April Webinar Delivers Strategies to Generate More Revenue from Recycling and Advantages of Green Cleaning

Join GreenPrisons on Wednesday, April 11 at 11 AM EST for our next webinar in our Sustainability in Corrections series. This month we focus on materials management and specifically on ways to maximize the revenue generated from recycling efforts and the fundamentals of cleaning with green chemicals and why they are so well suited for the corrections environment.

Clayton Campbell of PABS Management will discuss strategies for increasing your revenue from recycling and reducing cartage fees by managing the institution waste stream more effectively.

Burt Klein of PortionPac chemicals will explain the fundamental advantages of cleaning with green chemicals. PortionPac has a history of working with corrections since 1985 and has been a major supporter of the accreditation process as well as providing training programs for offenders who use PortionPac products.

To register go to www.GreenPrisons.org and click on the webinar article.

Maryland Secretary Gary Maynard Confirmed As Keynote Speaker for Symposium

Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Corrections to Keynote Second National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections
Maryland Secretary of Public Safety and Corrections, Gary Maynard will be the keynote speaker at the opening luncheon for the Second National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections. Secretary Maynard has an extensive background in correctional management including serving as a warden and regional director. He has served as Commissioner or Director in Iowa, South Carolina and Oklahoma before being selected to lead the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
In addition to his correctional experience Mr. Maynard retired from the Oklahoma National Guard as a Brigadier General after 32 years of service. He is past President of the American Correctional Association, a Commissioner for the Commission on Accreditation of Corrections, and served on the ACA Standards Committee. He is an author, adjunct professor and a truly dedicated public servant.

Upcoming Events

We have a busy two weeks ahead. The latest edition of the newsletter will be out this week and we are currently finalizing the detail on our next webinar, Feb 15. Be sure to register soon as slots are limited and they are filling up quickly.

As we noted in the last blog we had a busy week at ACA. We learned this week that the workshops GreenPrisons was involved in were the best attended of the conference reflecting the growing interest in sustainability by the corrections community. We have been asked to propose additional workshops for the Congress in Denver. If you would like to join us and talk about your sustainability program let me know ASAP. Our proposals are due to ACA by Feb 13.

Registration for the 2nd National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections is now open. That means you can also propose a workshop and if it is selected you can attend the Symposium for free. If you have any questions give me a call at 859-629-6116.

If you have a program you would like featured on GreenPrisons.org be sure and send an email to info@GreenPrisons.org

ACA Recap and Upcoming Events

We just finished up a super ACA conference in Phoenix and sustainability is rapidly becoming the watchword of the profession. We had the chance to speak in three different workshops along with our friend Paul Sheldon, we also provided training to ACA auditors on the new sustainability standard, and thanks to John Rees had the opportunity to speak to the policy committee of the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA).

In every presentation folks had more to share about what they were doing in their agency and were equally eager to hear what was happening in other parts of the country. There was genuine enthusiasm for what we are doing and support for the overall goals of sustainability.

We attended a workshop early on Saturday morning presented by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) that focused on a model that can be used to assist agencies to determine what makes sense for them regarding sustainability when considering new construction or retrofit. It is a model I think that could be utilized by large and small institutions alike. We hope to have it available on GreenPrisons.org in the coming weeks to share with you.

We are indebted to a lot of individuals and companies who made our travel to ACA possible. First on the list is the North American Association of Wardens and Superintendents (NAAWS) and their leadership Art Leonardo, Gloria Hultz and Pat Keohane, and President Daryl Vannoy. They gave us space to operate out of and encouraged their membership to check out what GreenPrisons had to offer. We will be presenting at their conference in Springfield, Mo in April along with Commissioner Bruce Lemmon of Indiana and we hope you can be with us for this very special event.

CorrectPac, Solaris, I-Con, Pabs Management, Energy Systems Group and Zone 3 all, not only helped us to get there, but were ready and willing to answer questions and informally discuss their products and services. I encourage you to visit each of their websites to learn how they can not only save you money but in some instances create revenue streams as well. All of these companies have a true commitment to corrections and in addition to their products have developed training programs that can help prepare inmates for green collar jobs. We encourage you to check them out and support the companies who support GreenPrisons.

Our next webinar is only two weeks away and registrations are limited. We have almost maxed out the number we can accommodate. Register now for any of our upcoming webinars by going to www.GreenPrisons.org and clicking on the link on the home page. February’s webinar is on Lighting and Energy. Be sure to join us!

Thanks to all of our amazing sponsors and friends!

GreenPrisons.org at the ACA Winter Conference with Sponsors and Friends, Jack Hanley of Solaris, Gregg Riphagen with I-Con Systems, Greg Johnson with Zone 3, and our friends at Portion Pac.

Thanks for making this ACA a green success!

GreenPrisons Is At ACA Winter Conference

Greetings from Phoenix! GreenPrisons arrived in beautiful Phoenix this afternoon, the weather is great and folks are starting to stream in. This year's Winter meeting will have a minimum of four workshops on sustainability. The idea is catching on. GreenPrisons will also be providing training on the new standard on sustainability giving accreditation auditors first hand information on the background of the new standard and ways agencies can demonstrate their compliance.

On Wednesday, January 18th GreenPrisons launched our 2012 webinar series with Paul Sheldons "Seven Steps to Sustainability in Corrections". Pauls "7 Steps" will serve as the outline for the series. Join us on Feb 15 to look at energy and lighting.

Our January newsletter will be delayed slightly so we can bring you all the information from this year's Winter Conference.

Registration is NOW OPEN !!! for the Second National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections. Register early to get the discounted rate and possibly win a free registration. The call for presentations is also out and we encourage you to propose a workshop and share your experiences with sustainability. Check out the GreenPrisons homepage for registration information.

Watch for more updates from Phoenix!!!

GreenPrisons Announces New Webinar Series

As promised before we took a little break at Christmas, we are back with our popular webinar series beginning Wednesday, January 18 at 11 AM EST. This first webinar will kick off the series exploring the Seven Steps to Sustainable Corrections developed by Paul Sheldon.

This is one you won't want to miss because we will outline how you can learn ways to begin saving your institution money and resources tomorrow!!! In the following months we explore each one of the Seven Steps in depth with presentations by practitioners and providers of the technology.

Based on requests we received from a number of vendors who would like to share information with you about their products and services we will offer them the opportunity to have exclusive vendor webinars. If you would like more information on how you can schedule a webinar contact me at Tommy@GreenPrisons.org.

We will continue to offer these webinars as a free service to the corrections community if we can get support from advertisers. If you would like to sponsor one or more webinars and help support this effort please contact me.

Finally, if you are going to be at the winter conference of ACA be sure and come by the Clean and Green Committee meeting on Saturday at 1 PM in room 122B of the convention center or visit with us in the NAAWS suite and learn more about their upcoming conference in Springfield, MO in April.

If you would like to present in a future webinar please shoot me an email at Tommy@GreenPrisons.org or call me at 859-629-6116.

GreenPrisons Gears Up for 2012

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last post but I thought this would be a good week to share with you what we're planning for the new year before everyone got caught up in their holiday festivities.

First and formost I met in Indianapolis last week with representatives of the Indiana Department of Correction, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, the Bluegrass Recycling Center (KY) as well as Johnson Controls, WESTCO Distributors, and Designaire Engineers for the purpose of initiating planning for next year's National Symposium on Sustainability in Corrections. Following on the heels of our very successful innaugural event we will return to Indianapolis for 2012.

So mark your calendars for October 29 - November 1, 2012, for this important event. A call for presentations, participant registrations, and exhibitors will be available on www.GreenPrisons.org shortly after the first of the year.

In addition to planning next year's conference we have also been busy preparing for the first issue of a new quarterly journal on sustainability in corrections. We will have copies available online and at ACA. Be sure you are on our mailing list to be able to download your free copy! Advertisers and contributors for stories for future issues are also wanted. Send me an email at Tommy@GreenPrisons.org for more info.

Also be sure to look for us in the NAAWS suite at ACA in Phoenix.

I was recently contaced by a vendor who has a large quanty of CFL lightbulbs available at deep discounts. If you can use them send me an email and I will put you in touch with the vendor.

Finally, as we approach the holidays I want to thank eveyone for your support. GreenPrisons is barely six months old but we have managed to become the voice for sustainability in corrections. While it would be impossible to identify all the individuals, agencies and companies who have lent their support to get us started. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the support we have gotten from the Indiana Department of Correction and Commissioner Bruce Lemmon. Both in his former life as the warden of the Pendleton Correctional Facility and now as Commissioner of the Department he has been a leader in this movement. Our vendors, particularly Johnson Controls, I-CON, Energy Systems Group, Solaris, and Portion-Pac have been with us since the beginning and continue with their support and we sincerely appreciate it.

I also want to acknowlege all the members of the Clean and Green Committee of ACA and particularly Former Commissioner John Rees and former Secretary Richard Staler for giving me the opportunity to get invloved with this important work. The contributions of Paul Sheldon have been incalcuable. His expertise in this field continues to boggle my mind every day.

Finally, I have to acknowledge the contribution of my daughter Ann as the Marketing Director for GreenPrisons. She is the one who inspite of a full time job in a totally different field, regularly Tweets about our activities, maintains our Facebook page, publishes the newsletter and all other things electronic. GreenPrisons would simply have no voice with out her, and I am very greatful for her contributions.

2012 will be a big year for us. Hopefully we will achieve 501 (c) non profit status with the IRS, expand our webinar offerings, activate our vendors data base, and host another stellar conference.

Merry Christmas and a Green New Year!!!

Planning for 2012

Thanksgiving is barely over and we have more than a month until Christmas but here at GreenPrisons we have already begun planning for a number of activities for the new year.

On the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving Ann and I spent the day checking out possible locations for the 2012 Symposium. Our goal was to find a location that provided as much meeting and exhibit space as the Hilton but to do it more economically. We think we've done it. We won't announce the location until after a planning meeting the week of December 5th but we believe this venue will provide more space, upgraded accommodations, and reduced costs for participants and vendors alike. Keep an eye on the website for all the details.

Speaking of next year's Symposium we have options on two dates, one in late September and one in early November. What is your preference? Let us know before the planning meeting and we will include that in our discussions.

In addition to the Symposium and the webinars we will begin conducting Sustainability Surveys for agency's in 2012. If you would like us to assist you in getting started or maximizing your current efforts shoot us an email and we can talk details.

ACA Passes Standard and Policy Statement on Sustainability

As many of you who follow this blog regularly know, I chair the "Clean and Green" committee of the American Correctional Association and in another life was the Accreditation Manager for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.


The charge for our committee has been to help educate the corrections community about the advantages of using sustainable practices and products in the correctional environment. We have sought to do that in a number of ways including coordinating last April's issue of "Corrections Today" which focused exclusively on sustainability.


However we felt like to bring about meaningful change in correctional practice, it was necessary to find other ways to promote sustainability. Our committee is fortunate to be made up of some of the most experienced and thoughtful practitioners in our business, and it was decided in committee that we should ask the appropriate sanctioning bodies in ACA to approve a policy statement on sustainability so that everyone, both inside and outside of corrections, could know that ACA was taking a leadership role in this important endeavor. This effort was led by former Secretary of Corrections for Louisiana Richard Stalder and former Commissioner of Corrections for Kentucky, John Rees. Because of the efforts by these two gentlemen we were successful in accomplishing our goal in our first 18 months of existence.


While the Policy Statement is too long to list here, you can access it from the ACA website or follow this link http://http//aca.org/government/policyresolution/results.asp?PoliciesAndResolutionsYMGHFREName=environmental&sortfld_360=Name&reversesearch=false&viewby=50&union=AND&startrec=1

Based on my experience as Accreditation Manager for the Bureau it has been my experience that most folks involved in accreditation typically don't go out seeking more standards to have to demonstrate compliance with. However, I think accreditation managers will quickly understand that rather than having created a complex standard that requires pages of documentation all this new standard requires is that the agency demonstrate that they have explored the feasibility of pursuing sustainable practices during the period of accreditation.


A review of the standard language follows or you can access it from ACA's website as well:


The facility/agency shall demonstrate they have examined, and where appropriate and feasible, implemented strategies that promote recycling, energy and water conservation, pollution reduction and utilization of renewable energy alternatives.


If the agency is not currently involved in any sustainable practice to be compliant all they must document is that they have explored what might be possible. For those agencies already engaged in sustainable practices, documentation of compliance is even easier.


To learn more about this new standard and how to demonstrate compliance be sure to come by auditor training at the ACA Winter conference on Tuesday morning, January 24. I'll be doing a one hour presentation on the standard and how to evaluate compliance. You don't have to be an auditor to attend. Attendance is open to anyone attending the conference.

Since I'm writing this the Monday before Thanksgiving it seems appropriate to wish all of you the best of holidays, enjoy your family and friends and check back in here next week for our latest update.

Academia Where Are You??

As a correctional practitioner for some 40 years I have had the opportunity to watch the profession evolve in a number of ways, most of them positive. The advent of accreditation, objective classification systems, unit management, etc., are all excellent examples of how the corrections profession has responded to new challenges.

In every instance these changes have been studied, dissected, and tested through academic study by institutions of higher learning. the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and some foundations have provided incentives to colleges and universities to study, evaluate and report on each of these then emerging trends.

So where is the support for sustainability? I beleive the evolution of sustainable and "green" practices is the next major step in the corrections profession. It does all the things we say are important; it saves money, has the potential to train inmates; and improves the enviornment thus the institution's relationship with the community, yet so far research on this emerging phenomenon has been limited.

With the exception of a couple of programs, Evergreen College in Washington state and the University of Arizona come to mind, the academic community has been silent. It is time, whether supported by the alphabet soup agencies in Washington or not, for academic institutions to begin to introduce the topic of sustainability into their curriculua.

It's obvious that corrections will continue to compete for fewer and fewer dollars as goverments work to overcome deficits. Those systems that have embraced sustainability have discovered that they can not only save money but in some instances create new funding streams (see the interview of Commissioner Bruce Lemmon of Indiana and our latest webinar that includes a presentation by the National Correctional Industries Associations' Wil Heslop).

Academic programs can no longer focus exclusively on the social sciences to develop tomorrow's correctional managers but should also be including the physical sciences, business and similar courses to provide a well rounded education.

At GreenPrisons.org we invite academic programs to join us in sharing what they are doing to better prepare tommorow's correctional leaders. If your university or criminal justice program has begun to include courses on sustainability or has partnered with a correctional agency to study their efforts, let us know. Academia has a significant role to play in promoting good sustainable practices in correctional management.

Academia where are you???

Energy Savings with an ESCO

We started this morning off right with a session on "Energy Savings, Operational Efficiencies Reinvested into Facility Upgrades".

Energy Performance Contracting is a complex process, and this session, presented by ESCO Johnson Controls, helped identify the key points of an energy audit by citing examples of their work with the Virginia Department of Corrections. Johnson Controls emphasized the benefits of making comprehensive changes to an institution instead of piece-mealing the various solutions.

The largest potential savings lie in the areas of Lighting, Space Heating and Space Cooling. In addition, water costs are on the rise - specifically sewer costs. By retrofitting older water systems and insulating pipes, institutions save money on energy as well as water usage. ESCOs provide a guarantee of energy savings making sure that the investment has a long-term ROI.

One of the more interesting examples of reducing water usage was an electronic shut off system so that inmates cannot abuse the system by multiple and continuous flushes. By installing this system, the toilet will shut down and eliminate the ability for the inmate to flush if the system detects a certain number of flushes in a specified time frame saving the institution thousands of gallons per inmate.

Creating a comprehensive approach, Johnson Controls has also created a "HVAC Learning Lab" so that inmates can be trained on the maintenance of the new systems. The most important thing to note about the Learning Lab is that it was built and supported solely through the savings created by installing the energy saving systems.

The bottom line of savings is documented over time by a variety of methodologies including utility bill comparison. The ESCO is responsible for ensuring and guaranteeing the energy savings.

Sound bites:

• Energy Performance Contracting will be a $5 Billion industry in 2011
• Savings must be sufficient to cover the costs
• Executive level buy in is essential - in VA, the governor issued orders that ensured that any energy savings would be returned to the institution and not back to the general fund.
  
• Energy Performance Contracting is about "Risk Management"
• Including any training costs in the estimate is essential

Greetings from the 141st Congress of ACA

We just rolled into the ACA Congress this afternoon and already have had the opportunity to talk with former KY DOC Commissioner of Corrections John Rees and representatives of Portion Pac chemicals.

One of our goals this week at the conference is to expand the involvement of Jails in the accreditation process by providing training and technical assistance to initiate the process. Much of this effort will focus around the control of toxics, caustics and flammables.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to meet with a number of current and former commissioners/directors to learn how Greenprisons can support/contribute to sustainable efforts in corrections.

Watch for more updates from Portion Pac, Solaris, ESG, Johnson Controls and ICON in the coming days.

Let us know what you would like to know about what is going on at ACA this summer