AIA Bulletin

One Ohio school is among an elite group nationally to be certified “platinum” by the Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design (LEED) program, the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) said Thursday. The recently

completed London Middle School is the first school in Ohio to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s top designation,

followed in recent weeks by LEED platinum certification of Taft Information Technology High School in Cincinnati Public

Schools.

OSFC also used its monthly meeting to announced three Ohio school districts approved for its Energy Conservation Program

under 116-HB264.

Supported by $13.3 million in OSFC funding, the London Middle School project includes a geothermal heating and cooling

system, a 71.2 kilowatt solar panel system, extensive natural lighting, and 20 acres of restored prairie grass. Thirty-seven

percent of the building materials were regional, and 25 percent were made from recycled material. Efficiency measures

yield a 40 percent reduction in water usage and 42 percent energy savings, including 15 percent of the school’s electrical

needs from solar cells.

“This project was completed within budget, with the full complement of education components incorporated into the

building, and it was able to achieve this elite LEED rating,” OSFC Director Richard Hickman said. “It was within our average

cost per square foot guidelines and without any outside grants, locally funded initiatives or outside funding sources.”

Energy Conservation projects include Campbell City Schools in Mahoning County, South Euclid Lyndhurst City Schools in

Cuyahoga County, and Bloom Carroll Local Schools in Fairfield County, which together expect to save more than $210,000

annually from energy improvements.

In other business, the commission approved more than $108 million in new construction contracts in 29 school districts.

“These 104 trade contracts represent a continuing investment in Ohio’s schools. Ohio’s ongoing school construction and

renovation program is not only delivering high quality educational facilities, but it is also providing good jobs in lean

economic times,” Hickman said.

OSFC has approved more than $502 million for school construction and renovation in 2012 and $9.5 billion in contracts

since its inception in 1997.

Today, someone wishing to sue a business in Ohio for violating the terms of a written contract has 15 years from the alleged breach to do so. This long time period, or statute of limitations, makes Ohio uncompetitive among the states with only Kentucky having a comparable statute of limitations. Two bills are currently pending in the legislature that will reduce Ohio’s extended statute of limitations.

Lawsuits are decided more fairly and efficiently the more quickly they are tried. The ridiculously long 15-year statute of limitations puts Ohio businesses at a great disadvantage if they are sued. Reducing it will enable an employer to defend a lawsuit more effectively, since the involved personnel will have fresher memories and company records will be more easily accessible. It also means businesses will no longer be burdened with keeping all relevant records of written contracts going back as far as 15 years.

Enacted in 1803, Ohio’s current 15-year statute of limitations for written contracts is a byproduct of an era when communications took days or even weeks for a party to give notice of a breach of contract. Given today’s technological advances, Ohio’s antiquated law for written contracts is overdue for modernization. In fact, Ohio already has a six year statute of limitations for oral contracts. Changing the law for written contracts will standardize these two statutes and also bring Ohio in line with the other states.

House Bill 170 passed the House by an overwhelming margin and will reduce the current statute of limitations to six years. Senate Bill 224, which unanimously passed the Senate this week, will reduce it to eight years. 

Kasich Proposal would Merge SAO with OSFC 

Part of the Kasich Administration’s Mid Biennium Review (MBR) Proposal, Sub. HB 487 would merge the State Architects Office (SAO) with the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) forming a new Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC). 

AIA Ohio was aware of the possible merger prior to the introduction of HB 487 and initiated a series of in-person meetings and conversations with OSFC Director, Rick Hickman, OSFC Construction Reform Program Director, Craig Weise AIA, State Architect, Lane Beougher, AIA, Senator Chris Widener, FAIA, his staff and other design and construction interests. These conversations are on going and address the Administration’s rationale for the merger as well as AIA Ohio’s desire to preserve the State Architect’s important roles and to maintain the talent, influence and visibility only architects can bring to the construction process.

These conversations are progressing while the Ohio House of Representatives is taking testimony on HB 487.  

During House Finance Committee hearings on the merger proposal, Budget Director Tim Keen testified that the merger would “reduce costs and align related authority and resources within a single, responsive commission with oversight responsibility for all state non-transportation construction.”  He said, “The impetus (for the merger) was the lack of an ongoing funding source for the state architect’s office.”  The just passed Capital Bill provided for no new buildings. 

Department of Administrative Services Director, Robert Blair, testified that “downsizing of state government has occurred under the leadership of both parties, partly due to budget constraints and partly due to the reality of doing more with less and that the new commission would combine most of state government vertical construction authority under a single entity with the authority to perform or administer all state facility construction, including schools.” 

OSFC Executive Director, Richard Hickman said the merger would:

1) Bring the major components of state construction under a single umbrella benefiting public owners and taxpayers,

2) Establish a centralized construction authority,

3) Create consistent, streamlined construction oversight,

4) Lead to financial efficiency,

5) Allow for the leveraged expertise and resources,

6) Deliver capital projects even more efficiently and effectively by consolidating the tremendous construction experience and expertise that resides in both the State Architect’s Office and the Ohio School Facilities Commission,

7) Allow the state to take full advantage of the collective knowledge of construction to deliver the best facilities to all public owners in a consistent and streamlined manner. 

The Associated General Contractors (AGC), the Buckeye Assn. of School Administrators, and ACEC Ohio also support the merger.  No state legislator from either party has appeared in opposition.

As for the future, once the bill passes the Ohio House, the Senate Finance Committee, Chaired by AIA Ohio Past President, Senator Chris Widener, FAIA is expected to add its input to the merger proposal. Senator Widener has substantial state construction experience, played a significant role in Ohio’s adoption of construction reform and likely will play a key role in what happens to the State Architect’s Office… and how much influence architects will bring to bear on Ohio’s built environment.

AIA Ohio will continue to provide updates on the proposed merger.

An environmental group released a new report Friday calling for more government investment in improving the energy efficiency of Ohio’s buildings, a move it said could save each Ohio family an average of $340 annually by 2030. 

Environment Ohio released the report, “Building a Better America: Saving Energy and Money with Efficiency,” which finds that policies to improve building energy efficiencies could reduce the energy use of Ohio’s buildings 20 percent by 2030, prevent the emission of global warming pollution that would be the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road, and save on Ohioans’ energy bills. 

Environment Ohio said 40 percent of the energy used in the United States goes to heat, cool and power buildings, and that much of the energy comes from “dirty and dangerous sources like coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear power,” that leads to global warming. It said much of the energy is wasted because of leaky doors and windows. 

“It’s time to build better,” said Julian Boggs, Environment Ohio policy advocate. “Bold efficiency measures for buildings can cut energy use in our homes and businesses 20 percent by 2030, reducing pollution and saving consumers money.”

Among the government policies that could be adopted to promote efficiency, Environment Ohio’s report recommended: 

– “Adoption of strong building energy codes targeting reductions in energy use versus today’s average homes and commercial buildings. The codes should target 50 percent reductions by 2020 and 75 percent by 2030. We will also need strong commitments from cities and other stakeholders: a goal of achieving zero net energy buildings — buildings that produce as much energy as they consume — by 2030, and incentives to increase distributed renewable energy generation;

– “An aggressive program of energy efficiency retrofits sufficient to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent in households and 50 percent in commercial facilities by 2030, including financing programs like Property Assessed Clean Energy, on-bill financing, weatherization programs, utility-funded incentive programs and public private partnerships;

– “Adoption of strategies to increase transparency and develop consumer demand for energy-efficient apartments, homes and businesses, including energy use disclosure and incorporation of efficiency measures into the real estate appraisal process;

– “Adoption of strong energy efficiency standards for household appliances and commercial equipment used in buildings.”

The group said successful efficiency programs and incentives at the federal, state, and local level are already paying off, saving consumers money and dramatically reducing energy use.  

“There are already thousands of super-efficient buildings all around the country,” Boggs said. “Most buildings last for decades, so investing in energy efficiency locks in savings for years to come and builds a strong foundation for the future of our environment and our economy.”

Rep. Ron Amstutz (R-Wooster), chairman of the House Finance and Appropriations Committee, introduced the Governor’s 2,833 page “Mid Term Biennium Review” (MBR) bill, (HB 487), March 16 and immediately separated its elements into “bite sized pieces” for consideration by a variety of House Committees.  

 The MBR proposal to merge the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) with the State Architect’s Office (SAO) into a new Facilities Construction Commission (FCC) will be vetted by the House State Government Committee.  That Committee will hear MBR proposals that deal with Agencies and Topics:  Department of Administrative Services, state government agency efficiencies and consolidations and land conveyances.  According to Committee Chairman, Rep. Ron Maag, the Committee will hold its first hearing on these subjects March 21 at 9 a.m. in Hearing Room 116 of the Statehouse.  

 Kasich administration spokesmen have said the SAO/OSFC merger will “reduce costs and align related authority and resources within a single, responsive commission with oversight responsibility for all state non-transportation construction.” 

State proposes loans, not grants, to clean up brownfield sites.

By Amelia Robinson, Staff WriterUpdated 7:33 AM Monday, March 5, 2012

A statewide program credited with creating thousands of jobs and cleaning up old industrial sites is undergoing changes that local governments fear might curtail future developments.

JobsOhio officials are considering changes to the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund that has distributed more than $380 million in grants to clear hazardous waste from former industrial sites, also known as brownfields.

At issue is whether the program will change from grant-based funding to loans — a conversion that economic development officials fear could dissuade developers from investing in these former industrial sites.

Dayton Economic Development Deputy Director Timothy Downs fears revisions to the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund also would require that a developer be identified as a condition of acceptance.

Downs said the cost of evaluating and rehabilitating old industrial sites would be too high for the city and most developers if Clean Ohio were a loan program.

“A loan program is certainly less attractive to us than what exists right now,” he said. “We couldn’t take advantage of it like we have the existing program.”

The current program was set to end June 30 because of a restructuring of the Ohio Department of Development and the creation of JobsOhio, the state’s newly formed private economic development arm.

But Gov. John Kasich announced last month that the program will be saved and administered by JobsOhio.

It is projected that the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund will use about $43 million of the $100 million statewide liquor profits JobsOhio hopes to receive for economic development each year.

Statewide, the program’s return on investment has been $3 billion in new development and 14,000 permanent jobs, the Department of Development said.

Since 2002, Clean Ohio has granted $22.9 million to clean up old Montgomery County industrial sites for reuse according to the Department of Development. Most of the sites have been in Dayton, including the future site of the GE EPISCenter, a $51 million research and development facility being built near the University of Dayton and TechTown, a technology center near Fifth Third Field.

About $5.3 million has been granted for Greene County projects and about $5.1 million for Miami County projects. Clean Ohio has not funded a project in Warren County.

“Taking something from a grant to a loan is potentially a tremendous challenge,” said Jerad Barnett, president of Beavercreek-based Synergy Building Systems, which built the Ohio Valley Medical Center on a former Clean Ohio project in downtown Springfield.

Without knowing how much cleanup might cost, Barnett said, a developer wouldn’t know how big of a loan payment to factor into the cost of the building. And without certainty in that calculation, developers will think twice about a project.

“The cost of environmental cleanup can be tremendous,” Barnett said. “The new group usually can’t afford to clean it up.”

Funding the program

In 2000, voters approved the $400 million program pushed by former Gov. Bob Taft as a way to demolish, cleanup and address infrastructure issues at former industrial sites with environmental issues as well as land issues like farmland preservation, recreational trails and conservation of greenspace.  

With bipartisan support, voters in 2008 approved a renewal of the programs with another $400 million amendment.

The constitutional amendment allows the state to sell $800 million in bonds for greenspace and farmland preservation, brownfield cleanup and trail construction.

More than 300 former commercial and industrial properties representing 3,200 acres of land have been revitalized as part of the program.

Future of the program

Applications currently are not being accepted while JobsOhio officials consider the future of the program.

Laura Jones, JobsOhio’s communications director, said criteria for the new Clean Ohio program is being developed with assistance from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Development.

Jones said officials are trying determine how to best use resources earmarked for CleanOhio.

“The end goal will remain the same, revitalizing former industrial sites and getting them in the hands of new end users (owners),” she said. “Looking strongly at loans is one aspect that is being evaluated at this time.

“This plays a key role in economic development, and economic development is what JobsOhio is about,” she said.

GE EPISCenter

Chris Lipson, Dayton’s senior development specialist, said the multimillion dollar GE research center being built on River Park Drive would not have been possible without the $3 million grant from Clean Ohio.

The University of Dayton owned the former NCR property, but no developer was known when the city applied for the grant in 2005.

The cleanup helped make the property attractive, he said.

“We probably can’t overstate the value it will have down the road for us. The GE project is potentially a game changer for decades to come,” Lipson said. “We probably wouldn’t have the GE site if we didn’t have the foresight to clean up the site in the first place.”

2011 Policy Year  – One Claim Program participants are required to complete a one-day class through BWC’s Division of Safety & Hygiene. This is to be completed by 6/30/12. 

2011 OCP employers that are renewed in the 2012 Policy Year will be “grandfathered” in at the 40 percent discount for their remaining years of eligibility. The new training requirement will be to complete 3 Hours of online classes within the 2012 Policy year. 

2012 Policy Year  – Employers entering  OCP for the first time in the 2012 Policy Year  will be required to complete a 3 hour (1/2 day) classroom style class with the Div. of Safety & Hygiene the first year and 3 hours online during subsequent OCP eligible years. The discount schedule for OCP employers entering  the 2012 Policy year is as follows:                

                                               Year 1 = 20 percent off Base Rate
                                               Year 2 = 15 percent off Base Rate
                                               Year 3 = 10 percent off Base Rate
                                               Year 4 =   5 percent off Base Rate

 Please contact John Lykins at john.lykins@bwc.state.oh.us with any questions.

BWC taking

BWC is serious about complying with banking industry standards. More importantly, we are committed to protecting employers’ credit card information. To achieve both goals, we are making significant changes to the ways we accept, capture, store, transmit and process credit card data.

We will not accept credit card payments via insecure methods (e.g., email, fax, instant messaging, etc.). As of March 31, 2012, we’re eliminating the credit card write-in option from our paper payroll reports and other paper forms. Instead, we encourage employers to make credit card payments on our secure website, ohiobwc.com, or by phone at 1-800-OHIOBWC.

To further enhance security, our policy ensures:

• Only authorized, properly trained employees accept credit card information;
• Credit card information is destroyed as soon as it is no longer necessary;
• Immediate reporting of and disciplinary action for employees suspected of noncompliance or theft.

To learn more about payment card industry standards, visit https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org.

By  Steve Wartenberg

The Columbus Dispatch Sunday February 26, 2012 6:24 AM

Architects are opinionated when it comes to the future of Columbus and the surrounding suburbs — and also quite optimistic.

And those opinionated optimists say the next decade should be interesting and present a lot of opportunities, especially Downtown and in the surrounding historic neighborhoods as more people move in and the vacant spaces are filled in with new projects.

Six prominent local architects from the American Institute of Architects Columbus recently shared their views during a wide-ranging discussion: Keith Myers of MSI-KKG; James Bresler and David Brehm of Braun & Steidl; Michael Bongiorno of DesignGroup; John Kelleher of NBBJ; and Jonathan Barnes of Jonathan Barnes Architecture & Design.

They weren’t focused at all on the design of specific buildings and didn’t share whether they liked the look of the new hospital buildings at Ohio State or Nationwide Children’s or the proposed statue for the Scioto Mile riverfront park.

They were in full city-planning mode, and were more interested in sharing their dreams of what could and should be in and around Columbus.

“We realize that the cumulative efforts of what we do changes neighborhoods and cities, so we are thinking on that scale when we design buildings,” Barnes said.

Downtown and infill came up several times during the discussion.

In the not-so-distant past, the trend was to tear down the old buildings Downtown, which gradually became devoid of residents as people moved farther and farther out. These days, the trend is to preserve what’s left and then fill in the empty spaces with new projects, including a plethora of residential units that are bringing people back to live Downtown.

Downtown will continue to evolve — and these six architects have a vision of how they would like it to evolve.

“Enough with the red brick buildings,” Bongiorno said.

He didn’t mean exactly that. He was exaggerating to make his point: Review boards and planning commissions need to be more open-minded and accepting of new styles of architecture. A diverse sea of different, quality architectural styles will only enhance Columbus, he said.

“There’s a misplaced attention on style rather than quality,” Barnes said.

Everyone agreed that Columbus is filled with wonderful old neighborhoods — and it’s important to retain what’s here and add interesting, quality and sustainable new buildings.

While the future of Downtown and many historic neighborhoods looks promising, there could be problems farther from the center of the city.

Meyers and Kelleher said they are concerned about “the next ring out.”

“Land had been more valuable for homes the past few decades on the edges of the area,” Barnes added. “But it’s changing, and in some areas that land is now more valuable as farmland.”

Older residential and commercial developments in outlying areas could actually be plowed under and turned back into farms.

How’s that for reversing a trend?

These architects probably wouldn’t shed many tears if some of these suburban projects go back to farmland.

“Some of the builds in the last 20 to 30?years out there were built to throw away; there’s no quality,” Bongiorno said.

There was also agreement that many of these big suburban projects didn’t do a good job of integrating the residential units into the community.

This type of development is happening in the city — and everyone seemed to agree there are several opportunities to reinvigorate many long-suffering neighborhoods:

“Nationwide Children’s Hospital is expanding — how will it affect the area?” Kelleher wondered.

“Franklinton is on everyone’s radar,” Myers said.

The area around the new Hollywood Casino Columbus is another hot spot — and development around this project could reutilize this section of the city.

Grandview Yard is another development the group believes has an interesting future.

And so is Ohio State, where several student-housing projects are planned.

Brehm praised Ohio State for “creating a high-quality neighborhood community for students with redevelopment of their North Campus housing district.”

In other words, there’s a lot to be optimistic about.

“But we need leaders who are well-informed and make the kind of decisions that make us a better city,” said Gwen Berlekamp, executive director of the American Institute of Architects Columbus.

An otherwise routine Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) meeting became entangled Thursday in the thorny subject of shrinking school districts and planned demolitions, now scheduled for the nationally registered historic Julienne High School in Dayton Public Schools.

Preservation Dayton and the Coalition to Save Julienne — a longtime Catholic high school purchased by the district in 2004 for $2.4 million and renovated with another $2 million to become the Stivers School for the Arts — told OSFC the Dayton Board of Education had engaged in a campaign of distortion to demolish a school that had never been properly offered for sale as a charter school, as required by R.C. 3313.41(G).

“There was never a moment a school was not wanted or needed there,” the coalition’s Marianne Stanley told members, saying the next closest district school is more than five miles away. “It has more school-age children than any other area of Dayton.”

Stanley and President Donna Martin of Preservation Dayton said the school board had previously suggested the 85-year-old building on Homewood Avenue would be replaced with a new school. “We’re still getting a demolition, but we’re not getting a school,” said Stanley. She said whatever sale attempt was made listed the site as Homewood High School.

“When they published that, no one knew what Homewood High School was,” she said. “It has never existed. It was intentionally misleading.”

The dispute dates back several years, when State Board of Education member Jeffrey Mims was still president of the Dayton school board. It now includes President Ronald Lee and members Joe Lacey, Yvonne Isaacs, Nancy Nerny, Sheila Taylor, Stacy Thompson and Robert Walker.

The board says Julienne was only upgraded as a temporary “swing” campus as is now slated for demolition with $1.4 million in matching state and district funds.

For her part, Martin described the board as indifferent to the pleas of residents and preservationists to support the ongoing use of Julienne as a district campus, community school or other use. 

“This is the rape and murder of a building that has stood to educate tens of thousands of children,” she said. “It’s like a hit man who says, ‘I have money to kill your mom. Sorry.”

Martin said the city cannot afford to lose another historic edifice in a community strewn with vacant lots. “Columbus is beautiful. Dayton is dying,” rued Martin, who said OSFC had been misled by district officials.

“These buildings were never offered publicly for sale — they were never known to be offered,” she said, noting the alleged confusion around Homewood High School. “They were never listed. They were never placed in the newspaper.”

She added that the Dayton school board had also misled taxpayers by saying they could not legally reopen the campus if renovations totaled two-thirds or more of the cost of a new school at the same site. Martin pointed out that renovation of historic school buildings can incur 100 percent of new construction costs.

Stanley and Martin said they face a March 2 deadline to appeal for an injunction and pleaded with the commission to intervene.

OSFC Executive Director Richard Hickman was sympathetic but candid.

“The situation we’re seeing in Dayton Public Schools is the same one we’re seeing in all urban districts, which is a reduction in student enrollment,” he said, pointing to the district’s 2002 master facilities plan. 
“At the end of the day, Dayton lost a number of schools they thought they were going to be building when they began the program.”

Hickman said community school organizers had in fact been notified of the sale — at least 60 parties, OSFC Chief Legal Counsel Jerry Kasai said after the meeting — and that none had responded.

“What schools they are going to build is really a school district decision,” he added, noting districts also have the authority to demolish buildings they own if no buyers are forthcoming. “Within statute, it’s really a local control issue.”

Commission Chairman Tim Keen, the state budget director, also weighed in. “Is it a legal and appropriate use of funds? Yes. Is it a desirable outcome? That is always open to discussion, as we’re doing here today.”

Keen said the district had already signed demolition crews to begin the work. “From our perspective, there is no urgency on this matter. They have entered into legally binding contracts.”

He shared Hickman’s sympathy for supporters of the school, however. “This is always a difficult matter for the School Facilities Commission. … This is always a challenging process for a school district that’s going to end up with fewer buildings than when they started.”

Martin’s response to the statutory standard was terse. “Legal is minimal. Ethics is proper.”

After the meeting, Kasai said the two-thirds cost threshold only applies to schools actually scheduled for replacement in a district’s official building schedule. “It was never in the master facilities plan,” he said of Julienne. He added that the commission is only entitled to withhold state funds if it can be shown the district has violated the statutory requirement for first-offers to the charter school community.

As for Martin and Stanley’s legal theory that the district had made illegal representations, and that OSFC was therefore entitled to withhold matching dollars, commission spokesman Rick Savors was diplomatic. 

“It depends. We’ve never been in a position where the district hasn’t followed the guidelines.”

• $13 billion in investments in wind, solar, geothermal and other energy projects over 10 years would be solely controlled by a secretive Ohio commission incorporated in the state of Delaware.

• The General Assembly would be strictly prohibited from influencing project selection and investments, or any operation of the Ohio Energy Commission Initiative.

• The spokeswoman for the energy issue, Evonne Richardson of Columbus, is a model, actress and burlesque dancer who also goes by Zulie Perfect, a fictitious name officially registered with Secretary of State Jon Husted.

That said, “Yes for Ohio’s Energy Future” is a step closer to getting its constitutional issue to a vote this fall with the approval yesterday of ballot language by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. While not assessing the content, DeWine ruled that the submitted language is a “fair and truthful” summary of the proposed constitutional amendment.

The next stop is the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine if the measure should appear as one issue or multiple issues. If the proposal clears that hurdle, supporters could begin gathering the 385,253 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters needed to place it on the Nov. 6 general-election ballot.

The amendment would ask Ohioans to approve issuing $1.3 billion a year in bonds, backed by the “ full faith and credit of the state,” beginning next year and running through 2023. The bond money would be used for infrastructure, research, development and manufacturing of clean-energy initiatives.

“We don’t think we’re going to have any problem getting the signatures to get this through to the Ohio Constitution,” Richardson said. She said it is estimated that the bond issue, over a decade, could generate 300,000 to 400,000 jobs from investments in renewable energy. The jobs would range from positions for high-school graduates to those with doctorates.

Neither Richardson nor the four petitioners backing the issue have direct experience in the energy field.

Richardson confirmed that she is a model and burlesque dancer, but added, “I don’t see how that’s relevant. It’s not about us individually. I have a history of working as a political activist since I was 12 years old.

“There’s a lot of people behind us. There’s industry and grass-roots people.”

John Clarke, project coordinator for the renewables proposal, estimated it will cost $2.5 million for paid-signature gatherers and other expenses related to getting the issue on the ballot.

“A lot of the money is coming from the industries that are involved,” Clarke said. He cited First Solar, an Arizona company with a solar-panel manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, as one contributor.

First Solar received $16.3?million in tax credits in 2010 from the federal stimulus program and last year got $455 million in financing from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for a solar project the company is developing in Canada.

Clarke said the Delaware corporation was set up because it offers tax advantages compared with Ohio and “anonymity” for financial backers.

State of Delaware Division of Corporations records show the Ohio Energy Initiative Commission LLC was set up on Jan. 12 by an agent, Harvard Business Services, of Lewes, Del. Harvard’s website cites anonymity advantages for incorporating in Delaware, including state laws that “shield the identities and personal information of business owners” and do not “require the names and addresses of LLC members and managers to be made public.”

The renewable energy issue website is: www.yesforohiosenergyfuture.com/index.php.

Representatives of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Ohio Business Council for a Clean Economy Tuesday defended the state’s efforts regarding energy efficiency and renewable energy in a conference call with reporters.

Focusing on Ohio’s lighting industry, Dylan Sullivan, NRDC staff scientist, said that the state’s lighting industry has grown quietly and without a lot of attention from policymakers. “With more than 4 billion screw-based bulbs being transitioned to new technologies in the United States alone, Ohio’s economy stands to gain significantly from the companies leading the change. The state already boasts 1,500 manufacturing jobs from the industry, with potential for many more to come,” he noted.

A new report from NRDC, “Better Bulbs, Better Jobs” released today, highlights that potential with case studies of large and small job producers across the state.

“If you weren’t watching, it might be a surprise to learn that Ohio is a world leader in developing energy efficient lighting,” Sullivan, report co-author, added. “There is huge potential for this industry, but we need to retain Ohio’s smart policies to secure future growth. Rolling back the policies that strengthen the market for these innovative products means rolling back jobs just starting to come online all over the state.”

The report outlines federal and state policies that are helping to create a market for advanced lighting technologies and includes seven case studies of Ohio companies driving the industry. TCP Lighting in Aurora (near Cleveland) has been central to the development of compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL) and is now poised to open a manufacturing facility in Ohio. Cincinnati’s LSI LED created the fixtures used to light New York’s landmark George Washington Bridge. Smaller companies like J&M Electrical Supply and J’s Lighting Services, both in Cambridge, are helping manufacturing businesses reduce costs and stay in Ohio by making the transition to more efficient lighting, the NRDC reports points out.

“In Ohio, the state’s existing energy efficiency standard has been effective. The technologies put in place in 2009 and 2010 as a result of the efficiency standards will save customers over $350 million over their lifetime,” Sullivan said. “And the transition to advanced lighting offers huge benefits outside of Ohio too. The nationwide transition to more efficient lighting means:

– “Electric bill savings of more than $12.5 billion per year.
– “Energy savings equivalent to 30 large power plants.
– “Reduced pollution, including a 60 percent reduction in mercury emissions from power plants and prevention of approximately 100 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution per year.”

The report notes that, “Largely due to 127-SB221, Ohio utilities offer incentives on top of lower energy bills to help customers finance energy efficiency upgrades, including lighting. Depending on your utility, incentives might include discounted energy-efficient bulbs, appliance rebates, money for your old, inefficient appliances and others.”

Asked if the conference call was in response to reports that Republican legislators in the state are backing a bill to wipe out or lessen the state’s energy efficiency and renewable energy standards, Sullivan said that, of course, they are concerned because those standards helped create a market for these lighting technologies.

Steve Caminati of the Ohio Business Council for Clean Economy said they, too, are concerned but that they have talked with both Republicans and Democrats who understand the growth of the industry and its potential and “want it to succeed.

“As they see projects and tour sites, they get excited.”
“Better Bulbs, Better Jobs: Case Studies in Ohio’s Energy Efficient Lighting Industry” is available online at

http://www.nrdc.org/energy/better-bulbs-better-jobs.asp.