Why Choose Us?
Design with Nature, LLC is a responsive, flexible and unbiased advisor.
- Experienced – 357 audits on energy & production processes conducted in 23 industrial sectors over 25 years
- Efficient – An investment in us typically returns 3.4 to 1
- Unbiased – not selling any one brand or technology
- In-the-know – We take advantage of all incentives, grants and tax credits available.
- Economical – low overhead, price competitive hourly or fixed-price contract, OR, for zero up-front-cost, through a profit and savings share contract option
- Meticulous – work conducted to internationally standards (ANSI, ISO, ASHRAE, WBSCD)
- Local – Based in New England and 30 minutes from an international airport
- Personal attention – Top-level experience personally working on your project
- Down-to-earth – no high-brow snootiness here! Having traveled in 13 countries, this former rock-climbing director for Tufts University Mountain Club connects as easily to the shop floor as to the CEO!
- Responsive – Accessible via phone, text, email, skype, fax, carrier pigeon…
- Smart – Published author, international trainer, and fluent in business performance metrics: Lean-Six Sigma, ISO, ANSI
- Creative – Breadth of experience bringing synergies between different aspects of a project and additive benefits
- Professional – Discreet & unbiased – All interactions confidential and we not selling any one brand of anything Excellence, Green, and Manufacturing
- Flexible pricing – we can do profit/saving share contracts (performance-based)
Our Process
Here’s what you can expect when working with us…
We respond: We are not typical, we put our customers first. We promise to respond to you as soon as possible and always within 24 business hours.
Investigate: We use a system to make sure nothing is missed. We help you evaluate what you need rather than what we can sell you, because we don’t sell products – we are an impartial third-party that will helps you choose the best options.
Dig Deeper: We want to know the driving impetus of the need. The ‘Root Cause’ as its called in Lean-speak. This could mean we look at energy bills or do a site scope.
Propose: There always multiple ways to solve a problem. We offer at least three ways you can have us do the heavy lifting for you; some involve cash on the barrel, or a share of the found savings, or a rebated fee from an energy loan package. We’re flexible.
Educate: We attempt to build your internal capacity to do what we do. Why? Simply put, co-dependant relationships are not healthy.
Report: As practitioners of Lean ourselves, we keep the reports thin, concise and clear.
Next Steps: We gladly connect you with the people or technologies to take you to the next steps of your project – even if we are not going to be involved.
Our Experience
- 25 years experience on 4 continents
- 23 industrial sectors
- Wide-variety of facility types: factories, warehouses, schools, healthcare facilities, office complexes, gaming facilities, power generation plants
- 357 audits on energy & production processes
- Fluent in business performance metrics (not just “green”): Lean-Six Sigma, ISO,
- ASHRAE, WBCSD
- 7 green building proficiencies (LEED, GreenGlobes, Living Building, RETScreen, Energy10, Energy Star, MotorMaster)
- Developer of widely-published Cost Accounting method for analysis of green project’s ROI
Our Credentials
- Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (6ΣBB), 2012
- Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Association of Energy Engineers, 2011
- Global Climate Change Trainer, Al Gore – The Climate Project, 2007
- Accredited Green Building Professional (LEED-AP), US Green Building Council, 2008
- N.D. Environmental Medicine, SW College of Naturopathic Medicine, 2001
- T.U.R.P. Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Planner, 1992 – 1995
- B.S. Civil Engineering, Tufts University, 1989
Our Commitment
- We are committed to lessening dependence on foreign energy imports.
- We are committed to growing the local economies & US-based manufacturing.
- We will provide un-biased assessment of “green” technologies and transparency in this process.
- We will advise you of the most cautious path for avoiding risk.
- We will advise you of the most opportunistic product / process development path.
- We are fully invested in a more ecologically integrated future, because we are all living on the same planet.
- We choose the least environmentally impactful modes for conducting our own business, including video-conferencing whenever feasible, or travel by train.
Linked in: www.linkedin.com/in/mitchkennedy
Dr. Mitch Kennedy, ND, CEM, LEED-AP
Dr. Mitch has been consulting to industries, governments and tribal nations on issues of climate change risk, water, energy & waste minimization and renewable energy for over two decades. Client projects range from government and enterprise-wide sustainability initiatives, to process optimization for energy and materials efficiency.
In 1999, he was spot-lighted by US News & World Reports as having one of the 20 Hottest Job Tracks in the US – Environmental Accounting. Mitch’s textbook on environmental cost accounting is considered the authoritative text for proving that doing right for the environment is profitable for the corporation.
Trained by former Vice President Al Gore in 2007 on Climate Change, Mitch spent 12 months giving free talks to communities and governments on its risks & impacts.
Education
Dr. Mitch obtained his B.S.in Civil Engineering from Tufts University in 1989, and became a certified Toxics Use Reduction Planner for the state of Massachusetts in 1992. His doctorate in Environmental Medicine from the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, earned in 2001, focused on the chemicals used in our daily lives, their link to chronic diseases, and how to minimize and avoid these risks. Mitch became a LEED-AP through the United State Green Building Council in 2006 in response to the demand for green building assistance in his clientele at that time. In 2007, he was one of 200 people nation-wide chosen by Al Gore to be trained on the Climate issue. In 2010 he became a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) through the Association of Energy Engineers to better help his clients in energy management and planning.
Skill Sets
- Sustainability planning & risk countermeasures
- Energy & Materials efficiency (industrial process, building envelope & renewables)
- Energy, product, and materials metrics & verification
- Carbon footprints, water & waste footprinting
- Life Cycle Analysis
- Published Author (Trade, Magazine and Technical/Scientific Journal articles)
- Training and Public Speaking
- Total Cost Assessment of environmental projects
Training Instructor for:
- California Council of Local Governments, Marshall, CA
- Connecticut Association of Metal Finishers, Bristol, CT
- Connecticut Bar Association, Meriden, CT
- Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation, Dover, DE
- Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Inter-tribal Council of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ
- Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, Boston, MA
- Mohegan Tribal Nation, Lakeville, CT
- New Hampshire Department of Natural resources, Nashua, NH
- Rhode Island Pollution Prevention Roundtable, Providence, RI
- Salt-River Pima Tribal Nation, Mesa, AZ
- Tennessee Valley Authority, Tampa, FL
- U.S. Air Force, San Antonio, TX
- U.S. Coast Guard, Boston, MA
- U.S. EPA Region I, Meriden, CT
- U.S. EPA Region 4, Kansas City, KS
- U.S. Naval Sub Base, Groton, CT
Adjunct Faculty Instructor, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, 1992, 1993, 1994
Adjunct Faculty, University of Connecticut Medical Center, Farmington, CT, 2003- 2010
Awards & Memberships
“Hot Jobs for 1999 – Environmental Accounting” Mr. Kennedy featured as one of ten hot job prospects in US News and World Reports employment special edition. P. 84, Oct. 26, 1998.
- Member, Association of Energy Engineers (2007 – present)
- Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (1989 – present)
- Member, CT Power & Energy Society (2012 – present)
- Member, Renewable Energy & Efficiency Business Assn. (2012 – present)
- Member, Town of Avon, CT Energy Commission, (2012 – present)
- Corporate Member, U.S. Green Building Council (2005- present)
- Member, Authors Guild (2007 – 2011)
- Member, Society of Plastics Engineers (2006 – 2010)
- Member, Healthcare without Harm (2001 – present)
- Member, Physicians for Social Responsibility (2001 – present)
- Ford Foundation Award for Innovations in State & Local Government Programs (1991)