Frequently Asked Questions for Companies

What is the EDF Climate Corps program all about?

Companies know energy for their buildings costs a lot. Companies are missing significant savings in annual operating costs—by some estimates, 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, improve employee morale through more comfortable working environments and help the environment.

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 MBA students from leading business schools with companies that need to develop practical, actionable energy efficiency plans. EDF Climate Corps fellows spend up to three months facilitating and analyzing savings opportunities. They also develop detailed investment and implementation plans that help businesses cut costs and reduce emissions.

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

See results from past fellowships »

How long is the fellowship?

EDF Climate Corps fellowships are a minimum of 10 weeks between May and September 2010. The exact weeks will depend on the individual fellow's school schedule.

What is the company's HR commitment?

The fellow will be working onsite at the company for the 10 weeks and will therefore need an HR contact, a direct manager, a higher-level supervisor, a workstation, a telephone, a desk, security access, etc.

How will EDF train the fellows?

EDF will host a 3-day training at the start of the fellowship, which includes a copy of the Climate Corps Handbook. There will also be opportunities to interact with EDF experts throughout the summer when specific questions arise. More about training »

Why is it important for the company to have to have planned an energy audit?

It is our experience that energy audits take months to schedule and months to complete. The EDF Climate Corps fellow will not have the technical training to perform an energy audit.

If no energy audit has been performed, EDF will ask the company to fill out an "entry audit" so that the fellow will have the necessary information to complete his/her workplan. Without an energy audit, it would also be helpful for the fellow to have access to internal engineers with the capability to identify efficiency upgrades.

The EDF Climate Corps fellow will analyze the identified efficiency measures and make the financial case for making the investments.

What other resources should the company have in place/be willing to provide?

The personnel requirements to being a host company are: having an enthusiastic and supportive high-level sponsor, an accessible day-to-day manager and also facilities staff who are invested in the project. To help make the case for these investments, the EDF Climate Corps fellow needs to have access to energy and financial information.

What if the company wants to expand the scope of the fellowship?

This fellowship is designed to focus on analyzing and facilitating energy efficiency investments. Fellows are chosen for their ability to do financial analyses, project manage and help facilitate organizational change.

EDF is only able to support the fellows and manage the Climate Corps program if the projects create direct environmental results in the form of identified energy and monetary savings. This should be the main focus of every fellow’s workplan.

Having said that, some past fellows have had adequate time to augment their workplans with additional initiatives beyond identifying and analyzing energy efficiency investments.

What support will the companies receive?

EDF will host an orientation call at the beginning of the summer and 2 check-in calls during the program for companies.

What will EDF provide?

• Recruit and interview qualified and interested MBA fellows
• Train and support the MBA fellow throughout the 10-week fellowship
• Provide each fellow with the Climate Corps Handbook, a how-to guide on identifying and analyzing energy efficiency investments in office buildings
• Pay for travel and logistics for the intensive 3-day training
• Aggregate and analyze dollars invested and saved and energy saved through the EDF Climate Corps program
• Publicize the participation of companies in our marketing materials
• Be available for follow-up consultations for one year after fellowship completion

What do participating companies need to provide?

• Provide a dedicated high-level project sponsor for the fellow as well as a dedicated manager
• Make relevant records and information available to the fellow (energy bills, purchase records, facilities records, etc.)
• Ensure the fellow has adequate support from relevant departments such as facilities, IT and purchasing
• Invest in a building energy audit
• Pay the fellow’s salary ($1,250 week for 10 weeks = $12,500)
• Execute the investment plan presented by the fellow, where feasible
• Continue to track energy use on a ongoing basis
• Provide Environmental Defense Fund with updates on energy use, investments and implementation of energy efficiency measures six months, 1 year and 3 years after the fellowship is complete

What are some sample outcomes of the program?

All fellows will be asked to submit information for aggregation at the end of the summer, as well as an internal report. See samples of both of these.

How will EDF be using the final reports and the information presented in them?

The aggregate results of this program will be made public in order to maximize both environmental and business benefits. However, EDF will not refer to any company’s program or results publicly without prior written approval.

EDF’s objective is to demonstrate that energy efficiency saves energy and saves companies money. EDF staff will follow-up with the host companies to find out whether identified measures are implemented and the resulting energy savings.

EDF will aggregate these savings over time to give an overall picture of how much money companies can save with energy efficiency. EDF will also take salient stories and anecdotes from the fellow’s reports to further make the case for energy efficiency.

Any public statements about a company will be forwarded to the company for approval.

How do I get my company involved?

Please contact Rachel Hinchliffe to get your company involved for Summer 2011!

Posted: 08-Oct-2009; Updated: 09-Sep-2009