Raymond Keiser
Background
In 2001, I became Executive Director of the Florida House Institute, a non-profit organization focused on green design and sustainable community development, and had the privilege to work with John Lambie, one of the true visionaries in sustainability not only in Sarasota but nationally as well. In my three years at the Institute John and I worked on many exciting sustainability efforts, including:
Twin Lakes Park Green Office Project
John and I served to set goals and priorities based on a series of workshop with Sarasota County and it partners. I wrote the Twin Lakes Park Green Office Design Intent document which served as the template for USGBC LEED certification.
Florida's Energy Future
John and I served as part of a team under contract with the State of Florida, Florida Energy Office (FEO) to draft a comprehensive assessment of Florida's Energy Future. I authored a white paper on catalyzing the communities statewide to meet the energy challenge. The report is available on the web at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/energy/future.
Integrated Water Management
John and I facilitated a day-long strategic planning session for Integrated Water Resources senior management team facilitated a series of watershed workshops for Sarasota County. One of the outcomes of this effort was the development of The Water Story in collaboration with Sarasota County Integrated Water Resource team. John and I presented The Water Story and facilitated a series of watershed discussions throughout Sarasota County to cultivate a common understanding of how watersheds function, how we have altered the natural system and how an integrated watershed management strategy offers new opportunities to ensure adequate water supplies, improve water quality and protect the abundance and diversity of our living planet.
Fruitville Road Visioning Session
Three years ago John and I facilitated a discussion on the potential of a 42-acre County-owned site on Fruivtille Road just north of the Celery Fields, a passive recreational park and birding sanctuary. This meeting catalyzed the community to reimagine how the corridor could change and served as the launch for the Fruitville Initiative, a proposed Sustainable Town Center that would set a new benchmark for sustainable development.
Land Use and Transportation
John Lambie and I hosted a Transit-Oriented Development workshop that was well-attended by County Commissioners, Senior Management and staff, private developers, civic leaders and environmentalists.
Current Activities
In private practice since June 2005 I've continued to work on exciting projects:
Whole Foods Market
I served as the "green" design consultant for Whole Foods Market in downtown Sarasota. It is their first store to achieve LEED-certification.
Tervis Tumbler
I consulted with Tervis Tumbler to "green up" their new 56,000-square-foot building, factory and showroom in south Sarasota County. They implemented a wide range of technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and improve indoor environmental quality.
Fruitville Road @ i75
Currently I am working as a consultant to Kimley Horn to develop Energy, Water, Land-Use and Transportation, Advanced Networking and Eco-tourism Goals and Objectives and an implementation strategy for the Fruitville project, a Sarasota County initiative
Regional Water Leadership
Julie Morris and I, under the aegis of the Science and Environmental Council, co-facilitated a set of four workshops/community dialogs as part of Regional Watershed Leadership Program, with support from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice. Each of the four sessions was well-attended and the dialogue represented a rich cross-section of expertise, opinions, interests, concerns, and insights. The Water Management District has expressed strong interest in extending the program.
Energy
I've given several talks and lectures on the global energy situation and how we can meaningfully respond to this challenge to a wide range of groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club of North Port, Sarasota County Government, the Southwest Community Alliance, South Venice 2010, New College and Cornell University.
Seeing the Big Picture Symposium
I developed and facilitated a Seeing the Big Picture Symposium with support from the Economic Development Corporation, Mote Marine, Kimley Horn, Biological Research Associates and Earth Balance. The purpose of the symposium was to develop a shared understanding among regional land use and watershed management planners and natural resource managers on how satellite, aerial, and other remote sensing technologies, image processing and data modeling tools can provide timely and cost-effective assessments of the health and vitality of the distinct ecosystems of Southwest Florida. Throughout the symposium, the emphasis was on cultivating conversations with the scientists from Princeton, Cornell, RTI, AAMU and New College and across a range of interests and disciplines and developing a framework for further exploring how to exploit these technologies. We are currently in an early start-up phase for NEON Florida (see www.neonfl.org) an effort to bring new clarity to local and regional ecological changes.
