If you said “transportation,” you–like a great many other people, would be wrong. More particulate matter pollution can be traced to the energy used by our homes, stores, and office buildings than by our planes, trains, and automobiles. And yet most regions–including this one–immediately focus on policy changes and regulations in the transportation sector when seeking to meet air quality requirements.

Northeast Ohio–along with hundreds of other regions around the country–is out of compliance with the EPA’s air quality standards. And while the focus on things like truck idling and alternative fuels are necessary issues for us to address, the biggest cause of air pollution is the energy consumed by opeerating our homes and buildings.

On April 21, 2006 the City Club of Cleveland and NorTech will host Mr. Peter Garforth, Principal of Garforth International LLC who will present “Green Communities: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainability in Northeast Ohio.”

Mr. Garforth is the fourth speaker in the five part NorTech technology speaker series co-sponsored by the City Club of Cleveland. We hope you will join us in hearing what Peter has to say about a call to action for the region related to creating a master energy plan, one that makes the area distinctive globally as a center for urban renewal technologies and practices.

Peter will provide examples from Copenhagen and Glasgow (very similar to Greater Cleveland in an historical context–which I can attest to from my time working with Glasgow-based nmp) as models.

Garforth is based in Ohio and Brussels, Belgium, and helps major corporations, communities, property developers and policy makers develop competitive approaches to reducing the economic and environmental impact of energy use. He has long been interested in energy efficiency as a profitable business and has established successful energy productivity based businesses. His challenge to this region is one we can–and must–rise up to and meet.