*Raise Green has the potential to play an important role in the implementation of this intersectional policy.*

Environmental and social injustice have long been intertwined. Racial minorities are disproportionately exposed to toxic pollutants because more vulnerable communities are unable to fight to keep powerful fossil fuel production facilities and other highly-polluting industrial corporations out of their neighborhoods. Redlined communities have significantly less tree cover than neighboring predominantly white communities, which can mean [ten degree temperature differences](https://www.npr.org/2020/01/14/795961381/racist-housing-practices-from-the-1930s-linked-to-hotter-neighborhoods-today) within the same zip code. Marginalized communities are the communities that struggle the most to recover in the aftermath of natural disasters that have been exacerbated by rising temperatures. 

Climate change only serves to worsen existing inequalities, which is why social justice must come hand and hand with environmental justice. 

Justice40 initiative — President Biden’s promise to ensure that 40 percent of overall benefits from the Federal government’s climate and clean energy investment  goes to disadvantaged and marginalized communities — aims to do just that. 

The Justice40 initiative identifies 21 priority programs, including the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides guaranteed loans and grants to rural agricultural producers and small businesses to help them implement renewable energy systems or increase energy efficiency. A REAP grant can be anywhere from $1,500 to $500,000, depending on what it’s going towards. 

However, REAP Applicants must provide at least 75 percent of the project cost if applying for a grant and at least 25% of project cost if applying for a loan. 

That’s where Raise Green comes in.

Crowdfunding on the Raise Green Marketplace is a powerful way to raise the necessary capital for your project that REAP doesn’t cover. Through the platform, anyone can be an originator of their own environmentally-impactful project. Raise Green provides education and guidance throughout the entire process, making the process significantly simpler and more streamlined. 

Besides offering a crucial source of finance for Rural Energy for America Program participants, Raise Green is also looking forward to providing insight and comments to the team that’s building the Justice40 Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. 

The screening tool aims to provide critical information about disadvantaged communities to agencies in order to inform their work on Justice40 programs.

Raise Green stands behind Justice 40 and looks forward to buttressing its programs in any way that it can. 

Justice40 marks an important turning point in US climate policy, and Raise Green can certainly play a pivotal role in this transition to socially-aware climate policy and programs. 

Read more about Justice40 [here](https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2021/07/20/the-path-to-achieving-justice40/).

Interested in being a REAP applicant and in need of funding for your project? Fill out our [Welcome Survey](https://share.hsforms.com/1_DoXEowpTM6mLT1IZz5htw5ceca) to get started, and check out the [Raise Green Originator Program](https://www.raisegreen.com/originator-program) to learn more. 

Interested in making an impact investment into environmentally impactful projects? Invest in the future on the [Raise Green marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).  

Have any questions for us? Email us at info@raisegreen.com or check out our [FAQ page](https://www.raisegreen.com/faq). To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email list and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

**This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021**

Putting Justice40 to Work

*“People need to be committed to these projects, and the way to get their commitment is to invite them in to participate.”*

The success of a sustainability project is contingent on community backing and participation, affirms Rick Sellers, featured in episode #9 of the Raise Green podcast series. He has worked to promote clean energy and sustainability since the very first commercial solar systems, notably helping convert the International Energy Agency from a fossil fuel analysis juggernaut to a forward-thinking clean energy pioneer. Rick joins co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney. “Raise Green” is a 9 episode podcast series exploring the climate crises through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Listen to the approximately 15 minute Episode #9 [here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CVrtJoXjiOQCEMzerw2NO) on Spotify.

**What is Rick working on currently?**
 
Rick (Circular Fuels LLC) is working on an anaerobic digestion project on Barbados, located on a sandbar near a former fossil fuel terminal.  The Spring Garden Anaerobic Digester Project would convert wastewater from the West Indies Rum Distillery combined with local sources of agricultural waste into heat, electricity, and organic fertilizer to revitalize the island’s agriculture sector.  
 
This simultaneously reduces the distillery’s reliance on fossil fuels, cuts down their energy costs, and stops hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from being pumped into the ocean.  
 
The project has a planned capacity of 5 megawatts of renewable energy, which Rick explains will account for approximately 3% of the island’s energy needs.  
 
**The Circular Economy**
 
Similar to our very first guest, on the Raise [Green Podcast Episode #1](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=5JqQ7bIDR_yBhXHDc8UGpg&utm_content=164050581&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&hss_channel=tw-981698419990376448&nd=1), the Circular Economy is the guiding principle behind Rick’s recent work. He believes that environmentally-impactful projects like solar panels and Anaerobic Digesters are interwoven into the fabric of the community in which they are located. Thus, projects must take place in the context of community and social sustainability. 
 
Along those lines, the Spring Garden Anaerobic Digester Project would benefit the community at multiple levels. At a national level, it brings the country closer to their goal of 100% fossil fuel free by 2030. It would provide the entire island with a source of energy that’s significantly cheaper than the fossil fuel imports of the status quo. Feedstock outreach has ensured that local operations (e.g. the largest chicken farm on the island) have a place to send their waste, creating what Rick explains is a “win-win” situation – the project gets raw material to process into energy and heat, and locals get to dispose of their waste with less hassle. 
 
Rick’s project is fueled by community funds alongside community waste products. Rick explains it was imperative to him that small scale investors on the island be provided the opportunity to invest in Spring Garden, which is why his project is exploring a crowdfunding raise. 
 
Spring Garden Anaerobic Digester is a powerful example of a truly circular economy project that benefits the climate while giving back to the community.
 
**Stay in the Know**

Curious about other podcast episodes? You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!
 
Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

Raise Green Podcast Episode #9: Base Load Renewables, Sustainable Design, and Circular Economy with Rick Sellers

Raise Green Podcast Episode #9

*“Right now, we have a supply chain where poor people are buying their daily drinking water jug by jug, plastic bottle by plastic bottle. And we want to change that on a very global scale.”*

Episode #8 features Elizabeth Clandos, CEO and Co-Founder of Ola Filter Corporation, joined by Raise Green co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney. Elizabeth is a designer and social enterprise developer dedicated to bridging the gap between poverty and access. “Raise Green” is a podcast series exploring the climate crises through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Listen to the approximately 15 minute Episode #8 [here](https://open.spotify.com/episode/7D7TsJjN3UCX8Tsuv9O8Pm?si=tlrScYSeQviXl10g4Tp9pg&dl_branch=1) on Spotify.

A little while back, Elizabeth was working to help set up a solar power installation in the remote rural highlands of Guatemala. The group had brought along a small portable water filter, the kind that you can find at almost all camping equipment stores in the US. A local man, upon seeing the filter, inquired about where he could purchase one.  The answer was nowhere nearby, so Elizabeth offered to see if they had an extra one that they could give him. But that answer frustrated her. 

Accessing clean water is a burden for more than 2 billion people. In places where tap water isn’t safe to drink, people in poverty are forced to either spend a large portion of their income on bottled water or accept the risks of drinking non potable water.  For many, the former isn’t even an option. 

Waterborne diseases from unsafe drinking water cause one third of preventable deaths in the developing world. These deaths are 100% preventable because the technology is readily available, it’s just not accessible to the communities that need it. 

Elizabeth explains that most of the water filter provision that goes to the developing world either goes to cities (i.e. where the higher income brackets are concentrated) or is given out on a donation basis. This leaves the bulk of the population that makes around $5 a day waiting to be given a water filter. Even if they were able to access the water filter supply chain through an alternate mechanism, it would cost them a week's worth of wages to buy the ones that are available. 

“Where can I buy a water filter?” Elizabeth tells us that this was the question that she was asked again and again as she worked with different nonprofits in communities lacking adequate infrastructure.  

Water scarcity is increasing hand-in-hand with water privatization, and this means that bottled water is becoming even more unaffordable. Thus, using existing sources of safe tap water is crucial. 

Elizabeth and her team’s solution was Ola Filter. The Ola Filter uses incredibly simple hollow fiber filtration technology and is designed to be long lasting, easy to clean, and require no replacement parts. It is a comparable price to a cooking pot, putting it at a price point that is actually accessible to the billions of people lacking access to clean water right now. 

Ola Filter is a project that anyone can invest in on the Raise Green crowdfunding marketplace.

Originally, Ola Filter had tried other sources of funding – namely, venture capital (VC) firms.  But they were consistently told to come back in a year. Crowdfunding allowed them to get off the ground and get many steps closer to their goal of ending water poverty in the developing world. 

However, Raise Green has given Ola Filter more than just a platform for crowdfunding – Elizabeth affirms that “the value that Raise Green has given us has been phenomenal,” assisting her team with finding a lawyer, marketing, and their Form C. She and her team had created or run a start-up before, but she explains that “Raise Green has created this foundation where it doesn’t matter that we aren’t serial entrepreneurs.” 

If you’re interested in making an impact investment into Ola Filter or other environmentally-impactful projects, check out the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList). If you’re considering creating your own sustainable project, check out the [Raise Green Originator Engine](https://www.raisegreen.com/originator-program). 
 
Curious about other podcast episodes? You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!
 
Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email list and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

Raise Green Podcast Episode #8: Ending Water Poverty in the Developing World with Elizabeth Clandos

Raise Green Podcast Episode #8

Raise Green has been named a winner in the inaugural [IDC Future of Digital Innovation Awards](https://www.idc.com/promo/future-of-x/digital-innovation/awards), designed to highlight successful Digital Innovation projects and initiatives.  Raise Green was named a winner in the Insurance and Financial Services Category for excellence with the Raise Green Originator Engine project. IDC received more than 120 submissions for the first annual award program. Award winners will be recognized at IDC’s Future of Digital Innovation Excellence virtual event being held September 15, 2021. To learn more about IDC Future of Digital Innovation Awards, please visit [HERE](https://www.idc.com/promo/future-of-x/digital-innovation/awards).

IDC Future of Digital Innovation Awards recognizes unique applications of digital innovation. Specifically, finalists represent successful implemented initiatives featuring key performance indicators to ascribe value to the completed project. 


"The 2021 IDC Future of Digital Innovation Insurance and Financial Services Award recognizes an organization that applied the attributes of a Future of Digital Innovation initiative to support its operations. In the case of Raise Green, this organization had a goal of vastly streamlining the process of establishing a green energy initiative that could be funded through a process such as a public stock offering," said Al Gillen, Group VP, Software Development and Open Source, IDC. "We are recognizing Raise Green for the organization's focus on creating a purpose-built application that offers a simple user interface that empowers individuals with no experience in creating a public entity supported by a public stock offering to do so, allowing that individual to focus more on the project itself than how to build the machinery to create the funding for the project."


“The climate crisis is accelerating, and we need climate solutions to scale faster than the pace of the problem. Despite the rapid decline in solar equipment costs, and the flood of new interest in sustainable finance, there are not enough projects to fund -- it is still way too difficult to create and fund community-scale solar and climate solutions. Raise Green makes it easy for anyone to invest in climate solutions for as little as $100, and we’re thrilled to win the IDC’s Future of Digital Innovation Award for our Originator Engine software designed to make it easy for local leaders and clean energy entrepreneurs to quickly develop their projects and get them financed through inclusive impact investment on Raise Green.” said Franz Hochstrasser, CEO, Raise Green. “If you’ve ever walked past a building or property and thought: ‘there should be a clean energy project there’, you don’t need to wait for someone else to build it, now you can put one there yourself.”

We need to make it easier for folks to open their own solar array or urban farm than it is to open a gas station or a fast food store.
For more information about the Originator Engine, visit [https://www.raisegreen.com/originator-program](https://www.raisegreen.com/originator-program)


**About Raise Green**

Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and inclusive impact investment with verifiable and demonstrable environmental benefits. Through the platform, anyone can be an originator of their own community solar project. On Raise Green's investor marketplace, anyone (individuals and institutions) can invest in community-focused climate resilience projects across a varied range of project scales and minimum investments. Early investors in Raise Green are veterans of the renewable energy industry and project financing. Investors can derive value while at the same time creating quantifiable impacts in local communities, as well as receiving financial returns if the project is successful.

Raise Green Named as a Winner in IDC’s Inaugural Future of Digital Innovation Excellence Awards for 2021

Raise Green Wins IDC

Growing up, [DJ Cavem](https://www.chefietef.com/dj-cavem-bio/) lived in a food desert and couldn’t find any fresh food in his area. Lacking access to resources, he decided to start growing his own fruits and vegetables. Then, he started writing music about it. 

His self-coined “eco hip-hop” has become a global movement, and he has rapped about climate change, food justice, and plant-based foods everywhere, from his hometown in Denver to the Obama White House. On [Episode #7](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pJ6TWIvFZrcGUfirqjh3R?si=5a293bd286e44a56) of the Raise Green podcast, we spoke to him about his time as an activist, educator, vegan chef, and eco hip-hop artist. 

<h2>History of Environmental Hip Hop</h2>

To DJ Cavem, his intersectional form of art is nothing new, and environmental hip-hop has always had its place. He notes a main source of inspiration as Dead Prez, with whom he toured in the early days of his hip-hop career. Though they weren’t strictly environmental hip-hop artists, the Dead Prez duo laid the groundwork for environmental hip-hop artists to come with the release of [“Be Healthy”](https://open.spotify.com/track/1XFRw25rwKCYk3KFqUQZjt?si=7e9ac6d7f6f1415d) in 2000. Even ten years before that, KRS-One, a pioneer of early hip-hop, wrote [“Beef”](https://open.spotify.com/track/7wB72MPADWDLfJNzQKKInU?si=bcd411608ed04861) to speak out about the ethics of the meat industry and factory farming. A strong and steady community of [environmental hip-hop artists](https://meansandmatters.bankofthewest.com/article/living/the-sustainable-soul-of-hip-hop/) grew out of these works.

From [its origins](https://iconcollective.edu/hip-hop-history/) in the Bronx in New York City during the 1970s, hip-hop has served as an outlet for marginalized communities to express despair and hardship, and speak out against racial barriers, violence, and poverty. It’s only fitting that this cultural movement has expanded to environmental justice as well.

DJ Cavem emphasizes that the environmental movement has largely failed to connect with the BIPOC community. In fact, a [2014 survey](https://vaipl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ExecutiveSummary-Diverse-Green.pdf) of environmental nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies, conducted by Dorceta Taylor at the University of Michigan, found that while people of color comprised about 38 percent of the U.S. population (at the time), they constituted no more than 16 percent of the workforce of any environmental organization. Even more jarring, they occupied less than 12 percent of the leadership positions at these organizations. This [disproportionately white “green insiders club”](https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-hip-hop-can-bring-green-issues-to-communities-of-color#:~:text=The%20environmental%20movement%20has%20largely,the%20realities%20of%20environmental%20injustice.) is what DJ Cavem is dismantling through the power of his music.  

<h2>Never-Ending Growth</h2>

DJ Cavem’s latest release is [BIOMIMICZ](https://djcavem.bandcamp.com/album/biomimicz), “the first USDA-certified organic, plant-based, zero-waste, environmental hip hop album.” It’s not only completely compostable, but also comes with a mix of kale, beets and arugula seeds. He hopes that his lyrics will inspire and educate listeners, and that his seed pack, once grown and harvested, will allow them to sustain fresher, healthier diets — it’s what he calls “culinary climate action” at its finest. 

What is he growing now? He’s focused on “growing people” — both his own daughters and the community of young people around them. He hopes to open their minds to apply “ancient wisdom to address present problems,” as the ideas behind the environmental movement are nothing new. “We need to reprogram,” he emphasizes, “Recycle, reduce, reuse, remember that we’ve already been green, our ancestors have already done this, and we just need to get out of the way of nature.” 

<h2>Stay In-The-Know</h2>

At Raise Green, we value art as a medium for expression and impact, and we hope to continue delivering short, accessible conversations with thought-leaders like DJ Cavem, who are utilizing art to pave the way for a healthy, just, and sustainable future. You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!
Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).
If you’re interested in making an impact investment now, check out the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).


Raise Green Podcast Episode #7: Art as a Medium for Expression and Impact with DJ Cavem

Raise Green Podcast Episode #7

The overlap between philanthropy, capital markets, and environmental justice may seem complicated and unclear to most, but that’s not the case for Margot Brandenburg. Currently a Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, Margot is focused on strengthening capital markets in relation to impact investing. She joins our co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney on the sixth episode of the “Raise Green” podcast. “Raise Green” is a podcast series exploring the climate crisis through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Listen to the approximately 30-minute Episode [here on Spotify] (https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ae0CRJvV20G8qwZSaBrZO?si=K6RkGkl5Q8ufAOOJOkqJlA&dl_branch=1).

Having authored “The Power of Impact Investing: Putting Markets to Work for Profit and Global Good,” Margot has an expert understanding of the need for climate action through impact investing. She starts by explaining the role of, specifically, institutional investors in climate change. In sum, the role is to efficiently provide financial resources to support our transition to low carbon and resilient future such as faster carbonization, funding research and development of climate solutions, and pricing externalities. At a larger scale, it would mean ensuring a redundant economic infrastructure able to bear shocks, as well as looking beyond individual companies through capital and supply chains and impact. 

Margot emphasizes the importance of acknowledging that certain actions can only be taken at the governmental and philanthropic level -- philanthropy often carrying the heavier burden here --  such as funding public goods, arts and culture, and protecting human and voting rights. However, with increasingly strained public resources and limits of philanthropic impact, there is a great need for philanthropy to engage the private sector as a means of greater impact through investments. This can be done through philanthropists investing early in products and companies, financing new models, and de-risking investment structures. There are a number of ways in which philanthropy and investment capital overlap and intertwine, and it’s vital that we take advantage of those commonalities and put them to use in climate action. 

Margot goes on to highlight the need for policy and advocacy in the realm of impact investing to level the playing field for companies and projects actively investing. For example, oftentimes in assessing a company’s assets and capital, eyes are drawn mainly towards “the 5%,” as Margot calls it. This 5% refers to the assets in a company’s portfolio that are committed to philanthropic causes, but what about the other 95% being deployed into other investments? For now, most companies shy away from allowing full visibility into the majority of their assets, but there is a need for [greater transparency, regulation, and accountability](https://www.raisegreen.com/blog/fostering-clean-energy-investment-with-proper-regulations) for more than just the 5% of philanthropic assets in a companies portfolio.

With such a great need for regulation and policy change, Margot explains that she is optimistic that there will be great progress in climate action throughout the next four years under the Biden Administration. With recent [commitments](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-sets-2030-greenhouse-gas-pollution-reduction-target-aimed-at-creating-good-paying-union-jobs-and-securing-u-s-leadership-on-clean-energy-technologies/) made by the administration, there seems to be some hope, but there’s a long way to go and actions speak far louder than words. Margot stays optimistic as she sees more and more companies [committing to net-zero](https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/net-zero-coalition) but hopes and expects to see continued growth in the amount and size of those commitments. 

Climate change is happening now and happening fast and it is imperative that action is taken and impact investing is key to moving forward. Margot hopes to see continued progress in this realm on all levels from increased levels of impact investments on the private levels to policy change and reform from the government, but more importantly, acknowledgment and respect for climate change and the need for action. 


--------------------------
You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!
Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).
If you’re interested in making an impact investment now, check out the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).

Raise Green Podcast Episode #6: Philanthropy, Capital Markets, and Environmental Justice with Margot Brandenburg

Raise Green Podcast Episode #6

Written by Zoe Banks

What do you picture when you imagine working at a startup? Maybe you see heavy workloads for a small number of workers, hectic schedules, tight budgets, all in a dusty garage in Silicon Valley. Maybe you imagine once monthly massages, weekly ultimate frisbee, shared workspace, and free lunch on Mondays. You wouldn’t be wrong! And while anyone who has worked at a startup before can agree that the culture can be chaotic, here at Raise Green, the good (virtual) company makes it a whole lot easier to push through the tough times - and have a good one while you’re at it.

So, what does that actually look like? As you’d expect, this year is a bit different than our usual. We aren’t gathering in Somerville around a conference table with our coffees, chatting about the unpredictable New England weather. Instead, similarly to many other businesses today, all employees at Raise Green are working remotely, scattered throughout the country across 3 different time zones. 

We may be distant in location but the alignment in our passions and goals allows us to stay close. So let’s dive into what usually goes down at Raise Green during a work day, shall we?

POV: You’re in San Francisco, CA. It's 8:55 am on a Monday morning. You’ve just finished breakfast, grabbed your coffee, and finally got yourself to sit down at your desk and start your work day.

**9 am** - It’s go time. Coffee in hand, us West Coasters open our computers, and set ourselves to ‘active’ on Slack, signaling to our East Coast co-workers they can finally bother us with messages and task updates. 
The team begins preparing for both individual and collaborative tasks: organizing in Asana, catching up on Slack messages with the latest climate tech updates, and reading any unread emails from coworkers or partners. 
Meanwhile, our founders have been up and running for a few hours, busy with meetings for various Techstars + ABN Amro Future of Finance accelerator and mentor programs starting as early as 4am PST. 

**10:30 am** - Daily check in begins! Each employee logs onto the daily coworking line to summarize accomplishments, incomplete tasks, and any blockers they might be facing. 
Typically run by our COO Matthew Moroney, this meeting is usually filled with high quality dad-jokes, laughs, smiles, and collaboration to start the day off on a good note. 

**12 pm** - Some of us take a lunch break, while the overly ambitious - or overly booked - employees chug along through their day. A somewhat quiet time of day for those of us on the West Coast, while those elsewhere are long into the post-lunch grind.
The Marketing Team connects on weekly campaigns and goals, meeting to strategize on how to convince developers to use crowdfunded investors rather than hedge funds. 
The originator team in and out of meetings with issuers, updating agreements and other lengthy documents along the way. 
The sales team meets to find better ways to draw attention to the power and importance of climate tech investments between various calls with current and potential investors. 
The website team meets with consultants and fellow technicians to improve user experience, analyzing the data and performance of our current technologies for better understanding. 
The founders slowly but surely get through their back-to-back meetings. (In case you’re wondering: yes, we do have to add Google Calendar reminders for our founders to take breaks to do normal human things like drinking water, eating lunch or taking a break.) 

**2 pm** - All hands on deck! The once-weekly, company-wide gathering begins. A larger than usual number of both local and international coworkers and partners log onto the call - this is the moment when new team members realize that there are a lot more people involved in this than they realized. Although this meeting only happens once a week on Mondays, it's a crucial part of our routine and success as a company. 
Our founders hit us with all updates on current offerings, behind the scenes activities, and any other exciting information. Members who are unable to make our regular meeting times have an opportunity to chime in with their own updates on the innovative work they’ve been doing. A great chance to check for updates on projects and tasks. Plus, a bit of a break from the hard work we are all putting in. 

**3 pm** - By now most of us are finished with meetings for the day and are left with any tasks we have yet to complete. Some people log onto the coworking line to collaborate and others take on tasks individually. 
With our founders being involved in the accelerator and mentor programs, there is rarely a lack of tasks for people to complete and often entails employees contributing to tasks outside of their specialty, helping out however possible. 
	
**5 pm** - This marks the end of the work day for most, while our founders and a handful of others continue to work on miscellaneous tasks that were left incomplete for the day. 
Seeing as remote work can be done from pretty much anywhere, 5 pm doesn’t always mark the end of the work day. The blessing and curse of remote work, depending on who you ask. 

And there you have it! A Day in the life at Raise Green. While a work day at this company may not seem special to most people, the collective positive attitude, work ethic, and desire for positive change makes it easy for me and my coworkers to stay passionate and remain motivated to work hard and learn more each day. 

“Onward and upward,” as our CEO Franz Hochstrasser always reminds us. That while this may just be another mark on the resume for some of us, it’s also a chance to grow and learn more about yourself and your passions. A chance to try new things, challenge yourself, and get out of your comfort zone. Holding us to high expectations, allowing us the creative freedom to bring our own solutions, suggestions, and ideas to the table, all while providing constant support and reminders that we are making a difference in this fight for a cleaner and greener future. 

At Raise Green, the alignment in the devotion and motivation in the fight for a cleaner, just, and more sustainable future is the agent for positive and impactful change. 

Want to get in on the action? We have two open positions! Check it out:

[Software Engineer](https://jobs.climatebase.org/job/36616/software-engineer/)

[Investor Marketplace associate](https://jobs.climatebase.org/job/39300/investor-marketplace-associate-raise-green-inc-remote/)


A Day in the Life at a Climate Tech Startup

<h2>What are ESG Metrics?</h2>

The use of impact metrics is skyrocketing as impact-based investing markets have quadrupled in size from 2016 to 2020 [[2]](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/02/esg-index-funds-hit-250-billion-as-us-investor-role-in-boom-grows.html). Despite rapid growth, there is still a misunderstanding of what impact metrics are and how accurately these metrics measure impact. 

Impact metrics attempt to quantify a company’s impact on issues non-financial outcomes. Examples include carbon emissions, male-female ratio in the workplace, and number of controversies surrounding a company. 

Impact metrics aim to paint a picture that financial metrics cannot, showing the full scope of a company’s social and environmental footprint. It’s easier to measure revenue or salaries, than gender diversity or persistent organic pollutants in a supply chain. As a result of that uncertainty, there are at many major metric frameworks with different impact metrics that try to quantify this footprint. The number of different impact funds, investment banks, non-profits, philanthropies, and family offices that construct their own metrics and frameworks only adds to the confusion. 

“ESG'' is the hottest phrase in finance. It’s really more a philosophy than an accounting methodology. It’s derived impact metrics are simplified into three categories: Environmental, Social, and Governance. They were first introduced in the 1960s and inflow into ESG-based funds reached $71.1 billion in the second quarter of 2020 [[2]](https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/02/esg-index-funds-hit-250-billion-as-us-investor-role-in-boom-grows.html). A positive correlation exists between higher ESG rating and increased financial performance (Eccles et al. 2014, Khan et al. 2015, Friede et al. 2015), which makes sense due to an ESG score encompassing management quality and practices. Overall, ESG metrics seem to have had a positive impact on investing, allowing people to better quantify a company’s impact.

<h2>How to standardize thousands of impact metrics?</h2>

However, as we see more and more companies calculating ESGs, there is now an emerging problem of how to standardize all this data.

Many different organizations calculate ESG to provide better insight -- an “edge” -- to their investing (e.g. Bloomberg, Dow Jones, MSCI, and Sustainalytics). While these companies aim to provide similar insights, there is large variation between how each calculates this metric. For example, in the figure below we can see three ESG scores for three different companies.

<img src="https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iHXL5D4.nr1s/v1/1400x-1.png" alt="">

<p style="font-size: smaller; ">Figure 1. ESG Metric Variance in Public Companies. Widely dispersed rankings of the same companies indicate a lack of confidence for investors seeking impact outcomes (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-05-21/esg-investing-s-good-coronavirus-crisis-is-killing-jobs)</p>

The variation between scores in this image is concerning. The issue here is a lack of standardization in how ESGs are calculated which must be addressed, but how?

<h2>Moving towards standardization</h2>

ESG Data Standards are proposed in a paper by Cort and Esty [[1]](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1086026620945342) and suggest ESG metrics be held to three standards: 

<ui style="line-height: 2">
<li>
Methodological standards - require that all ESG data be accurate, complete, and timely. To make sure that all data meets these requirements, it should be verified by either government regulatory standards, third-party auditing, or some data vendor (MSCI, Bloomberg, etc.) 
</li></br>
<li>
Materiality-based - standards address the need for compatibility between company’s ESG scores, and as we saw from figure 1, there is little to no commonality in ESG metrics between companies we saw in figure 1, there is little to no commonality in ESG metrics between companies. This standard would require companies to calculate ESG scores on a consistent list of metrics and management processes using common methodological practices.
</li></br>
<li>
Impact data standards - focus on generating comparable data on externalized social and environmental impacts. Through normalizing what makes up ESG scores, we can create a better picture of whether a company is a net benefit or detriment to society.
</li>
</ui></br></br>

<h2>What’s next?</h2>

The current growth in sustainable investing has outgrown current ESG capabilities. For investors to continue to rely on impact metrics, these standards must be implemented through cooperation and regulation. At Raise Green, we hope that these standards allow an accurate portrayal of a company’s true financial footprint.


<p style="font-size: smaller; "> This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021 </p>

A Closer Look at ESG Metrics

As we begin to re-emerge from the pandemic induced shutdown of society, each one of us has an opportunity to decide: what’s next. 

Collectively, our respective answers to that question will define the future viability of life on earth. Pressing challenges of the climate crisis, wealth inequality and injustice, and threats to public health are intensifying -- they’re disproportionately hitting underserved and historically disadvantaged communities, and they’re fraying our social fabric. Whether it’s the more than half a million Americans killed from COVID, the $100 billion cost of climate-related natural disasters across the US in 2020 [1] (https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/beyond-data/2020-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters-historical),
 or the intensifying wave of racial violence: we need a whole-of-society mobilization to tackle these intertwined issues and address them in a way that brings everyone along.

We need solutions that accelerate faster than the pace of the problems.

President Biden has mobilized a whole-of-government approach to the climate crisis in his first 100 days in office that is driving ambitious U.S. climate progress to build global momentum going into the global climate conference this November (COP26). This morning, the U.S. federal government set an ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030 [3](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/22/fact-sheet-president-biden-sets-2030-greenhouse-gas-pollution-reduction-target-aimed-at-creating-good-paying-union-jobs-and-securing-u-s-leadership-on-clean-energy-technologies/). 

Countries of the world are expected to accelerate their decarbonization by setting new carbon pollution reduction targets and a renewed effort to mobilize capital to fill the $4.6 trillion infrastructure gap by 2040 [2](https://cdn.gihub.org/outlook/live/methodology/Global+Infrastructure+Outlook+-+July+2017.pdf). The world needs to mobilize more than $1Trillion per year into climate tech to achieve the global Paris Agreement goal of keeping warming below 2 degrees C and have a chance of staying below 1.5 degrees C to avoid catastrophic impacts. The latest data shows that we’re only at about $580 billion per year [4](https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/global-landscape-of-climate-finance-2019/), but more is being done every day to turn it around [5](https://unfccc.int/news/new-financial-alliance-for-net-zero-emissions-launches#:~:text=The%20Glasgow%20Financial%20Alliance%20for,accelerate%20the%20transition%20to%20net).

These climate targets are achievable. We can do this. But we need everyone involved if we’re going to get there. Leaders from cities, states, tribal nations, businesses, colleges, and institutions of faith, culture, and healthcare across the country and the world have carried the torch on climate action over the past four years. We’re already reducing emissions, block-by-block, investment-by-investment, project-by-project, and we’re committed to achieving and exceeding America’s new target. The US accounts for 15% of global emissions, but only 4% of the global population, and we have a long way to go [6](https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions). This is the largest economic and social opportunity ever facing the world, and everyone should benefit from the transition if we do it right. Cutting U.S. emissions in half over the next decade is going to be difficult but there are multiple, viable pathways to get there and America’s non-federal actors are already putting their money where their mouths are.

We also can not wait for Federal and regulatory actions to save us -- every community can and should take immediate action today.

This ambitious climate target requires a coordinated, whole-of-society national climate strategy and cooperation to create, fund, build and run the transformative projects, policies and programs needed to reach it. Community leaders stand ready to partner with the federal government on the ambitious action, investment, and collaboration needed, and Raise Green is here to make that easier than ever.

[If you’re working on a climate project and want inclusive financing, Raise Green for it.] (https://oe.raisegreen.com/)

If you have time -- you or your organization can start a local clean energy project in your community now. We give you the tools to create, fund, build and run your project, and finance it inclusively through the [Raise Green Originator Engine](https://oe.raisegreen.com/).

If you have money -- you can invest it in real verifiable impactful projects at the local scale, backed by hard assets that provide essential services on the [Raise Green Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).

What are you waiting for?

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*

Earth Day Means it’s Time to Raise Green

Earth Day Blog: Earth Day Means it’s Time to Raise Green

If you wasted 60% of your income, could you still pay your bills?

In 2019 more than 60% of U.S. energy [was lost](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=44436#) between generation at power plants and end use as electricity. Energy is inherently lost when raw materials like coal are converted to electricity, but the disparity is also due to outdated technologies, especially in coal power plants. As it turns out, older technologies use more energy to achieve the same output as modern technologies!

This is translatable to consumers’ end use as well. Referring to the loss of heat through uninsulated buildings, Amory Lovins professed that “we'd find more energy in the attics of American homes than in all the oil buried in Alaska.”

Think of Texas, where 70% of homes were [built earlier than 2000](https://cleantechnica.com/2021/02/24/heat-pumps-efficiency-key-solutions-to-texas-electricity-woes/), before buildings codes required energy-saving measures such as effective insulation. 60% of Texas homes have electric heating, and mostly use older technologies since winter storms are infrequent. But the record-low temperatures in February drove a [surge in demand](https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/polar-vortex-power-outages-6-things-to-know-about-supply-demand-and-our-electricity-future) when everyone turned their heaters on, which coincided with a strained natural gas supply, resulting in absurdly high electricity rates for Texans who couldn’t efficiently heat their homes.

There’s no shame in a family heating their home during a winter storm, but if they can install energy efficient heating that will save them money on electric bills, why wouldn’t they?

The problem is that many people can’t afford the initial costs of energy efficiency improvements, even if it will increase their energy savings and resilience to extreme weather. In the direst situations, high costs of inefficient technologies may be hindering households and businesses from saving enough money to improve them. The Biden Administration has [proposed](https://www.volts.wtf/p/the-coolest-parts-of-bidens-expansive) a large-scale infrastructure bill last week that would invest $213 billion on upgrading buildings, but that funding is not guaranteed, and communities can’t wait for congress to act.

Guess what can help with this now? Crowdfunding! At Raise Green, we reduce barriers to entry by issuing investment opportunities that allow any outside investor to buy into energy efficiency projects. Offerings on our [Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList) allow communities to benefit from energy efficiency improvements almost immediately. This includes marginalized communities, who often have more inefficient technologies and thereby stand to save the most.

Energy efficiency lending and upgrades segment project costs into affordable increments, which gradually repay investors with a portion of the savings over time. That means that, upon successful repayment, everyone can benefit! We mean it when we say that Raise Green operates on a profit-for-all model. 

An exponentially growing population will undoubtedly demand more energy, but if we can harness it more efficiently, we’ll reduce energy demand and inevitably burn less fossil fuels. It’s an immediate approach that everyone can support, even if they favor the status quo! By reducing energy waste, companies and consumers can save money and the environment while enjoying the same benefits.

If you’re interested in starting your own clean energy project, Raise Green can support both the development ([Originator Engine](/originator-program)) and funding ([Marketplace](/investment-opportunities-preview)). Or if you’re interested in investing in an existing project, you can [create an investor account for free here](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register). 

As always, feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](https://raisegreen-1.hubspotpagebuilder.com/raise-green-sign-up-to-support-climate-solutions) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*

Raising Energy Efficiency: An Immediate Climate Solution

### [IBM and Raise Green Team Up to Combat Climate Change](https://newsroom.ibm.com/IBM-and-Raise-Green-Team-Up-to-Combat-Climate-Change)

**ARMONK, N.Y. and SOMERVILLE, Mass.** -- IBM (NYSE: [IBM](https://www.ibm.com/investor)) and [Raise Green](/homepage), an impact investment marketplace for clean energy projects, announced their collaboration to develop Raise Green's software solution deployed using Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud, intended to empower any entrepreneur to start their own community solar energy businesses. Today marks the rollout of the latest Beta version of the [Originator Engine](/originator-program), following the initial launch announced last year.

To help address the growing urgency of climate change, Raise Green came to IBM Global Business Services (GBS) with a need that the parties developed into the Originator Engine – a groundbreaking digital tool that customers, investors, and ecosystem partners can leverage to create, finance, build, and run new solar businesses.

"Everyone has a role to play in tackling climate change in an equitable way. Countries have committed to act, technologies are ready, and policies are moving in the right direction, but it's not happening fast enough," said Franz Hochstrasser, CEO and co-founder of Raise Green. "Raise Green is designed to empower communities tired of waiting for action on climate and social impact. IBM is helping us bring this innovation to life by designing a smooth user experience that makes starting a new business straightforward while enabling us to expand into areas beyond solar like template microgrids, energy efficiency, electric vehicle charging, urban farms, and affordable housing."

Raise Green engaged IBM GBS to help build a digital experience that would empower climate entrepreneurs to start and finance their businesses and local climate projects by removing obstacles and equipping them with tools and resources. A team of IBM design and technology specialists worked with Raise Green to co-create, develop and deploy a proof-of-concept for the Originator Engine in just eight weeks through the [IBM Garage](https://www.ibm.com/garage) – IBM's approach to fast-tracking innovation at scale, to help transform organizations from the inside out. The Originator Engine uses Red Hat OpenShift and is deployed on IBM Cloud for all of Raise Green's services. IBM Cloud is the industry's most open and secure public cloud.  

The Originator Engine combines multiple database standards, allows companies to create filings for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and offers investment opportunities through the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList). The Originator Engine is designed to automate the process of creating and completing legal and financial documents by taking thousands of pages and converting them into streamlined and easy to use templates.  

"The collaboration between Raise Green and IBM serves as a meaningful response to the question of how to get involved in the fight against climate change," said Debbie Vavangas, Global Lead, IBM Garage. "To address the growing need for an innovative solution, Raise Green wanted to embrace cloud-based and agile methodologies which not only can accelerate the creation of a new digital experience for climate entrepreneurs but also gives Raise Green the flexibility to evolve digital capabilities for future growth."

For more information about the Originator Engine, visit https://www.raisegreen.com/

**About Raise Green**

Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and inclusive impact investment with verifiable and demonstrable environmental benefits. Through the platform, anyone can be an originator of their own community solar project. On Raise Green's investor marketplace, anyone (individuals and institutions) can invest in community-focused climate resilience projects across a varied range of project scales and minimum investments. Early investors in Raise Green are veterans of the renewable energy industry and project financing. Investors can derive value while at the same time creating quantifiable impacts in local communities, as well as receiving financial returns if the project is successful. 

**About IBM**

For further information about IBM Global Business Services, visit: https://www.ibm.com/services
For further information about IBM Garage visit: https://www.ibm.com/garage  

Raise Green Engages IBM to Build a Solution to Support Solar Developers and Climate Entrepreneurs

Raise Green Engages IBM to Build a Solution to Support Solar Developers

*March 18, 2020 - Matthew Moroney, COO and Co-Founder, Raise Green*

**It’s almost Spring. Although some people swim all winter, most normal people want to know if the water is warm enough before they jump in.**

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1600x900/ab75747cc2/testing-the-waters.png)

### Too many good projects just aren’t getting funded.
People bring projects to Raise Green to figure out how to get funded<sup>1</sup>. Community solar, affordable housing, and agriculture project creators struggle to engage with traditional finance. They don’t have to struggle anymore.

### Crowdfunding used to be **WAY** harder to figure out if it’d work for you.<br>
Crowdfunding (“Reg CF”) lets you sell stock or debt for a company online. But even with the lower barriers for raising capital, Reg CF struggled to grow as rapidly as expected. In our opinion, that is primarily due to the uncertainty for project creators. They aren’t sure how to market. They want to know that if they go through the work of making the offering, there is a good chance of raising what they need - whether that’s $250k, $1M, or $5M. <br>

### If I build it, will they come?
The government acknowledged these complexities with a significant new rule change on Monday. The SEC’s “harmonization” rule which went into effect on Monday, March 15, 2021 means that **companies who are considering crowdfunding capital can now “Test the Waters.”**  That means you can list your project and start asking the crowd how much they would invest.

 These “indications of interest” **do not obligate friends, family, and strangers to invest.** No money can be collected. But in a sense, these indications give you a sense of how warm the water is if you did go live for investment on Raise Green.  

### The complexities of “capital formation” (i.e., raising green) are overwhelming. 
The world of “private equity” and “506(d) exempt securities offerings” is just too big of a barrier (and mouthful) for people without nuanced legal knowledge and industry connections. That’s too bad. This limits innovation, climate resilience, and equity. So many projects that would have a powerful local impact just aren’t getting built. 

### What does it take to get my Testing the Waters listing up on Raise Green?
A bit of elbow grease, but not as much as you’d think. Raise Green sees Testing the Waters as a really effective way to help originators test their idea, sharpen their story, and refine their marketing strategies. 

Our basic requirements are:

- ##### A vision for a positive impact on the planet and its people!
- ##### A simple legal entity like an LLC or C Corporation (easily created online for around $100 in a day or two)<sup>2</sup>
- ##### A business plan<sup>3</sup>
- ##### A background check that we conduct.
- ##### And a willingness to fail.



### All in all, Testing the Waters can help make your project or company vision clearer for yourself and the crowd.
This new regulation doesn’t make it easier to create, fund, build, and run your project. However, it will help you gauge market interest, quickly refine your narrative and pivot your approach if necessary. The insight you gain from a “Testing the Waters” approach tests your marketing strategy, your business model, and lets you discuss the project with real live potential investors.

Value is created not just from seeing how many people would invest and how much they might put in. Almost more valuable is the feedback you get from potential investors and advisors who will be exposed to your project. 

The water feels warm.

**Schedule a meeting today with Jackie, Matt, or Franz** -- and we’ll tell you more. If you have those simple requirements, we could get an “indications of interest” for your project live before Earth day!<sup>4</sup>

***

### The new section of the Securities Act<sup>5</sup>
The “testing the waters” provision is enabled by a short new Section of the Securities Act<sup>6</sup>, Section 227.206. This allows potential project creators (“Issuers”) to “Solicit Interest” before filing an offering statement. For all intents and purposes, these are considered securities offerings, just without the exchange of capital. Issuers can communicate orally or in writing to potential investors about the interest level of their contemplated offering. 

**No money can be accepted when ‘testing the waters’.** Moreover, **no offer to buy the security can be accepted** until a formal offering is conducted with a crowdfunding portal. Note, that these communications need to be included in that formal offering, so that investors can receive all the information and disclosures that got sent out. 

Please email matt@raisegreen.com if you’d like to discuss the implications of this change or other portions of the harmonization rules. There’s a lot of potential here we’d like to explore with you.

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](https://raisegreen-1.hubspotpagebuilder.com/raise-green-sign-up-to-support-climate-solutions) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*

** 1. Over 140 people have brought their climate projects to Raise Green considering a Regulation Crowdfunding offering for capital. ** <br> <br>
**2. We have an enterprise partner that we’re glad to connect you with who can help provide incorporation services for a fixed fee.** <br> <br>
**3. Small Business Administration guidance on writing your business plan: https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/write-your-business-plan** <br> <br>
**4. Earth Day causes lots of hubbub as it should. We like to focus on the days and months after to keep up that momentum year round. Stay tuned for announcements of our first “indications of interest” demo day in late April.** <br> <br>
**5. This is not legal, accounting, tax or financial advice. I am not a lawyer and do not intend to become one. My views are my own. Consult legal counsel before conducting any securities offering.** <br> <br>
**6. SEC adopting release in Federal Register vol 86 no 9: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/14/2020-24749/facilitating-capital-formation-and-expanding-investment-opportunities-by-improving-access-to-capital **


It’s almost Spring. Although some people swim all winter, most normal people want to know if the water is warm enough before they jump in.

Hot or Cold? Testing the Waters for Equity Crowdfunding

Hot or Cold? Testing the Waters for Crowdfunding

If there was ever a national holiday for equitable and inclusive financing, it could be today! <br><br>
Imagine what we could achieve if we could fight both climate change and inequality at the same time, by training, financing, and empowering our communities with clean energy and climate resilience.
<br><br>
That day is today.
<br>
#### Before, a neighborhood leader could only raise enough crowdfunding to power a few buildings (like a town hall, school, church, non-profit, or small business).<br>
#### Now, a neighborhood leader can raise enough to power a whole community!
Up until 2016, only the top 10% or so of Americans were allowed to invest in most private companies. That technically changed with the finalization of crowdfunding rules making it possible for anyone to invest in small businesses and startups. But until today, crowdinvesting platforms like the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList) were hindered by rules that prevented rapid growth. 
<br><br>
Today (March 15, 2021) marks the implementation of **favorable new crowdinvesting regulations** by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Five years after their inception, crowdfunding regulations have finally aligned with innovative potential, making it easier for anyone to raise capital and invest in impactful community-scale companies and climate solutions. 
<br><br>![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1200x675/25cc0bf65d/post_-rule-changes-wide-2.png)<br><br>
Crowdinvesting, also known as “regulation crowdfunding,” represents an opportunity for the 90% of Americans who aren’t rich (“non-accredited investors” or “retail investors”) to have more of the same types of investment opportunities as the wealthy (“accredited investors”). These retail investors account for upwards of $17 trillion in wealth, but that’s only [24% of total U.S. wealth](https://dqydj.com/accredited-investors-in-america/). It also gives clean energy entrepreneurs a way to raise money that never existed before! More than ever, an organized group of dedicated project Originators and impact investors can not only stop the game, now they can change the world.
<br><br>
The [new amendments](https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/facilitating-capital-formation-secg) significantly expand the size and scope of Raise Green’s capabilities, specifically: 
<br><br>
**Increased maximum raise limits for offerings** <br>
Previously the most that could be raised in a year was $1.07 million. Now crowdinvesting offerings can raise up to $ 5 million per year. This opens the door for bigger projects to benefit from crowdfunding, even small utility-scale projects, microgrids and larger community solar infrastructure. 
In allowing for more project offerings or larger sizes, crowdinvestors simultaneously have more opportunities to choose from! Even better, larger projects can often harness lower cost estimates with economies of scale. This often bolsters their economic efficiency and enhances value creation, all the while increasing clean energy benefits for people and the planet!
<br><br>
**Removed investment limits for accredited investors** <br>
When [signing up for a Raise Green account](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register), non-accredited investors are asked to estimate their net-worth as a means of determining the maximum amount they’re allowed to invest in offerings. The new regulation opens up more investment potential, since it weighs net-worth against annual income and uses the greater amount to determine maximums. While still maintaining investor protections, they can now have even more impact! 
<br><br>
The amendments remove the limit that accredited investors can put into a project. Clean energy projects can now receive larger investments from institutions and organizations, thereby increasing the feasibility of larger projects hitting their goals. This is a momentous shift towards ‘**blended capital**’: a powerful mix of philanthropic investment, donor-advised funds, program-related investment, and traditional private equity and retail impact investors, When all of these different types of investors get the same investment terms in the same offering, that allows for a more equal investment landscape. 
<br><br>
**Allowance for prospective project issuers to ‘test-the-waters’ **<br>
Up until now, there were strict rules against advertising a regulation crowdfunding offering before it went live. But now project issuers are allowed to communicate with investors beforehand! They can circulate promotional materials and measure the overall level of interest, which is good to know before going through the entire process of preparing an offering. Companies and climate entrepreneurs can present a potential project offering and measure the interest and feedback thereafter. With these amendments, initiating funding for community-level climate solutions will now be appropriately collaborative and transparent!
<br><br>
**Permission to use a special purpose Crowdfunding Vehicles (SPVs)**<br>
Regulation Crowdfunding issuers can now establish an SPV, an entity whose sole purpose is directly acquiring, holding, and disposing of securities in one or more offerings. This means that now any privately held company can raise capital without adding hundreds or even thousands of individual investors to their capitalization table, thus easing the administrative challenges of conducting a crowdfunding raise. SPVs are often used in project finance to manage risk, and will be an interesting area of financial innovation in the crowdinvesting space. By enabling the use of crowdfunding SPVs, the new rule requires that investors receive the same economic exposure, voting power, legal rights, and the same disclosures as if they invested directly in the company itself. This new option may make it more likely and potentially less risky for companies when they decide how best to offer investment opportunities through crowdfunding.
<br><br>
![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1200x675/6bde8f14fa/post_-funding-the-fight-wide.png)
<br><br>
Now is a better time than ever to start your own green job, and Raise Green can support both the development ([Originator Engine](/originator-program)) and funding ([Marketplace](/investment-opportunities-preview)). Or if you’re interested in investing in an existing project, you can [create an investor account for free here](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register). 

As always, feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](https://raisegreen-1.hubspotpagebuilder.com/raise-green-sign-up-to-support-climate-solutions) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*

If there was ever a national holiday for equitable and inclusive financing, it could be March 15!

New Rules: New Opportunities for People to Power Communities

New Crowdfunding Rules New Opportunities for People to Power Communities

Janet Yellen was recently sworn-in as the first female US Treasury Secretary, with bipartisan support! This puts her at the forefront of the world’s largest economy.

As another first, Secretary Yellen has pledged to set up a [team to focus on climate change](https://www.politico.com/amp/news/2021/01/19/yellen-treasury-department-climate-change-460408) within the Treasury. We’re optimistic about this high-level recognition of the real threats posed by the climate crisis, as well as the opportunities for reevaluating financial regulations to encourage a sustainable economy.

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1200x675/9cc4e4a67b/yellen-clean-energy-climate-impact-investing.png)

For example, tax incentives already play a meaningful role in solar project development. It was also the focus of [our last blog](/blog/solar-tax-credits-and-tax-equity-markets). The current investment tax credit system is needlessly restrictive, hindering the feasibility of smaller community-scale solar projects. Yellen can address this by pushing for refundable extensions for tax credits, or allowing for a cash grant to be made in lieu of tax credits for community-scale projects.

Financial regulations can and **should** compel investments that mitigate climate change, and can also help protect investors by requiring publicly traded companies to report the climate-related material risks to their businesses. These risks come from physical threats to supply chains and infrastructure, and transitional risks as the world moves past a fossil fuel based economy and further toward one powered on clean energy. Yellen’s climate team is a good start domestically, but we really need an all-out mobilization on clean energy finance!

As the World Bank’s largest shareholder, the Treasury can apply pressure towards essential goals, such as divesting from the fossil fuel industry. Domestically, Yellen is now one of the foremost players who can champion and raise green infrastructure and clean energy investments, for both short term relief and longer term recovery efforts. The Treasury can move federal capital through community development block grants to assist states and cities in rebuilding for energy efficiency and consumer savings while creating jobs. Evergreen Action’s [Clean Jumpstart Plan](https://www.dataforprogress.org/clean-jumpstart) calls for a $1.5 trillion investment in state-run relief and 21 federal programs that can help to stimulate and rebuild the economy. 

This effort doesn’t need to be a brute use of power. Rather, the US Treasury could use its influence to be a productive force with demonstrative results for domestic departments and the rest of the world to follow. This is leading not just by the example of power, but by the power of example.

It’s also crucial that regulatory incentives shouldn’t overlook disadvantaged communities, who are often the most vulnerable to climate change. Energy efficient homes should be accessible for all demographics, and solar infrastructure should be [integrated on a local level](https://electrek.co/2020/12/03/the-us-would-save-billions-if-local-solar-powered-just-25-of-homes/). The Treasury can consolidate its efforts by creating a national green bank that fosters private capital investment, making climate action projects more accessible for local communities.

This is our mission at Raise Green! We act as an intermediary between communities wanting to organize into collective action by creating and financing their own climate solutions, and individuals and businesses who financially support those efforts. Imagine what we can do together with the full support of the world’s largest economy!

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1200x675/31589fe82d/crowdfund-impact-investing-on-raise-green)

If you’re interested in starting your own clean energy project, Raise Green can support both the development ([Originator Engine](/originator-program)) and funding ([Marketplace](/investment-opportunities-preview)). Or if you’re interested in investing in an existing project, you can [create an investor account for free here](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register). 

As always, feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](https://raisegreen.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=11082e3b065fd4366639c43b6&id=7b4c5a3935) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*


Fostering Clean Energy Investment with Proper Regulations

You may have heard of solar and other clean energy tax credits, as they’ve been a prominent incentive driving investment in U.S. clean energy. In fact, [according to the Solar Energy Industries Association](https://www.seia.org/initiatives/solar-investment-tax-credit-itc), since the Investment Tax Credit was enacted back in 2006, the solar industry in the U.S. has grown by a whopping 10,000%. And thanks to a [recent policy extension](https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2020/12/solar-investment-tax-credit-extended-at-26-for-two-additional-years/), solar project developers are allowed to deduct 26% of project costs from their federal taxes for projects in 2021 and 2022, a continuation of this policy that drives significant growth and can make new projects feasible.

The catch is that solar tax credits are mostly claimed by a small set of wealthy players and investment bankers, who have segmented the benefits into a tax equity market:

“Tax equity is an investment category that has arisen thanks to tax credit policies, where a third party totally unrelated to the project itself provides some of the project capital simply to harvest the tax benefits.” - [Rob Day, Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/robday/2021/12/27/who-will-actually-be-able-to-use-the-renewable-tax-credits/?sh=2dd13cdf1038).

Since the tax equity market is made up of a concentrated group of large investors, it's often difficult for smaller scale projects to benefit from it. Smaller solar projects can be just as feasible when they’re able to capture the tax credit, but they’re often overlooked because they inevitably have less gross profit than larger projects. Economic uncertainty from COVID-19 has further increased the [reluctance of tax equity investors](https://www.seia.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/Nov2020-SEIA-Tax-Equity-Brief.pdf). 

We don’t think wealthy investment bankers should have the final say, which is why Raise Green is innovating in an area called a “tax equity partnership flip.” We help connect solar project owners (“Sponsors”) with our dedicated mission-driven tax equity investors, who are standing by to help partner with community project developers and monetize the federal tax benefits. Once they harness these savings, majority ownership of the solar project flips back to the Sponsor.  

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/1578x595/80ca7deb02/solar-tax-credits-and-tax-equity-with-raise-green.png)

This isn’t just a theory. Our Founders actually [conducted one of the smallest tax-equity partnership flips in U.S. history](https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilyeoh/2019/10/26/sustainable-investing-heres-what-millennials-need-to-know-in-the-u-s/?sh=759ce9791e8a) on a community-scale solar project in New Haven, Connecticut back in 2019.

Without getting too deep into solar project finance, Raise Green essentially helps create local ownership! Rather than being bound to a bank for the entire term of the project, ownership ultimately stays within the community, while still benefiting from tax equity savings.

It seems silly that project owners have to complicate their financing around an additional outside investor, in order to qualify for a policy that’s supposed to make the projects more accessible. This is why we’ve helped develop and recommend a variety of proposed solutions, including making incentives available simply as direct payments like the 1603 cash-grant program under the 2009 Recovery Act, or instituting a refundable tax credit. But until Congress takes action to change the law, Raise Green is here to help navigate the tax equity market and unlock access for communities and small businesses! 

If you’re interested in starting your own clean energy project, Raise Green can support both the development ([Originator Engine](/originator-program)) and funding ([Marketplace](/investment-opportunities-preview)). Or if you’re interested in investing in an existing project, you can [create an investor account for free here](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register). 

As always, feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](https://raisegreen.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=11082e3b065fd4366639c43b6&id=7b4c5a3935) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment or tax advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021*

The Long Road to Solar Tax Credits: Making Tax Equity Accessible

Amongst recent statistics supporting clean energy investment, [nearly half of U.S. homeowners](https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/12/17/more-u-s-homeowners-say-they-are-considering-home-solar-panels/) are interested in installing solar panels on their property. It’s a promising sentiment, since installing solar panels on just 25% of US homes could save the U.S. [$88 billion under current conditions](https://electrek.co/2020/12/03/the-us-would-save-billions-if-local-solar-powered-just-25-of-homes/), and [$473 billion by 2050 under a 95% clean electricity target](https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-01-07/how-rooftop-solar-could-save-americans-473-billion-dollars-boiling-point):

“Expanding local solar and storage on the distribution system reduces the need for power plants that only run on peak power days. It also better manages demand by offering more local energy products that customers want, which can increase grid resilience and reduce overall costs on the distribution and transmission grid.” - Michelle Lewis on [Local Solar Roadmap](https://www.localsolarforall.org/roadmap)

If solar power is appealing to a large portion of homeowners, with a calculated benefit to the grid as a whole, why aren’t there more solar panels on houses? In the same Pew survey that found 46% of U.S. homeowners are open to installing them, only another 6% have actually done so. 

A major obstacle is the cost of permitting and inspection, also known as “soft costs.” In fact, soft costs currently comprise at least [⅓ of the total price for an average household solar installation](https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2021/01/01/a-no-brainer-for-u-s-job-creation-update-solar-permitting-and-inspections/). While the costs of hardware and installation have decreased dramatically over the last 10 years, the soft costs have effectively remained the same.

The blame isn’t so much on the existence of permitting and inspection, they surely have important roles, but rather on the rigidity and complexity of the U.S. regulatory landscape. In fact, there are over [36,000 Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs)](https://solarbuildermag.com/featured/searching-ahjs-for-solar-permitting-start-with-this-free-crowd-sourced-registry/) across the 50 states, and permitting currently averages 30-40 days.

“Locating the authority that has jurisdiction to approve a rooftop solar project is only the beginning. What are the building codes, electrical codes and fire codes that can change project design from one town or city to the next?” - Matthew Hirsch, Solar Builder Mag.

The most effective remedy would be structural reform on a national level, which may be on the horizon with a Biden presidency. Standardizing and simplifying permitting for commercial solar is the logical next step in keeping up with its increasing popularity, a non-partisan movement towards efficiency. 

In line with that, Raise Green is engaged in streamlining the solar permitting process by partnering with Blu Banyan and the Orange Button Initiative on a project to [harness a crowd-sourced registry of all solar AHJs](https://github.com/SunSpecOrangeButton/ahj-registry). Coupled with our [Originator Engine](/originator-program), the AHJ database aids in contract automation and permitting, reducing the need for tedious research on local solar regulations. 

It’s an exciting time to be developing local solar projects! With reduced costs and anticipated federal support, we may soon witness a paradigm shift in how our energy is generated and stored. 

If you’re interested in starting your own clean energy project, Raise Green can help with both the development ([Originator Engine](https://oe.raisegreen.com/)) and funding ([Marketplace](/investment-opportunities-preview)). Or if you’re interested in investing in an existing project, you can create an investor account for free [here](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register). 

As always, feel free to send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email list and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to [www.raisegreen.com](/homepage) for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to info@raisegreen.com. Copyright © 2021
*

Simplifying Permitting and Cutting Soft Costs for Local Solar Projects

Simplifying Permitting and Cutting Costs for Solar Projects

The future is looking bright for equitable and inclusive financing with the SEC’s favorable new crowdfunding regulations. Back in early September, we wrote a blog titled “[Changing Rules in a Changing Climate](/blog/changing-the-rules),” highlighting our comment letter to the SEC on a proposal seeking to improve access to capital and “Harmonize and Improve the ‘Patchwork’ Exempt Offering Framework” of existing private securities offerings, while maintaining investor protection. In other words, we want to make it easier for anyone to raise capital and invest in impactful community-scale projects and local companies. To us at Raise Green, crowdinvesting represents an opportunity for the 95% of Americans who aren’t rich (the SEC calls them “non-accredited investors”) to have more of the same types of investment opportunities as the wealthy (“accredited investors”). It also means giving climate and clean energy entrepreneurs (we call them “Originators”), especially historically disadvantaged founders and local project developers, a way to raise money that never existed before.

In our prior blog about the rulemaking process, we highlighted three of our favorite proposed changes to Regulation Crowdfunding along with the benefits these changes would bring to investors, Originators, and the planet. Now, we are excited to share an update on the new [Final Rule](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-273) released by the SEC on November 2nd which includes our three ‘favorite’ proposed changes, as well as 35 mentions of Raise Green from our [comment letter](https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-05-20/s70520-7261538-217666.pdf) on the rulemaking. The final rule includes nearly all of our recommendations within it! This is an excellent outcome, as it increases the ease with which impact investors and Originators can interact and exchange capital on our marketplace towards our grand mission: fostering impactful and equitable climate projects and empowering communities across the US to create, own and benefit from climate solutions.

![Img](https://a.storyblok.com/f/77953/2411x2483/ceaadc1005/u-s-_securities_and_exchange_commission_headquarters.png)

Below are four of the changes with short explanations of how they will bring about positive change to crowdfunding and the Raise Green community. 

**1. Increased maximum raise limit for companies from $1.07M to $5M per company per year**

This means projects of bigger size and scale, including large community solar projects and even utility scale projects can raise inclusive financing from the crowd. This also enables more access for crowdinvestors who will have more and bigger opportunities to buy into larger projects, which often means increased profitability on bigger deals. In the case of solar projects, this allows projects to take advantage of lower cost estimates with economies of scale and therefore increase their economic efficiency and enhance value creation, all the while increasing the amount of kilowatts deployed per project! 

**2. Removal of accredited investor limits on crowdinvesting**

Part of creating a Raise Green account, or an account on any registered crowdfunding portal, involves estimating your net-worth and determining the maximum amount that both accredited and non-accredited investors can then put towards offerings. With this rule change the limit on the amount that an accredited investor is allowed to invest in a project is removed entirely, meaning once the rule goes into effect, projects will be able to receive larger investments from a variety of institutions and organizations, which increases the feasibility of larger scale projects coming to fruition through inclusive financing. This change may significantly accelerate the use of exempt securities offerings for actually delivering on the popular trend toward ‘blended capital’ that can mix philanthropy, mission-related investment, donor-advised funds, program-related investment, and concessional private capital with traditional private equity and retail impact investors. 

**3: Allowance for crowdfunding Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) to be used going forward**

The new rule will now allow for companies to establish an SPV, an entity whose sole purpose is directly acquiring, holding, and disposing of securities issued by a single crowdfunding issuer and raising capital in one or more offerings made in compliance with Regulation Crowdfunding.  This means that now any privately held company can raise capital through crowdfunding without needing to add hundreds or even thousands of individual investors to their capitalization table, thus easing the administration and management challenge of conducting a crowdfunding raise and paying back investors in it. SPVs are subsidiaries created by parent companies to isolate financial risk. By allowing SPVs to act as conduits for investment in private companies, this change should make it more likely and potentially less risky for companies deciding to offer investment opportunities through crowdfunding.

**4: Allowance for prospective issuers to ‘test-the-waters’ to solicit investment interest prior to conducting an offering**

When the rule goes into effect, Originators will be able to communicate with prospective investors prior to listing a raise on Raise Green’s marketplace. Before this rule, there were strict prohibitions against advertising or communicating about a Regulation Crowdfunding offering until the offering actually went live, which meant that Originators were not able to get any feedback on the pricing or level of interest in their project in advance. This change increases the transparency of interactions between Originators and investors, allowing the Originator to open a line of communication and get a sense of how interested the crowd is in funding their project before going through the entire process of preparing an offering, thereby making creating and listing a project for funding more collaborative, transparent and easier than before. 

It’s an exciting time to be involved in crowdfunding, and we can’t wait to see how these changes affect our community. If you’re looking to [invest](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList), be on the lookout for a wider variety of projects on the way. To be best prepared for upcoming investments, you can [create an investor account](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register) for free here. In the meantime, check out [our marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/PreviewOffers/NzA4MzU=) to see if any projects pique your interest! 

As always, feel free to engage us in conversation and send any questions or comments you might have to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com).

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for [our email list](https://raisegreen.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=11082e3b065fd4366639c43b6&id=7b4c5a3935) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 




November 2nd, the SEC released a new rule: “[SEC Harmonizes and Improves “Patchwork” Exempt Offering Framework: Rule amendments harmonize registration exemptions, eliminating complexity and facilitating access to capital and investment while preserving or enhancing important investor protections](https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-273).”

Notes:

Outside resources: 

- [https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/16/a-report-card-for-the-secs-new-equity-crowdfunding-rules/](https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/16/a-report-card-for-the-secs-new-equity-crowdfunding-rules/?guccounter=1)
- [https://next.law/big-positive-changes-to-sec-crowdfunding-rules/](https://next.law/big-positive-changes-to-sec-crowdfunding-rules/)
- [https://www.woodshed.agency/blog/how-new-sec-rule-changes-will-affect-equity-crowdfunding](https://www.woodshed.agency/blog/how-new-sec-rule-changes-will-affect-equity-crowdfunding)



*This Blog is for discussion purposes only, expresses the views of Raise Green, and is not investment research. This is not investment advice, and does not constitute a solicitation to sell or an offer to buy any securities. Certain information is from or links are to third party sources. Although they are believed to be reliable, we do not guarantee their accuracy, completeness or fairness. Raise Green is a licensed Funding Portal with the SEC and FINRA, and is not a Municipal Advisor. Prior to being approved to list a company on the Raise Green portal, a diligence review is completed. Prior to investing. investors must sign up for an account on the portal. Raise Green does not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Investing in crowdfunded offerings involves risk and you should review the risks of a particular investment prior to investing. You are strongly encouraged to consult your professional advisors before investing. Go to www.raisegreen.com for additional information on services, the funding portal, regulation, and investment risks. Or, direct inquiries to [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com). Copyright © 2020*

Favorable New Crowdfunding Regulations in the New Year

The project creation journey continues! By this time you’ve thought about your *motivation* for starting a project, decided on the type of project you are creating, established an idea of the way your team, project company, and holding company interact, and established site control with your project location. 

## Costs
Now you’re ready to quantify the costs and earnings of your project, build out a financial model and bring you towards raising the money. Most projects have myriad costs in addition to the actual cost of the equipment (panels, racking, inverters). These additional costs include legal, permitting, operations and maintenance, etc. They’re often referred to as soft costs, and they make up about 64% of the project cost on average according to PV Magazine.
Part of the value that Raise Green provides as a financing partner is to help you reduce your soft costs. Calculating what your additional costs will be to get your project done is an important step in understanding whether your project will be profitable financially. You will need to itemize these costs in your use of proceeds so that the crowd knows how you’re going to spend their money.
![Img](//a.storyblok.com/f/77953/512x396/cc3adc3ff4/pv-mag-image.png)
## Off-taker
The biggest single driver of the financial viability of your project is the price that you get for selling the electricity that your project generates. That’s why the next step is finding an offtaker for your solar project -- someone who buys the electricity you generate. This could be secured through an agreement from one off-taker, or from many off-takers where community solar is allowed. The standard agreement is called a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and it is the bread and butter of solar project finance - a source of revenue that provides contracted cash flows and drives revenue for you and your project’s crowd investors. In your PPA,  off-takers generally agree to a fixed cost of electricity purchase over a long time period of approximately 15-25 years. Raise Green helps simplify this process with the generation of a PPA unique to the variables you enter into our Originator Engine. 

## Financials
As an Originator, earning money for your hard work is crucial. With Raise Green, you can input data unique to your project and we will run a financial model that helps estimate the costs and allows us to conduct due diligence on the financial viability of your project, including your potential Originator earnings. The rest of your forecasted project earnings may be re-payed back to your investors, depending on the way you structure your investment opportunity on our marketplace. It's important to remember that raising money for a project isn’t a get rich quick scheme, you’re building a real infrastructure asset that provides essential services. Monitoring and maintaining your project is a decades-long process as long as the PPA is in effect and your system continues to generate electricity. That’s why it's extra important to have a good team and partners to make a plan for asset management that will see it through for the long haul. 

## Partners
Luckily, you don’t have to do it all yourself, there are enterprise partners standing by to help from start to finish on these services and more: banking, insurance, accounting, legal, tax equity, solar installer/engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). All of these partners play a key role in your project and we’re glad to refer you to some folks so you can establish these relationships prior to the listing and sale of securities on Raise Green’s marketplace. If you have all of these partners so far, or if you know how to establish these partnerships and are up for the task, good for you! Keep on moving forward and get ready for your raise. For some others, you might have only gotten so far and realized that you need extra help, either in the form of a team or capital, or you might just want to unload your project. If this describes you, get in contact with us as we may be able to help in the form of developing your project or listing a development capital raise (more info coming soon!). 

## Marketing
One of the final things to do before listing your project is to come up with the story and start thinking of marketing to your network. By story, we mean the information about your project that will be listed on our marketplace that will be shared with investors. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve passed [our R.A.I.S.E. due diligence](https://www.raisegreen.com/how-investing-works) and put in a lot of time, so feel free to take advantage of it by sharing some of your success story and motivation. This is the place where you mention the beneficial community, environmental, and potential economic benefits that come about from putting your project on the ground. Once it's listed, Raise Green will share it with our network, but it's also on you to contact supporters within your own community network to spread the word and hopefully drive investment interest in your project! 

That concludes the sneak peek into life as a Raise Green Originator. If you have most of the resources and decisions above ready, then you are a perfect candidate to move through our Originator Engine to generate your project. If you find yourself lacking in a couple things here and there, it would be a great idea to reach out to our Head of Originator Sales, Jackie Logan, to [share your project idea in a 15 minute meeting](https://calendly.com/raise-green) and see where Raise Green can provide guidance to fill in the gaps! 

As always, feel free to engage us in conversation and send any questions or comments you might have to info@raisegreen.com.

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our [email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


How to Create a Clean Energy Project in Your Community, Part 2

How to create a clean energy project in your community: , part 2: from finding an offtaker to selling securities

Creating your own solar project as a Raise Green Originator is a great way to join the fight against climate change, but it takes hard work and dedication. Put simply, an Originator is a project developer, or a team of concerned and committed citizens that come together to take real action on climate change by developing a clean energy project. This is for anyone who is tired of reading about climate action, and wants to actually take climate action. What follows below is a sneak peek into the steps included in a project’s journey from inception to our Originator Engine and ending with raising money on our investor marketplace to get it done. If you’re reading as a prospective Originator and at any point find yourself missing a piece of the puzzle laid out in either part 1 or 2 of the blog post, it's a good idea to take a few steps back before moving forward. 

It all starts with asking yourself, why do you want to become an Originator? Do you want to set up a sustainable side-hustle, or receive hands-on experience in clean energy to set yourself up for a job elsewhere? Are you interested in creating your own business and growing it over time as a professional solar developer? Do you want to become a leader in your community by enabling investment in local clean energy? Or, are you motivated by helping a local organization, like a school, community center, or non-profit? 

All of the above are legitimate reasons to initiate your Originator journey, but your varying motivations may affect the lifecycle your project takes on, as well as the timeline and role that Raise Green plays in your project. You may also want to think about whether you want to proceed as a solo Originator, as part of a larger organization, or a team of like-minded individuals before you kick off the creation process. Once you think about your motivation for creating a project and get an idea of your Originator team, it’s time to flesh out where your project will be implemented and what it is. 

Most of Raise Green’s market is built around solar projects. Such that, if you’re developing a solar project, or you have an operating solar project that you’re looking to refinance, we have an immense catalogue of resources to help you create and finance your work. If you have a different idea don’t worry, we can still help you access capital to make your idea come to life, but some of the points below may be unrelated to your project. 

One of the first things you do in the Originator Engine is name and create your project and holding company. You might already be working for a company that will run a project, like a non-profit, or you might be a solo Originator creating your company for the first time. Either way, we will need information about the project, like its name and description, as well as information about your company, including a description, address, and the state it will be incorporated in. If you want help with incorporating your company, we have templates and an enterprise partner that can help get it done affordably. 

Regardless of your project type, you will need to know the site where it will be implemented. Once you have an idea of where you think you will put your project, you need to obtain approval from the site owner to place it there. This is what we call site control. In some cases, an Originator might already own the site (e.g. building, parcel of land) where they want to place their project, but in many cases, this process of obtaining site control involves close communication with the owner of the site to achieve express approval. Establishing a good, stable relationship with a site owner is recommended, as it is a key piece of managing the decades-long lifespan of your project.

Once you establish site control, you can get into the details of putting the pieces of your solar system together through sizing your system, finding an installer and offtaker, and calculating costs and earnings of your project. You can gauge the size of your system in terms of kW capacity. For example, community-scale solar projects normally fall between 50-500kW. With site control and a size estimate, you can take steps towards finding a solar installer on a free site like [EnergySage](https://www.energysage.com/), or reach out for a Raise Green recommended installer. Moreover, an installer is one of the first partners we recommend engaging since you’ll need licensed professionals to design, engineer, and build the system.

Installers will provide you with a bid for how much it costs to install your system, but the costs of your system extend beyond installation costs (more to be mentioned in part 2). In fact, the solar ‘soft costs’ as they’re called account for an average of about 62% of the cost of going solar. And that’s a main reason why Raise Green exists, to help reduce these costs and make it more affordable and accessible for communities to get clean energy, especially disadvantaged communities. Installers will also help you finalize the design of your system, a necessary step towards finding an offtaker that will purchase your electricity. 

If you’ve made it this far, continue on to part two of the blog coming soon. In our next part, we’ll dive into finding an offtaker, projecting financial costs and earnings, finding partners, and finalizing your project story to sell securities on our marketplace.

As always, feel free to engage us in conversation and send any questions or comments you might have to info@raisegreen.com.

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up to our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


How to Create a Clean Energy Project in Your Community, Part 1

How to create a clean energy project in your community, part 1: from inception to installer

Monetary policy may seem like a nebulous concept, but it has incredible influence over the well-being of both people and the planet. Dr. John Clippinger is a researcher and activist who knows this very well, as he has dedicated his career to rethinking financial systems and modelling the ways they can facilitate beneficial, holistic outcomes. John joins our co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney on the fifth episode of the “Raise Green” podcast. “Raise Green” is a 7 episode podcast series exploring the climate crisis through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Listen to the approximately 30 minute Episode #5 [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1doE5taUTPAjJYgrdqdmig?si=lBwW8n_BTfe9McQKFvcgTg).

John Clippinger’s urge to restructure financial systems is rooted in the inherent failures and inequities of the current system. He starts by highlighting the ways COVID-19 has accentuated cracks in our traditional economic model, with no easy way to recover. The Federal Reserve issued an unprecedented $6 trillion dollars for pandemic relief: buying debt off of corporations, while simultaneously providing unemployment stimulus to aid individuals with their own daily needs and debts. Yet despite federal aid and a soaring stock market, we still saw a contraction of about [33% of the US economy](https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/07/30/896714437/3-months-of-hell-u-s-economys-worst-quarter-ever). 

We clearly need to reevaluate how we approach debt, but even more notably, the entire financial system must adapt to fundamental changes exposed by the shocks of 2020. For example, millions of people in the service industry simply aren’t able to return to their normal work, and we can’t use outdated solutions to address this. John elaborates on the current model of “extractive capitalism,” a centuries-old relic of industrialization, wherein economies are set up to maximize material output (regardless of the costs). John, Franz, and Matt all agree on the need to evolve towards “biological capitalism,” or what we often refer to as ‘inclusive capitalism’, a holistic, self-sustaining system that prioritizes the health of people and the environment. 

The idea is to design markets that achieve productive outcomes without negative externalities. Rather than mitigating greenhouse gasses as a given aspect of the system, economies could be organized not to produce them in the first place. This brings John to what he calls “reflexive mutual organizations,” self-contained systems with feedback loops that accumulate value for all those involved. That is to say, systems that inherently benefit themselves as well as the components necessary for life, not unlike the idea of circular economies highlighted by Eva Gladek in episode #1 of our podcast series. He envisions smaller decentralized organizations, “nodes,” interacting within a larger, self-sustaining economy. 

John acknowledges that this “civic homeostasis” would require parameters with a proper incentive system, which is where verifiable metrics are important. Our industrial economy is based on endless consumption of fossil fuels, and to course correct, investments inevitably need to be redirected to more resilient technologies and renewable or regenerative systems and practices. We can encourage that by verifying the full-extent of the negative impact wrought by current practices, as well as creating independent metrics that better convey the value of positive impacts. The latter is starting to be done with Renewable Energy Credits for a given megawatt-hour of renewable energy generated, since electricity is easier to quantify than other social or environmental benefits. This creates an exchange that can be independently verified: clean energy produced vs greenhouse gasses offset, but we’re just scratching the surface of how to properly quantify and express these benefits. As we’ve [told the U.S. Treasury Department](https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=TREAS-DO-2019-0004-0044) in the past, we must demand more and better data to improve understanding of actual impacts. 

Even despite the competing crises of the day, we are moving towards a holistic economy at a promising rate. The more we can encourage and verify positive feedback loops in smaller nodes, the more examples we have for modeling and achieving better results. John believes that, likely sooner rather than later, we’ll have the parameters to move towards a holistic economy that benefits all life on earth. 

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

If you’re interested in making an impact investment now, check out the [Raise Green Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).


Raise Green Podcast Episode #5: What is the Future of Finance?

We founded Raise Green to make community-scale climate projects happen, plain and simple. And now, we are excited to announce that we are making that vision even more accessible by offering development capital for clean energy entrepreneurs. 
 
We’ve worked with over 100 potential project developers, ranging from total newbies to experienced developers. We also developed two inclusively financed community-scale solar projects ourselves under the entity of New Haven Community Solar. So we know, starting a solar project and bringing it past the create stage to the build, fund, and run stages is not as easy as it should be. We provide [extensive resources](https://www.raisegreen.com/originator-program) to project developers (we call them Originators) so they can navigate this process, but barriers still exist to moving projects forward. One of the most common barriers to developing a solar project is a lack of access to capital. 
 
An Originator may need funds to scope project sites, pay for an interconnection study, pull permits, cover staff time worked, or pay external partners to secure site control for their system. By receiving development capital funds from crowd investors like you, the project creation phase is made more accessible for Originators and in turn increases the likelihood of projects listed on our [investor marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList) upon a later date.
 
Targeted financial incentives like access to development capital helps the community by lowering the barriers to entry for new project developers, and making the project creation phase more accessible and inclusive. In turn, this access to capital for underserved and disadvantaged populations increases the probability of projects being implemented on the ground for communities in need. Experts at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory [found](https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2020/11/09/how-to-accelerate-solar-adoption-for-the-underserved/) that these types of incentives can be catalytic to accelerating solar adoption for the underserved. That means more community Originators working with Raise Green, more climate action projects for the planet, and more opportunities for investors. 

For investors, it not only means more investment opportunities, it includes the diversification of investment types on our marketplace. Whereas solar projects tend to have equity offerings that have a contractual cash flow delivered over a period of 10-20 years, development capital investments are typically structured around a shorter maturity period, (e.g., 1-2 years), with a fixed interest coupon paid back along with the initial investment when the project gets built or at maturity. 

If you are an experienced solar developer in need of up to a million in development capital to move your next project forward, or an aspiring Originator creating your own green job who has been waiting for an opportunity to fast-track your project development work with funding, get in contact with us and we would be happy help get your project up, funded and running. If you are an investor looking to get into climate tech, sustainable finance and support community economic development to accelerate the equitable transition to a clean energy economy, [create an investor account](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/home/register) for free and keep an eye out for investments coming soon. 

As always, feel free to engage us in conversation and send any questions or comments you might have to info@raisegreen.com.

To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please [sign up for our email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


Raise capital to develop your solar project, invest in clean energy entrepreneurs 

Episode #4 of the Raise Green podcast series features Joel Solomon, an esteemed expert in impact investing! Joel is a founding partner at Renewal Funds, Canada’s largest mission-oriented venture capital fund, with over 20 years in the industry. Joel joins co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney. “Raise Green” is a 7 episode podcast series exploring the climate crises through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Listen to the approximately 30 minute Episode #4 [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0gWz7vONjQJjT8UmiNe1Kc).

We embrace the term “impact investing” for funding that generates positive social and environmental outcomes. For a while, these investments weren’t taken seriously, since the dominant paradigm has been to maximize returns regardless of the cost. But as social and environmental problems have become increasingly apparent, and as existing impact investments have proven their financial viability, and in [many cases their superior financial performance](https://www.putnam.com/literature/pdf/ESG001_RE-0e702a5eed2e0f8679bede5d43704f46.pdf), its popularity has grown at a promising rate.

There was $20.9 billion of sustainable investing during the first half of 2020, which is comparable to the rate in 2019. Even more impressively, the 2019 investment flow was four times the previous record. This steady growth, in spite of an administration that [actively undermines it](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ebsa/laws-and-regulations/rules-and-regulations/public-comments/1210-AB95), represents a shift in heart and mind for investors. That is to say, people increasingly want their investments to be affiliated with less harm and more good.

Joel describes how it has taken a couple decades for this mindset to come to prominence, but now it’s an unstoppable concept. What started as a marginalized “burr in the sock” for the incumbent system has the increasing potential to erode the status quo. Even the biggest players in the industry have to adapt to emerging trends.

Franz points out that, [by all indications](https://www.morganstanley.com/pub/content/dam/msdotcom/ideas/sustainable-signals/pdf/Sustainable_Signals_Whitepaper.pdf), the emerging generation of millennial investors will continue to accelerate this trend. In turn, there’s the potential to shift the future of capital deployment and how it’s allocated around the world. This poses an opportunity to re-establish standards and accountability, after the era of “the only goal of money is to make more money.” Joel imagines an enlightenment of sorts, where we foster a period of financial innovation by re-thinking money and its uses.

Raise Green is one of the companies that’s striving to catalyze this shift in consciousness, and Matt believes we’re close to that turnover period. Private-sector businesses and finance can be a tremendously powerful force for improving both communities and the planet, and the role of the small players is to continue demonstrating and reinforcing this trend. As momentum builds, larger firms will be obligated to understand and follow, and as pressure mounts, they might even realize that being on the front end of the trend would be beneficial to them.

With compounding economic, pandemic, social justice, and climate crises, we’re in a period where people feel the need to act, which is why impact investing is being taken more seriously. In the past, regulators have expressed skepticism about ESG labels, which is the metric that’s supposed to assure that the funds go towards benevolent purposes. Legislating good and bad is surely subjective, and Joel admits it’s a dynamic issue. It’s more about overall direction, which divides into measurable and subjective components.

Within his own firm, Joel ensures that his portfolios have enough examples that are simple enough for people to understand and approve of. These are funds that are measurably beneficial by standards and qualities we can all agree on, such as cleaning up pollution. This in turn builds their investors’ trust when the firm handles more subjective, complicated cases that aren’t as easily quantified. 

In a way it’s an art form, where standards and agreeable qualities are established, and then subjective creativity delivers unique outcomes from there.

Matt has always believed that blending art and science achieves the best possible outcomes. Relying on one perspective misses other important pieces. Joel agrees, seeking to provide an overall model, based on integrity, honesty, self-reflection, and being eager for challenges and improvement. These are noticeably human qualities, and they provide an important parallel: finance and the economy aren’t an abstract thing, they’re about people. By humanizing investments, we can improve their character in the same way we might to do ourselves.

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/1jJS3POiHxhYb7NJZwr2q2), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at info@raisegreen.com. To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our [email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)).

If you’re interested in making an impact investment now, check out our Raise Green [Investor Marketplace](https://marketplace.raisegreen.com/offers/offersList).



Raise Green Podcast Episode #4: What is Impact Investing? 

Our podcast series continues! 

Raise Green’s second podcast episode is an extended double with Sue Biniaz, lead climate lawyer in the US State Department for more than 25 years. She played a central role in all major climate negotiations during that time, including the Paris Agreement. 

Sue joins co-founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney. “Raise Green” is a 7 episode podcast series exploring the climate crises through the minds of local leaders and global experts. **Listen to the approximately 20 minute Episode #2 [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0upJYLQV6bNmfDj5K5hlSY?si=Ilb7oCUJRCetowpVgwfYDA). Episode #3 is a continuation of the interview, and can be found [here on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/09HHWEaUl8EZ8k88N9PLwu).**

We begin with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which Sue helped develop at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The UNFCCC sets the framework for how nations have approached climate issues for the past 28 years and counting. The negotiation to arrive at the UNFCCC involved many of the same issues that continue to arise in international climate discussions today, with this conversation focusing on differentiation and bindingness. 

Bindingness: Are policy commitments legally binding?
Differentiation: Should all countries have the same commitments? 

For example, the Kyoto Protocol (1997) defined legally-binding caps on greenhouse gas emissions for developed countries, but the US didn’t ratify, so it only ever accounted for a third of global emissions. Part of the reason was that countries were differentiated into two different Annexes of the Convention, classifications that have been contested ever since. That was until the Paris Agreement outlined a framework that lets each country set its own target, and their chief binding commitment was to continually report on progress and update the targets every five years. 

Frameworks before that had attempted to recognize more nuances with countries’ categorization. To name a few, there are oil-producing countries, tiny island nations, and countries going through dramatic economic transitions (e.g. countries affected by the collapse of the USSR). 

This highlights the complexities of climate policy negotiation, a subject which Sue Biniaz is all too familiar with. She shared four tips for negotiation which we’ve summarized below:

1) Preparation. There are multiple ways to represent your own position, and knowing other parties’ positions can help you effectively present to them. Consider different ways to reflect the same substance.
2) Ask a lot of questions. Related to Tip #1, clarifying other parties’ positions can help you address the same substance with different wording. 
3) Be clear and concise. Long rambling proposals can lose people’s attention. Short, simple lists can go a long way. 
4) Explain why the proposal is in the other party’s interest, rather than simply dictating your position.

Sue is still active in the negotiations as a Senior Fellow at the UN Foundation and has been teaching courses on international climate negotiations at various law schools. Franz took the opportunity to inquire about the current state of the Paris Agreement:

A new US administration could easily re-join the Paris Agreement, but it would have to design an emissions target within 30 days, as each country decides its own NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution)This would create a delicate balance for the new administration: substantial commitments to regain credibility, versus domestic backlash in response to ambitious policies. Franz points out that the COVID-19 pandemic has added even another layer to that dynamic. It has delayed the next UN Climate Conference (COP26) by a year, which will be the first global stocktake for countries’ NDCs. Sue highlights that this may be a blessing in disguise, since many countries weren’t on-track to reach their NDCs this year, and it also gives the US a chance to regain its footing with a new president.

COVID-19 has understandably shifted countries’ focus for the time being, but countries can still work towards their NDCs by “building back better,” ensuring that stimulus packages aren’t going back to business as usual.

Despite what it may seem, Sue reminds us that only a fraction of the world is trying to devalue the science around climate change. We all have a duty to continue pursuing a fact-based approach to problem solving, insisting on even our own accuracy.

With that, there’s reason for optimism, as countries like China are still pushing towards ambitious targets for climate policy. Domestic momentum on climate action is also picking up: companies, cities, and other non-state actors are continuing to improve their ambition, invest in green and scale down brown. 

This is the role Raise Green plays: empowering local communities to improve their infrastructure and tackle climate change. Many of the challenges are persistent, but Sue reminds us of our ability to make a difference. Whether in negotiations or neighborhoods, working together creatively is the way to get it done.

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:info@raisegreen.com). To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our email [list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


Raise Green Podcast Episode #2: What is Climate Policy? 

We’re live! 

Do you wonder if sustainability is achievable or even enough, do we need renewal, or regeneration, do we need circularity? How do we make that happen? 

We recently launched the official “Raise Green” podcast, hosted by Co-Founders Franz Hochstrasser and Matt Moroney - exploring the climate crisis through the minds of local leaders and global experts. Our podcast revolves around short, accessible conversations that share new ways of working together via personal stories about creating a healthy, just, and sustainable future. [Listen to the approximately 20 minute Episode #1 here on Spotify:](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg )

Episode #1 features Eva Gladek, Founder and CEO of a sustainability focused consulting and venture-building company called Metabolic in Amsterdam, Netherlands. They literally build ventures to remake the economy. One of her first projects with Metabolic was De Ceuvel, a cafe and city playground for innovation, experimentation and creativity that makes sustainability tangible, accessible and fun. 

This award-winning, sustainable planned workplace for creative and social enterprises on a remediated former shipyard in Amsterdam demonstrates the potential economic opportunities can be built with a bit of creativity and perseverance. 

**Building on these ideas, Metabolic has built circularity plans for cities, provinces, and private enterprises in agriculture, banking, building, chemicals, and textiles. Check out their recent work in the U.S. cities of Charlotte and Boulder.**

**Between this September day in 2020, and 2030 what will you build?
**

Eva and her band of changemakers at Metabolic are dedicated to creating a beneficial and  equitable society through systems transformation, circular economy, and sustainable design. She is consistently listed among the top influencers in sustainability in The Netherlands, a country recognized as leading the transition to a circular economy. We talk to Eva about:

1) How the circular economy is different from sustainability in general?

2) Is everything a resource?

3) How popular is the topic of circular economy in Europe, and why has it not caught on in the United States? 

4) How might a country like the Netherlands continue to improve on the topic of circular economy? 

The show goes on next week as we welcome the next of our several guests soon to be featured on the “Raise Green” podcast. Episode #2 is with the inimitable and legendary Sue Biniaz, a former lead climate lawyer for the U.S. State Department where she played a central role in the negotiation of nearly every major climate agreement to date, including the Paris Agreement. 

You can find the “Raise Green” Podcast  on [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3SoCbMDNAj0GT4FSc7RqXt?si=1UQ0JK6_R_aLGgtVCj97jg), [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/raise-green/id1529894700), and [Soundcloud](https://soundcloud.com/user-353076924/evagladek) streaming services. Be sure to check us out!

Have any questions you want us to ask, or a guest you would like to be featured on the podcast? Email us at [info@raisegreen.com](mailto:null). To get the most up-to-date information on Raise Green content, please sign up for our [email list](http://eepurl.com/dFst3T) and follow any of our social accounts ([Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/raisegreeninc/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/RaiseGreenInc), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/RaiseGreenInc/), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/raisegreen/)). 


Raise Green Podcast Episode #1: What is the Circular Economy? 

Like many entrepreneurs before us, our early business plans had a lot of twists and turns. For Raise Green, those twists and turns were quite literal since our first business involved making air pollution sensors that live-tweeted from the handlebars of bikes...



Our progress

Our Founding Story

Raise Green Blog

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