Keynote Speaker Robert Hanna, Esq., the newly-appointed President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, provided an overview of the current state of New Jersey's Clean Energy program and then fielded questions from the audience. His overall tone was one of expectation of a high degree of engagement, and interest in the efforts of New Jersey's Higher Education community with respect to Clean Energy.

President Hanna was followed by Dr. Daniela Shebitz, of Kean University. She spent a few minutes discussing the NJHEPS/Kean University/EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Initiative. This initiative is focused on for Higher Education Institutions in EPA Region 2 (New Jersey, New York, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico). The intent of this initiative is to use a variety of educational programs, materials tools and resources to obtain baseline measures of greenhouse gas emissions and to then implement procedures, projects, and policies that will demonstrate measured reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. For more information on this effort, please visit http://www.njheps.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1090996

The group of approximately 50 attendees was then given a choice of participating in 2 of 3 concurrent workshop sessions:

• Applying for LGEA (Local Government Energy Audit) Funding   which was led by Mark Showers, President of NJAPPA and the Assistant Director of Facilities at Rowan University, and Roger Kliemisch, Assistant Vice President of TRC-Program Manager for Commercial and Industrial Programs for New Jersey's Clean Energy Program. The focus of this discussion initially was on how to conduct an energy audit to enable institutions to qualify for various financial incentives, but the topic quickly shifted to various issues and challenges that some institutions have experienced with the program, and ways to resolve them.

• Energy Efficiency Projects - Planning and Funding . This workshop was led Michael Kornitas, Energy Conservation Manager,   Rutgers, the State University of NJ and President of NJHEPS, as well as, Joseph Sullivan, Vice President, Energy Policy and Development for Concord Engineering. They provided a sequential approach to planning and implementing Energy Efficiency projects, including the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage (ATES) Facility at Stockton College, Rowan University's 69 KV substation which consolidated electricity to meet demand on a rapidly expanding campus, and a new Geothermal Heat Pump project for the Business School at Rutgers University. The discussion focused on ingredients for success, and lessons learned that could avoid potential project failures.

• Renewable Energy Projects - Planning and Funding. This workshop featured Andrew Christ, Associate Vice President for Facilities and Construction Management, New Jersey City University and President-Elect, NJAPPA, as well as, Benjamin S. Parvey II, CEO, Blue Sky Power. This workshop followed the same format as the Energy Efficiency session; the discussion addressed "do's and don'ts" of successful projects, while showcasing specific examples of solar energy projects at Georgian Court University and New Jersey City University. Common characteristics of process, and procedures, as well as "intangibles" such as setting realistic expectations, were highlighted.