All 2011 Company Results
adidas Group -1
Paulina K. Orkisz - Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Paulina Orkisz spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow for the adidas Group, a leading global sports, footwear, and apparel company. In its second year of the program, the adidas Group asked Paulina to focus on an energy assessment of two facilities in its North American portfolio: the Sports Licensed Division of the adidas Group in Indianapolis and the Reebok Canada/CCM Hockey headquarters in Montreal. As a result of the adidas Group's commitment to the environment, ISO 14001 compliance, and becoming a zero-emission company, both of these facilities had already begun to identify, plan and execute projects.
The two sites Orkisz evaluated were quite different, one primarily a manufacturing operation and distribution center, and the other primarily office space and a distribution center. While both facilities had made some energy efficiency upgrades, in the time she spent at both sites, Orkisz was able to identify many additional lighting improvements and several office equipment energy efficiency projects. These included a major warehouse lighting upgrade complete with occupancy sensors, traditional fluorescent lighting retrofits and some LED upgrades. Office equipment projects focused on PC, monitor and printer power management, as well as a PC virtualization project that could get rolled out across all distribution center users.
All the projects she identified, in aggregate, could save the adidas Group nearly $329,000 annually, cut over 4 million kWh of electricity per year and avoid approximately 2,400 metric tons of CO2 emissions, if implemented. Over their lifetime, these energy solutions represent $1.6 million in net present value for the company.
adidas Group -2
Dara Hourdajian - Columbia University, School of International & Public Affairs
Dara Hourdajian spent her summer in Portland, Oregon and Carlsbad, California evaluating energy efficiency projects for the adidas Group, a global sports and manufacturing company.
The company is committed to robust sustainability targets and Dara found significant lighting, HVAC, data center, and equipment upgrades that would help the adidas Group meet many of its goals.
Working with the Energy Trust of Oregon and San Diego Gas & Electric, Dara identified resources, rebates, and funding to support the transition to more energy efficient facilities. By analyzing the building’s energy usage and potential savings from proposed projects, Dara calculated that adidas could reduce consumption by 25 percent in the Portland office and 20 percent in Carlsbad.
AT&T
Michael McCarthy - The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Michael McCarthy spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow with AT&T in Chicago. McCarthy analyzed AT&T’s real estate portfolio for opportunities to reduce cooling demand. He visited facilities and reviewed utility bills, temperature data and surveys to identify potential improvements. McCarthy found that over 100 of AT&T’s largest buildings could optimize “free-air cooling,” a process that uses cool outside air to remove heat from data centers and other equipment spaces, allowing the air conditioning to be turned off. Free-air cooling can reduce a building’s total electricity consumption by over 20 percent and reduce the energy needed to cool a building by 20-50 percent over the course of a year. The free-air cooling measures that McCarthy identified require small upfront investments and pay back in less than two years.
Avon
Kevin Wooster - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Kevin Wooster’s EDF Climate Corps project with Avon focused on assessing energy efficiency and conservation projects at its branch location in Atlanta, GA and several of its other North American facilities.
In view of the energy efficiency projects already completed by Avon, Wooster’s work focused on identifying additional project opportunities at the Atlanta branch, reviewing and compiling best practices for Avon, analyzing the LEED and Energy Star programs, and assessing on-site energy generation opportunities at several of Avon’s facilities.
Of the six energy efficiency projects evaluated, one showed particular promise. According to Wooster’s analysis, adjusting computer power settings could reduce Avon’s energy use by over 190,000 kWh per year and emissions by 124 tons per year with no capital investment costs. Over just five years, this project could save the company more than $78,000 in net operating costs.
Belk
Stephanie Judd - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Stephanie Judd spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow in Charlotte, NC creating a plan for energy efficiency investment at Belk, a department store with over 300 locations throughout the South. She benchmarked Belk’s portfolio of facilities using the EPA Energy Star program and identified the best way for Belk to move forward on achieving Energy Star qualified stores.
While Belk already works steadily to improve energy efficiency at locations company-wide and is able to identify easy-win projects effectively, Judd created a large-scale strategy and a 5 to 10-year goal that is aggressive, but achievable and ties into the sustainability and carbon footprint reduction strategies of the company.
After studying the current state of the Belk portfolio according to the Energy Star standard and analyzing the necessary kWh reductions to achieve Energy Star qualification in each store, Judd developed a system of prioritizing stores for energy efficiency improvement and constructed financial models that illustrated the necessary expense and expected energy savings throughout the building portfolio. Her recommendations could result in almost a 20 percent reduction in Belk’s carbon footprint, and save the company over $10 million annually in energy costs if the entire project were implemented.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Hayley Jean Farr - S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Hayley Jean Farr spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), headquartered in Boston. In 2011, BCBSMA established three corporate sustainability goals: to identify energy efficiency opportunities in its office buildings, to increase BCBSMA’s recycling rate and to decrease its paper use.
During her fellowship, Farr tracked baseline metrics and evaluated progress toward BCBSMA’s corporate goals and developed an implementation plan, business cases and recommendations for each goal. Specifically, Farr analyzed the results of lighting audits conducted at BCBSMA’s LEED certified facilities, and identified immediate opportunities to eliminate or replace inefficient, decorative MR-16 halogen light bulbs with light emitting diodes (LEDs). When implemented, the projects could reduce BCBSMA’s energy use by over 290,000 kilowatt hours per year, saving nearly $30,000 in operations and maintenance costs and 147 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. BCBSMA plans to implement this project in phases over the next year, by utilizing in-house staff.
Farr also supported the transition of BCBSMA’s sustainability program, green@blue, from a grass-roots initiative to a strategic component of the newly formed Corporate Citizenship division. She proposed a vision and framework for the program based on internal discussions and competitor benchmarking, presented recommendations on internal sustainability barriers and developed an on-boarding guide for BCBSMA’s new Environmental Impact Manager.
CA Technologies – 1
Sarah Meyers - Sloan School of Management, MIT
Sarah Meyers spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at software company CA Technologies in Framingham, MA. She was able to identify energy efficiency projects within the framework of employee engagement efforts. Meyers found that if CA Technologies were to install occupancies sensors in all kitchenettes, bathrooms, copy rooms and the gym, the company could cut its electricity usage by more than 30,000 kwh and avoid 11.3 tons of GHG emissions per year.This could translate into savings of approximately $21,000 over 10 years.
In addition, Meyers provided the company with benchmark data and potential metrics to determine success of non-traditional energy projects, particularly related to employee engagement, the implementation of green teams and recycling.
CA Technologies - 2
Shunsuke Numata - Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
Shunsuke Numata spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at CA Technologies, headquartered in Islandia, New York. CA Technologies is one of the largest IT solution companies, globally operating 134 offices including four data centers.
While CA Technologies has successfully reduced its energy usage in the past four years by implementing various practices, Numata identified several opportunities to reduce the electricity usage further.
One is to designate a parking garage and a parking lot as second-shift parking for employees who work after hours in the Islandia headquarters and shut down the other unused parking lots overnight. By doing so, the lights can be turned off, saving significant energy consumption. One other example is the change in the internal lighting schedule for the fitness center in the Islandia headquarters. It is currently open 24/7; however, he pointed out that over 99 percent of employees use it in the daytime. By closing the fitness center from 11pm to 5am, the energy consumption by the lighting and the air conditioning can be avoided.
Numata’s analysis showed that if CA Technologies implements these projects, it could save 499,000 kWh each year, $36,000 and approximately 349 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.
Carnival Corporation
Courtenay Stephens - Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College
Courtenay Stephens spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow evaluating energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for Carnival Corporation’s Grand Turk Cruise Center (GTCC). While Carnival Corporation has already invested in energy efficiency projects, the high cost of electricity in the Turks & Caicos Islands offers the potential for additional savings through investing in newer technology.
While GTCC already uses CFLs for much of its lighting, Stephens realized that LEDs could offer significant savings through lower energy consumption and longer lifetimes. Additionally, Stephens recommended that GTCC replace halogen bulbs with LED lamps that produce more light, last up to 25 times as long and use approximately one-third of the amount of energy.
Additional energy efficiency opportunities identified by Stephens include replacing analog thermostats with programmable thermostats and upgrading inefficient hand dryers to more efficient models. These projects could provide increased comfort and convenience for the GTCC staff and cruise passengers who visit the cruise port, while also reducing energy costs by as much as 30 percent and 45 percent for cooling office spaces and drying hands, respectively.
Stephens also recommended a renewable energy generation strategy that if implemented could result in significant energy cost savings over 20 years by generating 547,000 kWh of clean energy annually.
Citizens Financial Group/ RBS
Matt Schmitt - Yale School of Management, Yale University
Matt Schmitt spent his summer at RBS Citizens Financial Group evaluating energy efficiency projects at the bank's data centers, branches and offices throughout the northeastern US. At two of the company's data centers, Matt recommended retrofits to air conditioning units that could reduce annual electricity costs by about $130,000. The projects qualify for great rebates from local utilities, which makes the payback less than two years.Matt drafted a scope of work for RBS to solicit bids from energy audit companies in order to improve the energy efficiency at retail Citizens Bank branches.
Additionally, Matt initiated utility sponsored audits at four branches, which found ways to cut electricity use by 8 percent just with lighting retrofits, and the utility covers 70 percent of the cost, making for a short payback.
Lastly, Matt started the installation process for enhanced electric meters at office buildings that will give 15 minute interval data usage, and he recommended an internal chargeback system where business units are charged for after-hour's office usage. All told, Matt's recommendations totaled about $478,000 in savings, 575 metric tons of reduced CO2 emissions, and an annual electricity use reduction of 1.5 GWh, enough to power more than 160 homes a year.
Cricket Communications
Anjali Gattani - Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles
Anjali Gattani spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow with Cricket Communications, headquartered in San Diego, California.
Gattani established energy efficient best practices for Cricket’s more than 300 company-operated retail stores. Her analysis shows that Cricket could save 571,000 kWh or 340 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year if it renovated one third of its stores using LED track lighting and more energy efficient T-8 fixtures.
This project would also save Cricket $ 417,000 in net operating costs over its lifetime. Further, Gattani’s analysis shows that Cricket could save $ 688,000 kWh or 400 metric tons of greenhouse emissions by using PC power management solutions at all of their stores. This could save Cricket an additional $153,000 in net operating costs over 3 years.
Gattani also analyzed Cricket’s travel data to identify various Telepresence options for reducing the overall company travel and was actively involved in making a case for launching handset recycling program at Cricket’s stores. In summary, Cricket could save 1.3 million kWh of energy use or 740 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. Over the lifetime of the recommended energy efficiency projects, Cricket could save $570,000 in net operating costs.
CSX Transportation
Naveen Venkataraman - Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College
Naveen Venkataraman spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow in Jacksonville, Fl. identifying and evaluating energy efficiency opportunities at CSX Transportation, Inc., one of the nation’s largest railroad operators.
Venkataraman developed a statistical data model to predict the behavior, annual costs and potential savings for 249-yard air compressors in the CSX network. He recommended the use of radio and power cleaning technologies to minimize the losses due to air leaks and to reduce power consumption, thereby improving air compressor efficiency.
Venkataraman also identified energy efficiency opportunities at the CSX data center in Jacksonville. These included replacing HVAC and UPS equipment, optimizing space temperature setpoints and placing occupancy sensors on the raised floor lights.
Venkataraman’s analysis projected estimated savings of about 23 million kWh annually, with annual cost savings between $370,000 and $527,000. These projects could save CSX between 1,880 to 3,400 metric tons in emissions while saving up to $2.3 million in net operating costs over the lifetime of the projects.
Cummins
Jamil Karim - F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College
Jamil Karim spent his summer working with Cummins to develop a Building Scorecard Benchmarking tool, a direct extension of the sustainable building standards project completed by Cummins’ 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow Rachel Bourne.
Through the piloting phase, Karim identified several energy efficiency cost savings projects, including a 5-storey office daylighting project currently underway. Other projects evolved out of meetings with active Energy Champions, like the WattStopper, a personal occupancy sensor controlled power strip that reduces inactive power use.
For this project, Karim created an energy savings model for both home and commercial use, demonstrating an average reduction of 60 percent in total power consumption. Detailed financial analysis illustrated that the company could reduce over 900,000 kWh annually, saving approximately $66,500 in costs and 630 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of taking 115 cars off the road.
To further raise employee awareness of this issue, commonly known as phantom loads, Karim engaged the Corporate Energy Leaders Team to spearhead a home energy efficiency poster initiative to detail costs and environmental impacts of a typical single home entertainment system connected to a conventional power strip rather than a sensor controlled “smart” one. With a demonstrated positive return on investment, the WattStopper could be installed in up to 5,000 cubicles, realizing the potential for $110,000 in net present value savings for Cummins.
Diversey, Inc.
Sander Dolder - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
As a 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellow, Sander Dolder spent his summer in Southeast Wisconsin evaluating energy efficiency projects at one of the production facilities for Diversey, Inc., one of the leading global providers of commercial cleaning, sanitation and hygiene solutions for business.
Through the Climate Savers program, a rigorous greenhouse gas reduction program of the World Wildlife Fund, Diversey has vowed to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent by 2013. Using capital allocated to this particular facility through the Climate Savers budget, Dolder identified four main infrastructural improvements, On-demand Hot Water heaters, Direct-fire Space Heaters, Lighting sensors/controls and a new compressed air system, that could not only reduce energy consumption by over 40 percent (1.8M kWh annually) but maintain operational stability despite a recent 50 percent increase in production volume.
Dolder’s analysis further indicates that at this facility alone, the four identified infrastructural projects could save Diversey over $200,000 through the lifetime of the project and avoid 900 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. Using the technologies previously identified across Diversey’s other production facilities, in addition to the methodology Sander has transcribed on how to effectively implement these projects could help save the company millions in net operating costs.
Dunkin’ Brands
Jochen Schloesser - Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Jochen Schloesser spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Dunkin’ Brands (1) determining the financial potential of energy efficiency for Dunkin’ Donuts stores and (2) identifying specific projects which could be conducted at the store-level to increase energy efficiency while adding value to store owners. Importantly, Schloesser conducted his project with a focus on improving the energy efficiency of Dunkin’ Donuts stores belonging to franchisees, since, as a franchisor, Dunkin’ Donuts itself owns and operates virtually no Dunkin’ Donuts’ restaurants, bakeries, or other hard assets.
In 11 weeks, Schloesser conducted an extensive benchmark of Dunkin Donuts’ locations to discover that energy efficiency represents a big opportunity to reduce select stores’ energy consumption. Schloesser detailed lighting, ventilation, refrigeration, and water product-related recommendations that franchisees could implement to increase energy efficiency. Lastly, he identified utilities as a key resource to provide potential turnkey expertise and financing for several of these projects.
Schloesser’s analysis illustrated that if approximately 2,700 freestanding stores managed to reduce their energy consumption 15 percent through energy efficiency projects – an assumption strengthened by the results of the store benchmarking he conducted – franchisees could collectively cut around $12 million in energy costs, 80 million kilowatt hours and 47,000 metric tons in associated CO2 emissions annually.
Eaton
Richard Chattergoon - Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
Richard Chattergoon spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at the world headquarters of Eaton Corporation in Cleveland. As a diversified industrial manufacturer, the company has more than 200 plants and facilities globally. During a nearby plant visit, he consulted with a local utility representative regarding potential incentives for a completed lighting efficiency project. He also engaged with the facilities manager on other possible projects at this plant. After reviewing the scope of work performed on the past lighting project, Chattergoon confirmed that the energy saving came from replacing the existing lamps and fixtures in the manufacturing bays with modern, highly efficient models. He realized that the plant could further reduce energy usage through a simple change: replacing existing controls with occupancy sensors in additional spaces in the building that required less than 24 hours of light a day, such as offices, conference rooms and restrooms.
Also, Chattergoon analyzed the costs savings involved with replacing two older, industrial dryers on the manufacturing floor with new, energy-efficient dryers. He calculated that at this single plant, Eaton could cut a combined 350,000kWhs per year, saving around $25,000 in electricity costs and almost 250 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.
This analysis showed the ever present possibilities to save energy and its related costs, even at facilities that have already implemented energy efficiency projects.
eBay
Gabrielle Maguire - The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Gabrielle Maguire spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at the eBay headquarters in San Jose, California. She focused on demonstrating how eBay’s on-campus data storage centers could mirror the efficiency measures that it had already employed for its remote data centers.
Maguire implemented an analysis of server port activity to determine server usage and enable a decommissioning of unused servers. She also identified savings opportunities by better controlling the air-flow of the cooling system. The combined annual savings of the projects could be $100,000 and reduce CO2 emissions by 328 metric tons per year. This will set a precedent for eBay’s on-campus data storage centers nation-wide.
Ernst & Young
David Yang - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
David Yang, a dual-degree MBA/MS student at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute, spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow with Ernst & Young LLP, a global professional services organization. Yang focused his time on understanding Ernst & Young’s Americas carbon footprint from a building energy use perspective, developing strategies that can encourage greater energy efficiency at Ernst & Young’s offices in the United States.
Previously, Ernst & Young underwent an important exercise to measure and identify its overall carbon footprint in the Americas for fiscal years 2008-2010. While the numbers indicated a decrease in carbon intensity over the three year period, Ernst & Young was eager to understand what factors contributed to the decreasing trend. Yang analyzed the underlying data, performed a deeper dive into nine office locations and uncovered energy efficiency efforts at lower-intensity offices that could be implemented in higher-intensity locations.
The net of Yang’s efforts yielded a perspective on how to enhance Ernst & Young’s building energy efficiency strategy to drive down energy use and costs at select offices. Further, he recommended projects to enhance ongoing internal efforts around employee engagement to continue to promote Ernst & Young’s environmental initiatives.
Esra Kucukciftci - Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota;
Naveen Lakshmipathy - Ross School of Business, University of Michigan; and
Cynthia Shih - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Esra Kucukciftci, Naveen Lakshmipathy, and Cynthia Shih spent this summer working as EDF Climate Corps fellows at Facebook to assess energy efficiency measures for the company’s new Menlo Park campus. Their work included identifying energy use benchmarks, efficiency opportunities and best practices for an integrated energy management system.
The work of the three 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellows established Facebook’s energy baseline and provided Facebook with energy efficiency recommendations and an implementation strategy. Facebook now has an opportunity to eliminate 5100 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually and realize $770K in net operating savings.
Kucukciftci worked to identify significant opportunities for Facebook to make an impact in its new home. She made the business case for integrating energy efficiency into design decisions. Kucukciftci’s analysis and recommendations about energy goals and technologies was designed to provide Facebook with a near-term path to implementing energy efficiency initiatives.
Lakshmipathy focused his efforts on the lighting systems in office areas as well as Facebook’s café-kitchen mechanical systems. He presented Facebook with daylight utilization and lighting optimization controls to improve workspace efficiency and comfort. Lakshmipathy also provided Facebook with recommendations about food service technology solutions to improve the kitchens’ energy efficiency, air quality and noise levels.
Shih primarily concentrated her efforts on Facebook’s office equipment, such as computer monitors, and micro-kitchen amenities, and fitness center equipment. Working cross-functionally and bringing together diverse internal stakeholders, she identified significant potential energy savings through optimizing default settings and implementing an IT procurement policy.
Firmenich
Rich Grousset - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Rich Grousset spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow evaluating energy efficiency projects at Firmenich's North American headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey, where the privately-owned flavor and fragrance company has office, laboratory, manufacturing, and wastewater treatment facilities.
Grousset's research into individual buildings' energy consumption data revealed that the most modern laboratory and office building on campus had an energy use intensity (EUI) more than 50 percent greater than an older building with similar functionality. Subsequent investigation of the facility by an HVAC engineer uncovered operational and maintenance issues with major HVAC components and with the building management system. Grousset recommended a holistic approach to addressing these issues, including energy auditing and retrocommissioning, that could cut the building's electricity use by a minimum of 1.4 million kilowatt hours per year, saving $182,000 in annual electricity costs and 678 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
Additionally, Grousset looked into lighting retrofit projects, finding the potential to reduce more than 50 percent of annual lighting energy consumption in some areas, and his analysis of computer power consumption identified possible savings of more than 42,000 kWh per year. Grousset also made sure Firmenich is aware of applicable federal and state energy efficiency incentives.
Gaylord Entertainment
Emily Applegate - Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
Emily Applegate spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Gaylord Entertainment. Gaylord Entertainment, a leading hospitality and entertainment company based in Nashville, Tenn., owns and operates Gaylord Hotels, its network of upscale, meetings-focused resorts and the Grand Ole Opry.
Gaylord’s GET Green campaign recently publicly announced its sustainability goals for 2015, which included reducing energy consumption and emissions by 20 percent from 2009 baseline and pursuing LEED certification on all new development.
Applegate’s primary energy efficiency project was the financial analysis of an LED and induction lighting retrofit across the four main hotels and two entertainment venues which included over 30,000 new light bulbs. The project could result in savings of approximately 30 million kWh hours annually, amounting to over 17,000 CO2 tons and helping Gaylord move closer to its 20 percent energy reduction goal.
Additionally, the project could provide Gaylord with $2.5 million in annual utility bill savings, as well as potential savings from labor cost and HVAC load reductions.
Genzyme Corporation
Margaret Hodes - Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
Margaret Hodes spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge, Mass., one of the world’s leading biotech companies. Hodes worked for Genzyme’s energy sustainability team to research and develop an employee engagement program around energy initiatives.
Hodes was able to survey over 15 percent of Genzyme’s 10,000 employees, using the results to establish a baseline metric of attitudes and behaviors around energy efficiency. This survey provided a means of tracking improvements over time as well as identifying perceived barriers and incentives to participation. Hodes then developed a toolkit of initiatives that interested facilities could use to develop their own programs, working closely with three sites in particular – Framingham, Mass., Allston, Mass. and Geel, Belgium – to tailor and implement programs to match their needs. Hodes also developed a project plan to guide the growth of these initiatives across future campuses by encouraging networking and collaboration.
Most initiatives were designed to increase awareness among employees, but one program offered a clear payback. If implemented at just a couple dozen labs in Framingham, a red-yellow-green turn-it-off label program could save Genzyme $18,000 in electricity costs and reduce carbon emissions by 54 metric tons annually, with virtually no upfront costs. Genzyme operates tens of thousands of energy-intensive pieces of equipment at labs worldwide, providing a huge opportunity for employee engagement to save significant amounts of energy.
Hospital Corporation of America
Nozomu Nagai - Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis
Nozomu Nagai spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow in Nashville evaluating hospital energy efficiency projects for HCA Inc, one of the nation's largest healthcare operators. While HCA had already initiated energy efficiency projects as part of the KKR and EDF Green Portfolio partnership program, Nagai was assigned a project to evaluate the economical feasibility of installing a Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) heating and cooling system pilot installation at one of the HCA supply chain warehouses. After analyzing the pilot project, Nagai found that a VRV system could reduce energy annually by average more than 30 percent compared to a conventional roof top unit system at other five HCA warehouses.
Nagai was also assigned a project to investigate savings possibilities with utilizing modular boiler systems in hospitals. HCA has installed some modular boiler systems in the past but with recent advancement in modular boiler technology, Nagai analyzed applicable energy efficiency data and identified 20 possible hospitals with higher NPV. It’s estimated that a 20 percent energy reduction could be possible when the time comes to either replace a boiler or install a new boiler system.
Nagai's analysis showed that if these two initiatives were rolled out to five of HCA's warehouses and 20 hospitals out of 165, the company could possibly reduce 2.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year along with 81.5 million kilowatt hours of natural gas per year, saving $2.3 million in energy costs and more than 16,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. Over 20 years of the lifetime, this could potentially save the company approximately $16 million in net operating costs.
Humana
John-Paul Fontelo - Mendoza College of Business, University of Notre Dame
As a 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellow, John-Paul (J.P.) Fontelo examined the data center operations of Humana, a $33 billion health care company headquartered in Louisville, KY.
Working closely with engineers from Humana’s energy management partner, Johnson Controls Inc., he analyzed opportunities for further “right-sizing” of cooling server racks. Although Humana had already implemented many efficiency measures, further opportunity lay in matching the cooling capacity to data center load and maximizing the potential of a contained, hot-aisle/cold-aisle arrangement.
He decided that the most impactful solutions would include 1) Variable Frequency Drives (VFD’s) attached to each individual Computer Room Air Conditioner (CRAC) unit, 2) improvements to air flow management, and 3) airside economization to allow for free cooling from the outside to remove server heat.
Fontelo estimated that if Humana were to implement the cooling projects, it would save nearly 16 million kWh or $620,000 in electricity costs per year, which translates to about 11 metric tons of carbon emissions.
Ingersoll Rand
Amogh Garg - Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University
and
Chris Hegge - Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University
Amogh Garg and Chris Hegge worked as 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellows with the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand in Charlotte, NC. The main focus of their fellowship was traveling to six production facilities located in Charlotte, NC; Augusta, Ga.; Columbia, SC; Princeton, IL; and Minneapolis to participate in IR’s expanded energy audit program. The program focuses on the company’s largest and most energy intensive facilities. The objective is to help the facilities meet the 2019 goal of realizing a 25 percent normalized reduction in energy mandated by Ingersoll Rand’s participation as a LEADER company in the U.S. Department of Energy’s “Save Energy Now” program.
The energy efficiency projects identified were primarily focused on HVAC and compressed air systems as well as manufacturing process analysis. If implemented, the projects recommended by this year’s fellows could result in annual savings of 5 million kWh, 4,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions and $326,000. Over the projects’ lifetimes, they could save the company $1.6 million.
In addition to energy audits, Garg developed an Energy Analytical tool to help expedite the energy auditing process by making the quick calculations often required at the time of energy audits. Garg found that plant and energy managers often identify energy saving projects, but are not able to take further steps because it’s tough to determine the financial impact of implementing them. Existing tools that are similar in nature ask for complex information, which is not easily available, to estimate the financial aftermath. The Energy Analytical tool is easy to use and is developed to overcome these issues. Apart from Energy Analytical tool development, Garg also prepared a brief presentation on Superior Energy Performance certification program and the steps that IR needs to take in order to get certified.
In addition to energy audits, Hegge performed facility benchmarking based on an extensive list of equipment standards compiled by the 2010 Climate Corps fellows at IR. IR’s 2010 Climate Corp fellows developed a portrait of a “standard” North American facility and identified energy efficiency gaps. This process identified areas of potential savings in facilities across the enterprise. In addition to facility benchmarking, Hegge researched Ingersoll Rand’s fleet energy reduction measures and compared them to those recommended by DOE, EDF and other vehicle fuel management advocate groups.
Joie de Vivre
Avra Winograd-Hutner - Stanford Graduate School of Business
Avra Winograd-Hutner spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Joie de Vivre, headquartered in San Francisco, California. Joie de Vivre manages a portfolio of hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, and spas.
Winograd-Hutner focused on identifying energy savings at Carmel Valley Ranch, a newly renovated 400-acre resort property under Joie de Vivre management. Evaluating Carmel Valley Ranch and auditing the property, she uncovered a number of potential energy savings projects that in total could reduce energy costs by about 20 percent annually.She discovered that a lighting retrofit of mainly utility spaces, maintenance areas and landscaping could save Carmel Valley Ranch around $24,000 annually.
By implementing a new laundry technology using ozone oxygen cleaning, Carmel Valley Ranch could save approximately $25,000 annually from reduced hot water usage. The out of pocket cost to implement these two energy savings projects is less than $3,000 combined.
In addition, Avra identified projects throughout the property, from the pool to the restaurant that could contribute to energy and financial savings without taking away from the guest experience at the resort. Over the life of the projects, this could save Carmel Valley Ranch over $400,000 and cut about 450 tons of CO2 annually.
JPMorgan Chase
Christopher Reynolds - Columbia Business School, Columbia University
and
Joey Christiano - Presidio Graduate School
The first fellows to participate in EDF Climate Corps with JPMorgan Chase, Joey Christiano and Christopher Reynolds collaborated to identify energy efficiency projects across the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Real Estate portfolio. Their recommendations, if implemented, would result in annual savings of $243,000, and reduction of 1,560 metric tons of CO2 emissions stemming from 2.5 million kWh of energy saved. In aggregate, all projects recommended would yield enough savings to payback their up-front cost in 1.1 years or less. Their findings will help JPMorgan Chase achieve its goal of 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions through 2012 from a 2005 baseline.
The fellows analyzed energy cost and use across thousands of buildings occupied by JPMorgan Chase to identify 27 properties for focused evaluation. Next the two created a survey to solicit high level audits from facility engineers. Survey results, combined with data for budgeted capital projects and incentives laid the framework for a set of recommended retrofit measures at each building. Recommendations included: installing occupancy sensors in closed offices and conference rooms, upgrading accent and corridor lighting from halogen to LED and replacing appliances near the end of service life with Energy Star models.
Perhaps, more importantly, significant reductions in energy and operating costs are likely to result from a series of high level recommendations. These strategic initiatives identified by the fellows would help to leverage best practices in energy management, training and standards across the entire corporate real estate portfolio.
Kettle Cuisine
Jef Benbanaste - Sloan School of Management, MIT
Jef Benbanaste spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Kettle Cuisine, a refrigerated and frozen soup maker in Chelsea, Mass. While trying to figure out the best way to meter the equipment used at the facility, he discovered a free energy audit program funded by the Department of Energy and run by the University of Massachusetts Industrial Assessment Center. The resulting full day assessment helped identify two main energy efficiency opportunities.
Several refrigeration system water pumps were running at full power while the water flow was being controlled using valves on the pipes. Instead, Benbanaste calculated that installing variable frequency drives to lower pump speed and thus regulate water flow could save about 75,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
In addition, Benbanaste and the audit team found that allowing the condenser water temperature to drop with the especially colder weather of Massachusetts would significantly reduce the load on compressors and result in an annual savings of 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.
Together, these two projects could save Kettle Cuisine over $60,000 a year in electricity costs.
Mack Trucks
Rohini Sankapal - School of Business Administration, University of San Diego
Rohini Sankapal spent her summer in Macungie, PA evaluating industrial energy efficiency projects for Mack Trucks, one of the largest manufacturers of heavy-duty off-road trucks in the nation.
Since Volvo worldwide set high carbon emissions reduction and usage reduction targets, Mack Truck facilities started initiating energy efficient projects in 2003. Sankapal was able to identify further industrial efficiency projects pertaining to facility heating, compressed air and motor systems that have the potential to reduce Mack trucks CO2 emissions by 18.7 percent.
Sankapal analyzed the existing facility energy usage consumption at Macungie, PA and developed a tool incorporating best practices for monitoring current energy usage consumption for future strategizing. The other identified projects ranged from low-hanging fruits to innovative solutions in the energy efficiency arena. One of the best examples of low- hanging fruits in an industrial setting was identified in the form of compressed air savings throughout the facility - at least $33,000 annually with less than $9000 worth of initial capital investment. All together, the industrial efficiency initiatives would reduce GHG consumption by 18.7 percent annually in line with Volvo’s 12 percent emissions reductions goal.
The proposed projects could save the company $253,000 in annual cost savings and avoid 8,000 metric tons in C02 emissions annually.
McDonald’s
Pia Jean Kristiansen - Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Pia Jean Kristiansen spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at McDonald’s Corporation, headquartered in Oak Brook, IL. With more than 1.7 million employees in 32,000 locations worldwide, the majority of which work in the restaurants, McDonald’s recognized an opportunity to enlist Kristiansen to identify strategies to increase awareness and participation in energy efficiency initiatives at the restaurant level.
Kristiansen took inventory of McDonald's suite of tools and equipment aimed at energy use reduction while conducting a comprehensive survey to identify opportunities to further engage restaurant employees in energy efficiency. The opportunity for impact at the crew level quickly resonated with Kristiansen and she spent her summer developing the concept design and proposal for an educational video on energy efficiency. Kristiansen aggregated the data she collected through dozens of interviews to incorporate into a summary of strategic recommendations that identified ways to optimize McDonald’s resources while increasing energy reduction initiatives in its restaurants.
Kristiansen’s employee education video will be produced and distributed to crew learning stations throughout its United States restaurants, representing approximately 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants – an estimated 700,000 person audience. The video will highlight McDonald’s environmental stewardship and direct the employees to make use of innovative tools which have the potential to reduce an average restaurant’s energy consumption by up to 10 percent. Kristiansen’s strategic recommendations will be incorporated into the worldwide energy management program and presented at the worldwide convention, with an expected 15,000 owner/operators, suppliers and employees from around the world in attendance.
Nestlé Waters North America
Justin Lindenmayer - Yale School of Management and Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University
and
Jenny McColloch - Yale School of Management, Yale University
Justin Lindenmayer and Jenny McColloch spent their summer at the corporate headquarters of Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA), the leading bottled water company in North America.
As NWNA has already implemented significant energy efficiency projects across its 27 retail water bottling facilities, Lindenmayer and McColloch instead focused on sniffing out hidden savings opportunities at corporate headquarters, which just recently earned LEED Gold Certification, and at a recently acquired tea bottling plant in Ohio.
Their projects, many of which have been implemented already, included recommendations for powering down garage lamps during daylight hours, installing timers on bottled water refrigerators, better optimizing existing occupancy sensors and swapping incandescent exit signs for LEDs. All told, these simple and extremely low cost projects could save the company over 208,000 kwh and 80 metric tons of CO2 per year, and approximately $127,000 in electricity costs.
In addition, Lindenmayer and McColloch spent significant time working on larger-picture energy efficiency strategy initiatives, including the establishment of an energy and water-efficiency tracking system at the new tea plant, an investigation of a potential revolving loan fund for ongoing energy efficiency investments, and a survey of all bottling plants to facilitate the engineering team’s optimization of heat exchange in the water production equipment. While the benefits of these projects are impossible to quantify in the short-term, they will nevertheless be critical in advancing energy efficiency projects company-wide well into the future.
News Corporation / Dow Jones
Christine Chi - Harvard Business School, Harvard University
Christine Chi spent the summer of 2011 as an EDF Climate Corps fellow with News Corporation, a multinational media and entertainment company. Chi spent a portion of her time working with News Corporation’s Global Energy Initiative on corporate sustainability strategy such as supporting the development of an internal energy efficiency loan fund and identifying employee engagement best practices.
At the Dow Jones Bronx Printing Plant, Chi looked into the feasibility of piloting an alternative-fuel vehicle program. She also worked to identify energy efficiency opportunities at the printing plant, primarily in the area of HVAC improvements. Chi collaborated with the facilities manager, chief engineer, head electrician and an outside energy audit team from the University of Delaware, part of a Department of Energy program.
Chi discovered that the facility could save 1.9 million kWh per year. Alternatively, the plant could put the chillers on a swing schedule, which would not require any capital investment but only save 234,000 Kwh of electricity annually. She also calculated that turning off the boilers during the summer would save the printing plant $64,000 in gas per year and reducing air compressor pressure from 125 PSI to 110 PSI would result in annual savings of 107,000 kWh.
In total, Chi identified projects that could reduce annual energy costs by approximately $234,000, saving 1.9 million kWh and reducing 634 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually.
PNC
Amber Sprague - IE Business School
Amber Sprague spent her summer as an EDF Climate Corps Fellow at in Pittsburgh at The PNC Financial Services Group (PNC), the 7th largest bank in the United States.
While PNC already has more newly constructed LEED® certified buildings than any company in the world, Amber was able to identify two extremely attractive energy efficiency opportunities: maximizing the energy efficiency settings of their MFD’s (multi-functional devices) and activating the power management policies on their computers.
By taking advantage of the technology that PNC already has available, which also means no further capital investment would be needed, PNC could save over 22 million kWh annually. This translates into an annual reduction of approximately $2.3 million dollars in utility expenses and 16,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
QTS
Sukrit Sehgal - Mason School of Business, The College of William and Mary
Sukrit Sehgal spent his summer in Atlanta evaluating Data Center energy efficiency projects for QTS, one of the nation's largest data center providers.
While QTS had already initiated energy efficiency projects, Sehgal was able to validate and improve on them. Sehgal identified projects on cooling containment, temperature monitoring, lighting retrofits and water conservation that offered significant savings on all three fronts – electricity, carbon and water.
Upon observing QTS’ electricity bills, Sehgal found out that since a large part of a data center’s electricity cost is due to cooling, any solution that can help manage and make cooling more efficient could lead to great results. Additionally, since the majority of QTS’ data centers run on cooling with the help of cooling towers, water reclamation could lead to significant savings as well.
By enrolling QTS in demand response programs and implement alternate energy solutions, Sehgal helped QTS become more energy independent.
To make QTS a better steward of the environment, Sehgal helped develop recycling and e-cycling plans at the organization level and also develop a sustainability fund that can maintain QTS’ sustainability efforts without the need to depend on financial approvals on a regular basis. Sehgal also helped in the formulation of QTS’ sustainability policy so that QTS’ efforts were visible throughout the organization and for its customers as well.
Sehgal’s analysis showed that if the proposed projects were rolled out to even a couple of QTS’ facilities, QTS could cut 60 million kWh of electricity per year, 40,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually and 15 million gallons of water annually. Over their lifetime, these projects could save QTS $4.3 million in net operating costs. QTS plans to invest $10 million to implement these projects.
REI
Koji Kitazume - The Fuqua School of Business and Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
and
Jake MacArthur - Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara
Koji Kitazume and Jake MacArthur spent their summers as EDF Climate Corps fellows based at the REI Headquarters in Kent, WA. MacArthur focused his efforts on energy efficiency at the cooperative’s headquarters while Kitazume primarily worked on projects at the distribution centers, located in Sumner, WA and Bedford, PA.
REI previously participated in EDF’s Climate Corps in 2010 and has a cross-functional energy team working to improve energy efficiency throughout the cooperative. The Corporate Social Responsibility team works to reduce the impact of corporate facilities while the Retail Energy Manager focuses on the retail locations. REI evaluates projects according to strict financial guidelines, evaluating them against other business investment opportunities. Following on the heels of the 2010 fellow’s work identifying opportunities, REI hired the 2011 fellows to provide detailed analysis and move projects forward towards implementation. Both fellows evaluated past recommendations, identified new opportunities, conducted financial analyses and contacted vendors.
At the Bedford Distribution Center, Kitazume proposed a sensor-based wireless lighting solution, demand response and a robust monitoring system to enable improved energy management. MacArthur proposed a broad range of projects at the headquarters, including energy star equipment upgrades, vending machine misers and multiple sensor-based wireless lighting projects. In addition, the fellows helped to chart a roadmap for future improvements and assisted with green power purchasing. In total, on an annual basis, the projects could cut 490,000 kWhs and save $53,000 and 490 metric tons of CO2.
SAP
John Wheeler - Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
John Wheeler spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at SAP in Washington, DC. SAP is the leading supplier of enterprise software and has been pursuing an aggressive sustainability strategy for several years. Wheeler spent his summer helping SAP find ways to communicate its sustainability story internally and externally. The first part of SAP’s story was told from a ‘practitioner’ point of view and included operational innovations such as SAP’s use of direct current in its datacenters as well as its internally developed ride sharing application.
The second part of SAP’s story was told from an ‘enabler’ point of view. This strategy required understanding the impact that SAP’s sustainability solutions have on its customers. Because so many organizations use SAP systems, including over half the Fortune 500, the task of measuring impact proved quite challenging. SAP’s impact stories ultimately became one sentence statements that describe the magnitude of impact each solution has, often reaching global significance. In order to craft statements that were as transparent, conservative, accurate and effective as possible, Wheeler worked with many different stakeholders to develop sound methodologies. Wheeler is continuing his engagement through November and expects the final statements, which will be available in SAP’s 2011 Sustainability Report, to be truly impactful.
ServiceMaster
James Siegel - The Fletcher School, Tufts University
James Siegel spent his summer in Memphis evaluating energy efficiency projects for ServiceMaster, a leading provider home and business services focused on lawn care, pest control and cleaning. Siegel worked very closely with ServiceMaster’s Vice President of Environmental Stewardship to develop strategies to reduce fuel usage of ServiceMaster’s 14,000-vehicle fleet and also cut electricity consumption at its corporate facilities.
While ServiceMaster had already evaluated energy efficiency projects with EDF Climate Corps the previous year, Siegel identified new opportunities. He developed business cases to secure hybrid vehicles and also electric-only vehicles; technologies that reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The hybrid vehicles improve fuel economy by up to 40 percent and reduce emissions by up to 30 percent. The ServiceMaster investment could save reduce CO2 emissions by 143 metric tons annually.
On facilities, Siegel evaluated projects with compelling savings and realistic implementation and was able to identify lighting upgrades at the corporate headquarters that would reduce lighting consumption by over 90,000 kWh per year. Siegel’s analysis showed that if the lighting retrofits were implemented at other relevant buildings on the ServiceMaster corporate campus, the company could cut 114,000 kWh of electricity per year, saving $15,500 in electricity costs.
Shorenstein Properties
Jaxon Love - Center for Sustainable Business Practices, University of Oregon
Jaxon Love spent his summer at Shorenstein Properties, a commercial real estate management firm headquartered in San Francisco, CA. The third EDF Climate Corps fellow to be hosted by Shorenstein, Love conducted an impact and process evaluation of Shorenstein’s corporate energy efficiency program.
Love adapted methodology used for evaluating utility energy efficiency programs. He found that Shorenstein’s corporate program was responsible for saving: • $1.7 million in annual energy cost • 12.3 million kWh annually • 1,400 kilowatts of average demand • 4,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually The program’s impact represents the equivalent of taking 1,130 homes off the electric grid and 940 cars off the road.
Love also identified an opportunity for thermal energy storage at a Shorenstein property in Southern California. He found that by chilling stored water during off-peak hours, the property would save $120,000 in annual electric energy cost. The project will be implemented as part of a planned expansion of the site and has a simple payback of three years.
In addition, Love consulted with Shorenstein’s G.R.E.E.N. Committee, drafting a green leasing policy guide for property managers and developing content for the firm’s corporate sustainability website.
SunGard
Jacob Shirmer - S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Jacob Shirmer spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow in New York City at SunGard, one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies.
While SunGard had already initiated energy efficiency projects as part of the KKR and EDF Green Portfolio partnership program, as well as the EDF Climate Corps partnership in the past, Shirmer was able to design a framework for establishing office Green Teams that included an Energy Treasure Hunt campaign for identifying additional energy savings opportunities. SunGard will launch multiple pilot Treasure Hunts later this fall, with the goal of implementing the initiative across SunGard’s entire office portfolio. With 3.2 million square feet of office space around the world, this is a plan that could result in substantial cost savings and greenhouse gas reductions.
Shirmer also identified strategic revenue generation opportunities in growing sustainability markets. After researching SunGard’s services and solutions and having conversations with a multitude of individuals representing different products in each of SunGard’s four business units, Shirmer was able to present actionable recommendations that could drive internal cost savings and external profits in multi-billion dollar markets.
Target Corporation
Neal Tsay - Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles
Neal Tsay spent his summer in Minneapolis as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Target Corporation, an upscale discount retailer with 1,762 stores in the United States. He was tasked with developing a roadmap to help Target meet its public commitment to earn the ENERGY STAR for 75 percent of its U.S. buildings by 2016 and improving energy efficiency in bottom performing stores.
Tsay analyzed Target’s current involvement in the ENERGY STAR program and identified process improvement opportunities to significantly increase certifications. He also developed a plan to prioritize energy efficiency projects in development or under consideration, and optimize their deployment to maximize gains in ENERGY STAR eligibility. This set of projects emphasized energy efficiency for SuperTarget stores and included improvements to lighting, HVAC, and refrigeration systems designed to improve a store’s ENERGY STAR rating by up to 20 percent.
In total, the identified projects, if deployed across all Target stores in the United States, could save over 84 million kWh per year, eliminate over 50,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent, and generate several million dollars in annual energy savings.
Union Pacific Railroad
W. Greg Zielinski - Sloan School of Management, MIT
Greg Zielinski spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow in Omaha, Neb. at Union Pacific Railroad, a transportation company with approximately 32,000 miles of railroad in the Western U.S. Zielinski championed a new strategy for energy management at Union Pacific, focusing on energy data management and a corporate structure for identifying and implementing energy efficiency opportunities. Zielinski aimed to show the potential of better energy management through focusing on energy reduction in air compressor systems and using more efficient lighting in Union Pacific’s maintenance shops.
At one of Union Pacific’s rail yards in California, an audit identified more than $160,000 in annual electric expenses due to leaks in the compressor system. Zielinski showed that by fixing only 25 percent of the leaks in 50 large compressor systems across Union Pacific, they could save $407,000 in annual electricity expenses, a savings of 6.7 million kWh per year.
Zielinski also found that lighting retrofits in Union Pacific’s maintenance shops were opportunities for saving energy. With over 3.5 million square feet of shop space, using LED lighting could save Union Pacific $569,000 annually and cut its carbon emissions by 5,500 metric tons per year.
In total, Greg’s analysis could save Union Pacific over $1.1 million in annual operating costs, 18 million kWh each year, and nearly 10,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year.
Viawest
Rangarajan TC - Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University>
Rangarajan TC spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow at Viawest, headquartered in Denver. A major collocation provider with nearly two dozen data centers across five states, Viawest engaged TC to create a formal “green” program for the company to better manage its corporate sustainability initiatives.
TC worked with marketing, operations and sales to come up with a comprehensive structure that covered the areas of recycling, water efficiency, employee engagement and energy efficiency. TC also recommended individual programs and tactical projects under this structure, such as corporate wide electronic and cardboard recycling program, PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) reduction targets, formation of a “green task force,” energy efficiency financing and lighting maintenance projects.
These projects could help Viawest recycle approximately 75 metric tons of computers and cardboards and save 7 million kWh in energy every year, which translates to 4,400 metric tons of Co2 emissions reductions and half a million in cost savings. Above all, Viawest could use this formal green structure to identify and evaluate individual energy efficiency projects and aid continuous improvement of its corporate citizenship.
VivaKi
Jonathan Huynh - Erb Institute, University of Michigan
Jonathan Huynh spent his summer as an EDF Climate Corps fellow with VivaKi, a media organization that is part of the Publicis Groupe umbrella of companies. During his fellowship in Chicago, he worked with stakeholders in three buildings to develop a business case for energy efficiency and employee engagement projects.
Although each building had already made progress using energy efficient fixtures, Huynh was able to identify nearly eight lighting and office equipment projects that offered significant savings. If scaled to the entire building, one LED retrofit project could save the company more than $112,000 over its lifetime. An analysis of the building’s computer power management practices led to a software solution that resulted in potential savings of $24,000 annually. In total, Huynh facility-related recommendations could save the Leo Burnett building nearly 1.2 million kWh of electricity each year, 900 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, and approximately $207,000 over the lifetime of the projects.
In addition to retrofits, Huynh worked with each building to understand the barriers to existing “greening” and sustainability programs. He worked to facilitate knowledge exchange and understand organizational disconnects, as these focus areas could serve to reinvigorate the employee engagement initiatives. His efforts led to the formation of a preliminary committee of cross-functional business units and representatives to think about sustainability and usher projects forward after he leaves.
Together, the retrofit and engagement projects provided the ideal 1-2 punch to tackle energy efficiency one outlet at a time.
Washington Gas
Andrew Seal - GW School of Business, George Washington University
Andrew Seal spent his summer in the Washington D.C. metro area evaluating commercial and industrial building energy efficiency projects for Washington Gas, which delivers natural gas to more than one million customers throughout the region.
While Washington Gas had already completed several energy efficiency projects as part of their existing sustainability program, Seal was able to identify lighting retrofits, HVAC efficiencies and tax incentives that offer significant savings. Some of these recommendations have already been implemented with the remaining having been added to the company’s 5-year budget forecast.
Combined, these efficiency measures will save the company over $900,000 in net operational costs over the project lifetimes by cutting the equivalent of more than 198 million kilowatt hours per year while simultaneously avoiding about 750 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. In addition, tax deductions identified related to a new industrial campus pursuing LEED Gold certification amount to approximately $2.8 million.
