Are you looking to avoid high energy costs for your home or want to learn more about renewable resources? Solar energy, which is growing in popularity due to environmental impact and cost savings to businesses and homeowners, is a powerful source of energy that can be used to heat, cool, and light homes and businesses. In this program, you’ll hear from Doug Coward, executive director of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF), about the present and future of solar energy, learning how it can help the environment, as well as your family’s bottom line.

This program is presented by Doug Coward and hosted by the Winter Park Health Foundation in collaboration with IDEAS For Us.

A note regarding COVID-19 safety protocols: At this time, all guests at the Center for Health & Wellbeing are required to wear masks in all indoor spaces, including during our education programs. Presenters may remove their masks in order to be better heard by audience members. Attendees, however, must keep their masks fully in place (covering the nose and mouth) during the entire presentation. In accordance with CHWB guidelines, our programs will also be limited in capacity and rooms set to account for social distancing.

Cancelling Your Reservation: If you are unable to attend a program, cancelling your reservation gives us an accurate count of how many to expect; for sold-out programs, cancelling your reservation also allows someone on the waitlist to attend in your place. Cancelling your reservation for this program is especially important as we are currently limiting capacities as part of our COVID-19 safety regulations. Cancelling can be done in two easy ways: by calling 407.644.2492 and selecting Option 1, then Option 3 to speak to a representative or by using the online ticket cancellation option in your original confirmation email from Eventbrite.

By participating in this program, you agree to CHWB’s Gracious Space policy.

About the Program Presenter

Doug Coward is the executive Director of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF), an independent non-profit green bank on a mission to rebuild and empower underserved communities by providing access to affordable and innovative financing for sustainable property improvements, with the primary focus on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate resilience.

Coward has more than three decades of professional experience in Florida as a planner, clean energy policy expert, small business owner, elected official (i.e., 12 years as a St. Lucie County Commissioner), and 10 years as the executive director of SELF. He attended Florida State University earning a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning, with an emphasis on economics and the environment. Coward has received numerous awards, including “Most Outstanding Green Elected Official” from the South Florida Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and “Outstanding Local Public Official of the Year” from the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (FAPA).

About the Presenting Organizations

About IDEAS Hive and IDEAS For Us

The IDEAS Hive is an interdisciplinary, inter-generational community Think + Do Tank developed by IDEAS For Us, an Orlando-based grassroots non-profit organization, which is designed to educate the public about sustainability and help develop ideas into local action projects. The IDEAS Hive meets in communities to grow stakeholders and educate them around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Through seminars, field trips, action projects, and film screenings, the IDEAS Hive is designed to transform communities to advance positive change.