our New InterCreditor Clean Energy (NICCE, pronounced “nice”) and Deed-registered Renewables & Energy Efficiency Measures (DREEM), will provide commercial property owners anywhere in the US with access to PACE-like financing, regardless of whether PACE is allowed in their jurisdiction.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Climate Change, Cohousing, Community, Contribute, CRCS, Energy, G4CM, Global Issues, New Jersey, News, NJPACE, Nonprofit Activities, Regenerative Development, Sustainability, Transformation

Possible Planet Holiday Party & Fundraiser – Saturday, Dec 14, 2019, 2-6 pm

Posted on Friday, 29 November, 2019 by | Leave a comment

You’re invited to our

 Join us for community, thoughtful discussion, and the opportunity to make a difference.

Saturday, December 14
2-6 p.m.
@ 8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ

Bring something to share / BYOB
Bring your voices, instruments & holiday songs!

Meet people who care about restoring our communities and the climate.

Can’t Attend But Want to Support Us?

At the party, we’ll share our mission and initiatives, and you can contribute to the “mother ship,” Possible Planet, or earmark your donation to one of our initiatives:

Global Carbon Reward 
Ecovillage New Jersey 
Ecovillagers Alliance
New Jersey PACE / Regenerative Financing 
Possible Planet (General Fund)

 

Attend the Party

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Posted in Climate Change, Cohousing, CRCS, New Jersey, News, Nonprofit Activities, Transformation

CRCS and Possible Planet

Posted on Friday, 9 August, 2019 by | Leave a comment

CRCS (our full legal name is Center for Regenerative Community Solutions, a NJ Nonprofit Corporation) is now also Possible Planet, and the larger part of our work is maintained and updated at www.PossiblePlanet.org. Apologies to several who have left feedback here but have not received an answer. (I have just discovered these entries, and plan to respond to them.)

Much of what is retained here is of archival interest only. But everything we’re now working on has grown out of the thinking and action, reflected here, about the development of solutions that help to strengthen the regenerative capacity of communities. We have principally focused on innovative financing methods for the transition to a clean economy, an economy that is sustainable over the long term, restores rather than damages the Earth, and provides a better living environment for everyone. This led us to initially concentrate on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), and create New Jersey PACE as an alternate identity, and subsequently on the development of “PACE Alternatives” that don’t require state legislation or municipal approval but can be done within existing contract law.

Along the way, we acquired three other projects as a “fiscal sponsor,” projects that represent further approaches to creating a more livable, healthful, and self-sustaining future. Two are related to the development of cohousing and ecovillage neighborhoods, Ecovillage New Jersey, and the Ecovillagers Alliance. The third is a global monetary policy proposal, to address the risk of a catastrophic shock to financial and economic systems (and the concurrent damage to the planet’s life support systems), called Global 4C (which stands for “complementary currencies for climate change”). The basic proposal is to issue a monetary reward for carbon sequestered or abated anywhere in the world, to anyone able to demonstrate that they are reducing emissions or withdrawing carbon from the atmosphere. Issuing such a reward requires only a very modest expansion of the money supply, accompanied by the creation of a greatly expanded economic sector devoted to cleaning up the mess we’ve already created. Currently we’re working on a case study to demonstrate how this can be done in the field of regenerative agriculture, working with various combinations of rock dust, biochar, and compost, to develop the most effective ways of sequestering CO2 in the soil where it supports the natural growth of the crops and livestock we need to survive.

What this leads to more broadly is an examination of what’s needed, ecologically, and how to invest what we need to get there. Financing ecosystem restoration, clean energy, and sustainable human habitation are all aspects of this that offer almost unlimited opportunity for a new generation of businesses, cooperatives, and community financial institutions to create sustainable growth, i.e., economic growth that restores, strengthens, and maintains natural systems instead of trashing them. So follow us, and join us, at PossiblePlanet.org.

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Posted in Carbon Pollution, Climate Change, CO2 Mitigation, Cohousing, Community, CRCS, Energy, Events, G4CM, New Jersey, Nonprofit Activities, Regenerative Development, Sustainability, Transformation

February 28 Event at Rutgers: Transitioning NJ to 100% Renewables

Posted on Wednesday, 21 February, 2018 by | Leave a comment

Our friends at Food and Water Watch write:

With every year of delayed action, we move closer to runaway climate catastrophe. Pollution from our current energy system is already taking a massive toll on our public health and safety, with disproportionate impacts on low income and communities of color. And nearly a dozen new fossil fuel expansion projects are currently proposed in New Jersey, including several dirty, dangerous oil and gas pipelines through our irreplaceable water sources.

Join us for an important event on climate change and dirty energy development in New Jersey, and learn how we can transition the state to 100% renewables!

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Posted in Carbon Pollution, Climate Change, CRCS, Energy, Events, New Jersey, Nonprofit Activities

Restarting the Clean Energy Revolution in New Jersey

Posted on Tuesday, 19 December, 2017 by | Leave a comment


New Jersey is about to experience a surge of new clean energy projects, unleashing a considerable amount of additional private financing for energy efficiency and renewables.

Amendments to NJ’s existing PACE law are being passed in the NJ Legislature this month. Governor Christie has the opportunity to sign this legislation before he leaves office. Given that the new bill includes amendments based on his 2015 conditional veto, Governor Christie could (and we think, should) sign Commercial-only PACE legislation as part of his economic legacy.

PACE — Property Assessed Clean Energy — is a new source of financing for commercial projects. More than a dozen states have PACE programs which have collectively financed almost half a billion dollars worth of projects across the US and created almost 7,500 jobs. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of new construction and retrofit projects that are eligible for this new form of financing

For a general description of PACE see What is PACE?

The key benefits of Commercial PACE are that it:

  • Saves property owners money on energy
  • Creates local jobs and economic development
  • Helps the environment by reducing carbon emissions

The most appealing features of Commercial PACE for energy efficiency, renewable energy and resiliency financing are that it:

  • Covers 100% up front financing, including project development costs, and can be off-balance sheet
  • Allows terms of up to 30 years, allowing projects to be cash-flow positive from the start
  • Remains with the building upon sale
  • Allows payments to be passed along to tenants, resolving the split incentive issue
  • Increases the value and competitiveness of the building

Property owners can receive subsidies and incentives from the NJ Clean Energy Program, and use PACE financing to finance 100% of the remaining hard and soft costs.

Other potential sources of energy-improvement financing include state programs such as the proposed Public Bank, a possible Green Bank, and the New Jersey Resilience Bank (which has already committed all of its available funds). But each of these is likely to take longer to implement than PACE, requiring additional legislative approvals.

The distinguishing feature of PACE is that it does not involve any public funds, is wholly decentralized through the municipalities and the private sector, and is not managed by the state. It can get off the ground immediately, and make a substantial impact on creating jobs and reducing emissions.

 

Ramping up both public and private funding

Our preliminary estimates suggest that the potential for clean energy improvements of commercial properties in New Jersey may be more than $75 billion, including renewables and efficiency improvements, even a fraction of which is capable of creating an enormous boost in jobs and economic development.

What this means is that PACE could rapidly exceed the current level of public clean energy financing in the state, potentially more than doubling the extent of market transformation. Commercial PACE can provide 100%, non-recourse, and off-balance-sheet financing for a wide range of projects; or simply bridge the gap between what the Clean Energy Program provides and the total cost of the project. In addition, there are other innovative financing structures that have been devised specifically to take the place of PACE where PACE is not yet available. So the private market is going to drive the transition further and faster than ever.

 

Continue reading →

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Posted in Carbon Pollution, CRCS, Energy, Money, New Jersey, News, NJPACE

New Directions for 2017

Posted on Monday, 23 January, 2017 by | 1 comment

CRCS will be moving in several new directions this year, which we think will be of interest to a wider audience than just those of us interested in financing clean energy. We’ve been focusing more on communities in the past year, and on the values and vision that led to our mission, to assist local communities and neighborhoods to become more resilient in the face of the widening impacts of a changing climate.

We are proposing to work with one or two towns in New Jersey on their revitalization and self-renewal. Culture actually holds the key to greater local resilience, alongside the physical transformation of communities into eco-communities. And organization is what’s needed to transform culture. We are planning to create “civic cooperatives” that will lead these communities into a positive self-generating future. Many communities are today experiencing decline, or struggling to ignite a self-renewal, within the broader context of the need for a world for a world that shifts carbon from the atmosphere back into the soil. The cooperative model has proven itself to be more enduring, more beneficial, and often more valuable to communities than the conventional marketplace business model.

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Posted in Climate Change, Cohousing, Community, CRCS, Energy, New Jersey, News, Nonprofit Activities, Regenerative Development, Sustainability

NJPACE Launching a Coalition for PACE in New Jersey

Posted on Wednesday, 30 December, 2015 by | 1 comment

C4Plogo2In the wake of Governor Christie’s conditional veto of A2579/S1510, New Jersey PACE is initiating a coalition of key players to:

(a) resolve any issues standing in the way of a new, comprehensive, and workable bill — acceptable to all constituencies, insofar as possible — that initiates the development of a robust and secure PACE industry, and

(b) develop an industry alliance that helps expand the program to all sectors and all corners of the state.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Community, Energy, New Jersey, NJPACE, Nonprofit Activities

Updates: July-August 2015

Posted on Monday, 3 August, 2015 by | Leave a comment

Our main focus at this point is building out New Jersey PACE, an open-market platform for commercial PACE deals anywhere in the state. The critical amending legislation (A2579/S1510) passed at the end of June; we are now waiting for the front office review and the Governor’s signature. In the meantime we reviewing and revising parts of our web presence to make them more accessible and self-evident. We anticipate a significant backlog of projects once the law is signed, and we want to make the process as easy as possible for everyone to understand and implement.

At the same time, CRCS as an engine of change is continuing to evolve new projects – some our own, built on or around the PACE model; and some from others, such as Dr. Delton Chen’s Global4C project, which is attracting worldwide attention. We’re gradually getting into various models of “fiscal sponsorship” for organizations and projects that we see as compatible with or related to our mission. In most cases — such as our Regenerative Cohousing initiative — our goal is to bring these projects in-house, under our own umbrella; but in a couple of instances we may support fledgling organizations until they get their own IRS exemption.

Finally, we’re exploring further opportunities for individuals to profit from the transition to renewable energy — from the bulk purchase of green energy, the installation of solar with no upfront cost to the property owner, to the use of PACE in underserved communities and distressed neighborhoods. Stay tuned.

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Posted in Cohousing, Community, CRCS, Energy, G4CM, New Jersey, NJPACE, Nonprofit Activities