Tom Konrad CFA style="font-style: italic;">

Ameresco,
Inc. (NYSE: href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/comm/content/ameresco/">AMRC)
reported first quarter (Q1) earnings this morning, missing
analysts’ earnings expectations by two-thirds.  While Q1
earnings were only 3 cents compared to the 10 cents expected by
analysts, the company slightly beat revenue expectations by
$600,000 for overall Q1 revenues of $146.6 million.

While the headline was disappointing, President and CEO George
Sakellaris confidently reaffirmed revenue guidence for the rest of
the year, saying that he expected 2012 revenues to be heavily back
loaded.  Sakellaris predicts the second half to account for
60-62% of 2012 revenues, compared to 38%- 40% for the first half
of the 2012.

Longer term, he expects Ameresco to continue its strong growth,
with operating margin strengthening towards 20% over the longer
term.

Strong revenue growth is coming from contract with the federal
government.  While Ameresco received only $2 million worth of
awards in the whole of 2011, they have already been awarded $20
worth of contracts in 2012.   Sakellaris commented that
Ameresco has found it hard keeping up with federal demand so far
this year.

These new contracts (up 50% over Q1 2011) helped grow Ameresco’s
backlog by 10% compared to last year.   While such new
contracts will not begin producing revenue until 2013 at the
earliest, they should give investors confidence that Ameresco’s
long term growth potential is still in place.  Ameresco’s
revenues should continue to grow 20% year over year, despite the
poor earnings  performance this quarter.

Conclusion

This mornings’ earnings miss may cause a sell-off over the next
day or two.  Investors should take
the opportunity to add to their positions in this
sustainable company which has low exposure to expiring renewable
energy subsidies.

Note: This article was href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/05/08/ameresco-misses-by-7-cents-look-to-buy-on-any-sell-off/">first
published on the author’s Forbes.com blog on May 8th, when
Ameresco was trading at $11.70.  Click href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/comm/content/ameresco/">here
for an up-to-date quote.

Disclosure: Long AMRC.

href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/05/08/ameresco-misses-by-7-cents-look-to-buy-on-any-sell-off/">This

article first appeared on
the author’s Forbes.com href="http://blogs.forbes.com/tomkonrad/">Green Stocks style="font-style: italic;"> blog.

DISCLAIMER: Past performance is
not a guarantee or a reliable indicator of future results. 
This article contains the current opinions of the author and
such opinions are subject to change without notice.  This
article has been distributed for informational purposes only.
Forecasts, estimates, and certain information contained herein
should not be considered as investment advice or a
recommendation of any particular security, strategy or
investment product.  Information contained herein has been
obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but not
guaranteed.

Tom Konrad CFA

Lime Energy (NASD: href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/comm/content/lime-solar/">LIME)
has been a star in the very competitive energy services space
recently because of its ability to maintain margins in what has
been a very competitive environment.  While competing small
efficiency companies have been closing up shop in the Northeast,
Lime has been growing revenues at 30% a year, while maintaining a
gross margin of around 20%.

Recently, Lime sold off due to an earnings miss arising from a
big write-off and less than expected revenues in the
company’s Commercial and Industrial (C&I) division.
 This was the href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2012/04/buying_lime_and_finavera_11_clean_energy_stocks_for_2012.html">buying

opportunity I was waiting for since I first href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2011/10/28/lime-energy-delivering-energy-efficiency/">wrote

about the Lime last October.

Central Hudson Award

The stock has not yet recovered, but today’s announcement of the href="http://www.lime-energy.com/about/news/lime-energy-awarded-energy-efficiency-direct-install-program-contract-for-central-hudson-gas-electric-corporation">
award of Central Hudson’s (NYSE:CHG) direct install program
may change that.

Lime anticipates that the contract will be worth up to $25
million over a four year period, which should add about 5% to the
company’s 2011 revenues for the next four years.  With gross
margins of approximately 20%, it should also add $500 thousand to
$1 million (2 to 4 cents a share) to earnings, depending on how
much extra overhead the program requires.

Lime’s Strategy

But the earnings impact is likely to be much bigger than 2 to 4
cents a share.  To understand the true impact of
this announcement, you have to understand the key to how Lime
has maintained margins in the current tough environment,
and why they took that big write-off to restructure their C&I
division.

While large C&I projects are extremely competitive, and have
led to shrinking margins for most of the industry, Lime has been
able to leverage their utility contracts to do follow-on business
with small to mid-size C&I customers.  Most efficiency
companies have trouble reaching these smaller customers because of
the high acquisition costs for projects that only
produce moderate revenue.

In the context of a utility program, the utility pays Lime to
contact the businesses and implement a menu of energy efficiency
measures.  Lime can then offer the business a number of
additional efficiency measures which will be profitable to both
the business and to Lime.

The recent restructuring was intended to better align Lime’s
C&I business with these utility programs, and to take
advantage of the selling opportunity afforded by Lime’s utility
programs.

That’s why today’s announcement is big news.  The award of
additional utility programs is key to Lime’s strategy.
 Today’s announcement tells us that strategy is working.

Disclosure: Long LIME

This article href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomkonrad/2012/05/03/lime-energy-utility-centric-strategy-validated-by-award-from-central-hudson/">first

DISCLAIMER: Past performance is not a guarantee or a reliable
indicator of future results.  This article contains the
current opinions of the author and such opinions are subject to
change without notice.  This article has been distributed
for informational purposes only. Forecasts, estimates, and
certain information contained herein should not be considered as
investment advice or a recommendation of any particular
security, strategy or investment product.  Information
contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be
reliable, but not guaranteed.

“Home Performance” used to sound like something musically-inclined parents forced their children to do in living rooms. It’s catching on, slowly, for what it really is, and that is tightening up houses – with an ear for proper ventilation, humidity controls and other riffs on indoor air quality, and fuel-efficient climate controls. (There are geographic [...]

One upside to the economic downturn is the influx of finance and technology professional entering the sustainability sector. They are ubiquitous. (“And they are everywhere, too,” as an old friend used to say.) These professionals bring to programmatic endeavors around slow food, climate change, recycling and the myriad elements of sustainability not only valuable expertise, [...]

The consulting firm Deloitte recently released a report entitled “Every Company Is An Energy Company (And If It Isn’t, It Will Be Soon)”. The main message is that, with increasing energy prices, it will be imperative for every company to consider how to reduce energy consumption in its buildings and its shipping/fleet, as well as [...]

Once upon a time, in a land called Maine, a girl (of a certain age) couldn’t help but wonder, “if you want to reward homeowners for saving energy in their homes, doesn’t it make sense to look at actual energy usage, something that accounts for behavior, as well as structures?” Soon, there were others, too, [...]

by Scott Schnelle

As an energy consultant for home retrofits, I often have customers
and acquaintances ask my opinion regarding green technologies and
energy efficient products. Undoubtedly, with the recent surge of the
green movement and a shift toward becoming more environmentally
sustainable, now is a great time to invest in these types of
products.

One product that has been getting more and more attention lately is
spray foam. The product itself has been around for many years, but
it has recently risen in popularity for a couple of reasons. Here,
I’ll discuss spray foam briefly and then touch on some tips for
investing in this market.

First, spray foam is a more environmentally efficient method of
insulation as opposed to traditional fiberglass installation. Spray
foam is usually several times more expensive, depending on the size
of the spray foam tanks being used. Bigger tanks are cheaper per
ounce. That being said, the spray foam installation is often quicker
and easier, and after factoring in labor costs, spray foam can
compete with fiberglass in many applications solely on price.

The product itself is a thick, foaming substance that sprays out in
a thin layer but quickly begins expanding on contact. After about 60
seconds, it ceases expanding and begins to harden.

Otto Bayer developed the product in the 1930s while he was trying to
develop an alternative to the rubber tire. It was also used in World
War II in the German U-boats as floatation material. In the ‘60s and
‘70s, the product began infiltrating into the residential market as
home insulation. In recent years, home improvement television shows
have spurred a new interest in spray foam. Most customers that come
to us cite these types of programs as their point of familiarity
with the product.

My company highly recommends this product. It’s great for large gaps
and cracks that need to be air-sealed. It also acts as a great
insulator and can be used to save time in some applications like rim
joists.

Because the product has been around for many years, I would not
consider spray foam an “up-and-coming” product. However, I believe
it is gaining quite a bit of popularity because of the green
movement and the push for greater energy efficiency. I also believe
that we’ll see a drop in the price of this product as more people
use it and it is manufactured on a larger scale.

Currently, my company uses a spray foam product from Dow Chemical
Company (DOW),
though we do not necessarily endorse any one company or brand. All
major industry players carry spray foam products, including Johns
Manville (a subsidiary of Berkshire-Hathaway, href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/comm/content/berkshire/">BRK-A
and BRK-B), Owens Corning ( href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/comm/content/owens-corning/">OC)
and Certainteed (a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain (SGO.PA). Another
company worth exploring is BioBased Technologies, LLC.

Biobased is based in Arkansas and specializes in polyurethane foam
insulation products. The notable aspect about BioBased Technologies
is that they use a soy-based product, which is becoming a new trend
within the spray foam movement. Other soy-based insulation companies
include InsulSoy, Emega Biopolymers, Urethane Soy Systems and Green
Bear Innovation. Though, it is safe to say that BioBased is the
industry leader in the soy-based product.  I see soy-based
spray foam growing in popularity faster than traditional spray foam.

Soy based foam could even become the industry standard in
residential applications in the future, most likely because
traditional spray foam products are are quite toxic. We have had a
few cases where employees fail to use their masks properly and
subsequently report pain in their lungs and a shortness of breath.
It is extremely important to wear a protective body suit along with
a breathing mask if ever applying spray foam.  The soy-based
product is much safer for the installer and the homeowner as well.
The level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are much lower with
the soy product, and I think as awareness about the harmful effects
of VOCs becomes more widespread, more people will be seeking a safer
product. Our company is currently working with distributors in the
area that carry soy-based spray foam.

Though Johns Manville has a line of spray foam products, they have
yet to introduce a soy-based product. The same is true for Owens
Corning and Certainteed. I believe that this is because soy-based
spray foam is still relatively new. Soy-based spray foam has many
advocates, but it also has been the subject of some criticism. For
instance, many believe that the environmental benefits are
overstated, as soy-based spray foam could open up its own set of
environmental problems including pesticide use and the use of
genetically-modified crops. However, many agree that these potential
problems still outweigh the carbon footprint and toxins associated
with traditional spray foam.

About the Author:  Scott
Schnelle is an energy auditor with href="http://www.goenergylink.com">Energy Link, a home
retrofit company based out of Columbia, Missouri. EnergyLink
specializes in increasing energy efficiency in homes through
comfort sealing, duct renovations, insulation, heating and air and
more.

On January 18, BP (NYSE: BP) released Energy Outlook 2030, its official corporate view of the future of energy.  Every year, BP releases its Statistical Review of World Energy that serves as an excellent compendium of historical and current data on a host of energy-related issues, but rarely does BP present its projections of trends [...]

John Petersen

During the fourteen years that I’ve lived in Switzerland, the
Germans have been the world’s staunchest supporters of green power
and alternative energy. Their aggressive development of wind power
was breathtaking, as was their warm embrace of photovoltaic power.
Over the last few weeks, however, there has been an ominous change
in the mainstream German media’s tone as the political class finally
comes to grips with the unpleasant reality that rooftop solar panels
are worthless on short, grey winter days and “For weeks now, the 1.1
million solar power systems in Germany have generated almost no
electricity.” Three recent and highly negative articles from Der
Spiegel Online include:

• href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,809439,00.html">Solar
  Subsidy Sinkhole; Re-evaluating Germany’s Blind Faith in the
  Sun;
• href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,809529,00.html">Solar
  Subsidy ‘Insanity’ Will Cost Consumers; and
• href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,810370,00.html">Solar
  Energy Row is an ‘Undignified Spectacle’

As recently as last year, articles like these would have been
unthinkable. Today they’re viewed as reasonable discussions of
critical issues as the laws of thermodynamics and economic gravity
assert their absolute primacy.

The Germans have been trailblazers in all things green since the
emergence of the Green Party in the 1980s. In fact, it’s hard to
name an alternative energy technology that Germany hasn’t welcomed
with open arms. When it comes to green power and alternative energy,
the Germans have been on the far left of the technology adoption
curve for a very long time.

If the tone of the recent Der Spiegel articles is a reasonable
indicator of public sentiment, the innovators are getting ready to
throw in the towel on green panacea solutions and get down to the
serious work of conserving energy instead. They’re weighing the
costs and benefits, and reaching an entirely predictable conclusion
that it’s impossible to depend on variable and inherently unreliable
power sources as the backbone of an industrial economy. As Germany
goes, so goes the world.

If the world’s standard-bearer for green power and alternative
energy abandons the quest and chooses a more sensible path of
conservation and energy efficiency, the backlash against the solar
power industry will be immense and risks to the wind power industry
will skyrocket. After all, it’s hard to argue the merits of “One for
the Price of Two” power solutions; which is exactly what you get
when wind and solar power have to be fully backed up by conventional
power plants. If the solar and wind power dominoes fall, they’ll
almost certainly take out the emerging electric vehicle industry
that demands huge amounts of money and natural resources to simply
substitute one fuel source for another.

Currently all eyes are on Germany as the epicenter of European
efforts to restore fiscal balance in an age of profligate and
unsustainable government spending. The apparent German surrender on
green power and alternative energy may just be an unfortunate victim
of that broader effort. Until the dark clouds dissipate and we have
a clearer view of the landscape, I’d minimize my exposure to solar,
wind and electric drive and focus instead on less costly energy
efficiency technologies that work with the laws of thermodynamics
and economic gravity instead of fighting them.

Disclosure: None

One of the world’s largest banks, London-based HSBC (NYSE: HBC) issued last September a very interesting research report entitled “Sizing the Climate Economy”. At less than 60 pages, it’s an excellent read for those interested in the future growth of the advanced energy economy.  There are really too many highlights to capture all of them in this [...]

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