Program Highlights

EDF Climate Corps gets clean energy projects on the fast track to accomplishment — improving the organization’s bottom line and environmental impact at the same time.

The program, often in tandem with key partners, develops special initiatives to help meet specific goals and targets. Below are a few recent highlights of this specialized work.

Strategic Partnerships

EDF recognizes and values the power of partnerships in advancing energy management efforts. Strategic partnerships give EDF Climate Corps fellows and hosts access to additional tools, resources and technical support, and allow EDF to share its energy solutions among a broader audience. Currently, EDF is an Affiliate with the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Better Buildings Program, a Partner with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Program and a partner with the Retail Industry Leader’s Association (RILA) Financial Management for Retail Energy Efficiency Program.

A Focus on Cities

Cities across the United States are taking action on climate. Helping to achieve their climate goals, EDF Climate Corps fellows act as the “boots on the ground”. In 2016, 33 EDF Climate Corps fellows were placed throughout New York to help the state rise as a national leader in clean energy policy. To achieve the Mayor’s 80x50 goals — reducing the city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80% from 2005 levels by 2050 — and the Governor’s state-level target--receiving half of the state’s power from renewable energy by 2030 — EDF Climate Corps deliberately stepped up its presence in the state to provide hands-on support for a variety of building-level projects.

In 2015, EDF Climate Corps completed a similar, two-year initiative in Chicago, designed to accelerate the city’s emissions reductions efforts through on the ground engagement of building owners and managers. In two years, 17 fellows identified 21 million kWh in energy savings across 65 buildings in Chicago, equivalent to the annual energy use of 2,000 homes. EDF continues to work with commercial building owners in Chicago to demonstrate the economic value of energy efficiency, clean energy and demand response through continued fellowship projects and the Combined Capacity Asset Performance project.

See our highlights from past projects in Chicago

Engaging International Supply Chains

As corporations continue to scale their energy management efforts, many are beginning to look at the environmental impact of their supply chains. Multinational companies are employing EDF Climate Corps fellows to develop broad supply chain engagement strategies and many, like New Balance did in the summer of 2015 and again in 2016, are embedding fellows within the operations of their China-based suppliers. Since 2014, EDF Climate Corps has placed 22 fellows into the local operations of 13 multinational companies in China, including Apple, New Balance, IKEA, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Walmart, where they have identified tens of millions of dollars in energy savings.

Thought Leadership

EDF Climate Corps has developed a variety of tools and resources to disseminate its solutions broadly, amplify the impact of the program and guide organizations interested in improving their energy management programs. Our resources include:

  • Case studies, which give sustainability managers deeper insight into the steps they can take to drive deeper emissions savings.
  • Scaling Success: Recent Trends in Organizational Energy Management, a trends report that highlights the unique perspective that EDF Climate Corps has gained through analysis of its internal database of over 3000 energy projects. The EDF Climate Corps handbook, a clear and concise guide to energy management, is used by fellows, hosts and other practitioners in their daily work.
  • The Virtuous Cycle for Strategic Energy Management, and its associated Smart Energy Diagnostic, are management frameworks that can be used to encourage holistic organizational change.
  • Project Solutions Database, where sustainability managers can go to learn about the hundreds of energy projects that EDF Climate Corps fellows have developed.