Welch Environmental Innovation Fellowship

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of 1.3 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things. Founded in 1970 by a group of law students and attorneys at the forefront of the environmental movement, our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws. Today, our staff of more than 300 lawyers, scientists and policy experts work out of offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

The NRDC's Center for Market Innovation (CMI) advances market mechanisms that channel capital toward environmentally sustainable and economically profitable investments. Our goal is to help finance the shift to a green economy. We do so by engaging with the business community, articulating and implementing value propositions in three areas: energy efficiency in the built environment, stormwater management financing and regenerative grazing.

Position Overview: 

CMI is seeking an outstanding candidate to work on CMI's stormwater management financing and regenerative agriculture initiatives. This is a 2 year position, and the candidate's time will be split approximately equally between green infrastructure and regenerative agriculture work. The selected candidate will receive a 2 year fellowship with CMI commencing in August 2012. This will be a full-time staff position based in NRDC's New York office.

Green Infrastructure:

CMI's work in green infrastructure focuses on developing and implementing mechanisms to draw private investment into the "greening" of our cities, with a specific focus on natural infrastructure as a means to manage stormwater runoff. In Philadelphia, where commercial property owners can get a nearly 100% credit against their stormwater utility bills if they replace paved areas with green areas, CMI is working closely with the Water Department and local stakeholders to structure financing of "stormwater retrofits" on commercial parcels.

See more details on CMI's stormwater retrofit financing work.

Regenerative Agriculture:

Because of the importance of agriculture to food water and climate, NRDC has created a multi-disciplinary, cross-programmatic Food and Agriculture Initiative. CMI is a key participant and is focused on identifying and demonstrating profitable and scalable of regenerative agriculture businesses, i.e. food production systems that:

• produce competitively priced, quality food;
• maximize reliance on natural systems for forage, water, nutrients, pest management, and energy;
• minimize dependence on fossil fuels, chemicals and irrigation;
• enhance natural ecosystems and boost resilience in the face of climate shocks; and
• supply currently unpriced ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration in croplands and grasslands.

Responsibilities:

Both the stormwater financing and regenerative agriculture projects aim to develop replicable, scalable processes for project implementation. The Welch Fellow position will encompass, but not be limited to, the following responsibilities:

• Envision/help develop replicable models that present property owners or investors with compelling business opportunities in, and a blueprint for executing advanced measures for, green infrastructure regenerative agriculture projects.
• Interact with diverse stakeholders including financial community, public sector, and local community representatives.
• Calculations of projected ROI for projects, working with subject matter experts to derive inputs to relevant models.
• Research, analyze and construct working models of successful regenerative agricultural business;
• Assist in structuring New York Food Investment Fund, an investment vehicle being developed by CMI and the NY Urban Program to invest along the food value chain in the New York food shed (initial focus is Catskills grass fed beef).
• Assist with evaluating investment opportunities for the New York Investment Fund.

The Welch Fellow will:

• draft detailed business case studies for a series of high performance tenant space build-outs, integrated with base building central system retrofits, where applicable, including documenting the modeled baseline energy consumption of each project, the expected reduction in energy consumption from installing efficiency measures, and the actual energy performance results of each project post-implementation.
• calculate the projected ROI of various packages of ECMs for tenant space build-outs, and refine and update a tool to determine the lease cycle cost of various efficiency measures.
• work with both the internal and external team members to provide detailed analysis of cost effective energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality opportunities, and ensure a comprehensive understanding of the costs and benefits of incorporating efficiency and improved IEQ measures in tenant projects.
• develop guidance to be used by the real estate industry as a blueprint for incorporating energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality as an integral part of any new tenant fit out.
• assist with the execution of other initiatives of the CMI building efficiency team, with an emphasis on landlord/tenant collaboration opportunities, and development of various energy efficiency financing mechanisms.

Qualifications:

We are looking for a real estate or financial sector professional with strong quantitative and writing skills and an understanding of energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality practices. In addition the ideal candidate would have:

• At least 3 years of relevant work experience in real estate management, finance, architecture, engineering, or construction.
• Demonstrated excellence in both verbal and written communication.
• Demonstrated strength in quantitative analysis.
• Knowledge of the real estate industry and LEED / high performance retrofit processes with a focus on energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
• Familiarity with metrics used to measure productivity gains resulting from improved indoor environmental quality is a plus but not required.
• Familiarity with energy modeling tools such as DOE's eQuest is a plus.
• Masters Degree in Business Administration with a focus on Real Estate, Masters Degree in Building Science, Master of Science in Real Estate, or equivalent. 

Compensation: We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a pleasant working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience.

To Apply:

To apply please create a profile. Once you complete the initial application page, please attach a formatted copy of your cover letter and resume. Please include salary requirements in your cover letter.

No phone calls or faxes please. Please reference where you saw this posting. 

Please visit NRDC's Center for Market Innovation for further information.

NRDC is committed to workplace diversity and inclusion. We are equal opportunity employers and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.