{"id":383,"date":"2018-04-22T19:08:06","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T19:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/04\/22\/2018422qu-earth-day-speaker-sheds-light-on-sustainability-efforts-in-connecticut\/"},"modified":"2020-09-05T19:44:44","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T19:44:44","slug":"2018422qu-earth-day-speaker-sheds-light-on-sustainability-efforts-in-connecticut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/2018\/04\/22\/2018422qu-earth-day-speaker-sheds-light-on-sustainability-efforts-in-connecticut\/","title":{"rendered":"QU Earth Day speaker sheds light on sustainability efforts in Connecticut"},"content":{"rendered":"<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:640.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:75.0%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image2.jpg\" alt=\"Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image2.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/image2.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"640x480\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5adcdb0b575d1f40f9983317\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>By Rob McGreevy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In honor of Earth Day, on April 20 Quinnipiac University\u2019s Student Programming Board invited Mark Robbins,&nbsp;president of <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mhrdevelopment.com\">MHR Development<\/a>,&nbsp;to speak in conjunction with other Earth Day related events.<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          \n          \n          \n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:640.0px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:75.0%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  data-animation-override\n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2_image1.jpg\" alt=\"The models at the April 20 fashion show wore eco-friendly dresses. | Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski\" \/><\/noscript><img class=\"thumb-image\" data-src=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2_image1.jpg\" data-image=\"http:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/2_image1.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"640x480\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"The models at the April 20 fashion show wore eco-friendly dresses. | Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5adcdcd3575d1f40f9987c85\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div><figcaption class=\"image-caption-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"image-caption\">\n<p>The models at the April 20 fashion show wore eco-friendly dresses. | Photo courtesy of Hanna Hejmowski<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The event opened with an Earth Day fashion show, where models wore eco-friendly garb, and finished with a speech about the role of buildings in relation to environment sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>Robbins talked about his company, which works to improve buildings, and what it does for the environment.<\/p>\n<p>He spoke about the importance of energy efficient buildings and shed some light on how much buildings contribute to climate change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGreenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere when we burn fossil fuels \u2013 oil and gas \u2013 to create electricity.\u201d Robbins said. \u201cThese buildings consume 40 percent of the electricity emitted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Robbins made an indirect connection between the electricity consumed and the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBuildings are responsible for 40 percent of the national carbon dioxide emissions,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cPeople say \u2018why are buildings emitting carbon?\u2019 well it\u2019s not the buildings that are emitting carbon,&nbsp;but the operation of these facilities \u2013 the heating and the cooling of the buildings is coming from power plants that are directly emitting carbon, and also heating the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MHR has worked on a number of significant projects in Connecticut such as Windermere on the Lake, a 80-acre site in North Stamford. It was originally supposed to be subdivided into multiple housing complexes until MHR stepped in. Robbins said, \u201cit\u2019s a very important site from an ecological perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MHR prevented the land from being fragmented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to create (a) meaningful habitat,\u201d Robbins said.<\/p>\n<p>So MHR reduced the size of each dwelling unit, expanded the wetlands and made sure the entire site was an uninterrupted habitat. In addition to the ecological measures, every building on the land was optimized to be as energy efficient as possible. The streetlights are lit by battery storage and every house is equipped with a septic tank that converts the discharge into water that, according to Robbins, \u201cis actually cleaner than rainwater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cost of energy in Connecticut is the second highest in the country because it imports most of its energy. According to Robbins, \u201cwe\u2019re not fracking here in Connecticut, we\u2019re not refining oil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This high cost, Robbins says, brings hope to clean energy industry in Connecticut.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen people say we\u2019re thinking about doing LED light bulbs or solar panels or investing in combined heat\/power equipment and better insulation, the payback here in Connecticut is astronomically better here than it is in the rest of the country,\u201d Robbins said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In honor of Earth Day, on April 20 Mark Robbins,&nbsp;president of&nbsp;MHR Development,&nbsp;came to speak at Quinnipiac about sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quinnipiac"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2746,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383\/revisions\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hqnn.org\/hqpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}