Our Program's Goals

Fellow Jen Snook (Duke University) and AT&T's John Schinter (Executive Director of Energy) formed a powerful team in the summer of 2010. (Photo by Jason Robinette)

Companies know energy for their buildings costs a lot. Companies are missing significant savings in annual operating costs—some estimate around $40,000 for every 50,000 square feet in office space using no-cost or low-cost measures—and opportunities to increase property values, help the environment and improve employee morale through more comfortable working environments.

Helping companies save energy, developing tomorrow's business leaders

So why aren't more companies taking advantage of these energy (and cost) saving measures? A variety of financial and operational obstacles get in the way of making the business case for energy efficiency. Many companies don't have resources they can dedicate to quantifying and curtailing these impacts.

EDF Climate Corps bridges this resource gap. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) matches trained students from leading business schools with companies that need to develop practical, actionable energy efficiency plans.

Climate Corps fellows spend up to three months identifying and analyzing savings opportunities. They also develop detailed investment and implementation plans that help businesses cut costs and reduce emissions.

In turn, host companies commit to opening up their financial and operational records, providing senior level support and sharing results.

Climate Corps fellows have uncovered efficiencies in lighting, computer equipment, and heating and cooling systems that will help the host companies to:

Save $89 million in net operational costs over the project lifetimes
Cut the equivalent of 280 million kilowatt hours of energy use per year -- enough to power 24,000 homes
Avoid over 157,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year -- equivalent to taking more than 19,000 SUVs off the road

Just as impressive, companies report that they are implementing upgrades representing 84% of the energy savings recommended by the fellows.

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