Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA
At a Glance
Industry
Health Care
Project Types
Commercial Energy Efficiency, Data Analysis, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2011
Location
Boston, MA
Annual kWh Savings:
290,000 kWh
Annual CO2 Reductions:
147 metric tons
Summary
Hayley Jean Farr evaluated progress towards corporate sustainability goals and helped the grass-roots sustainability program transition into a company division.
Goals
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.
Solutions
During her fellowship, Farr tracked baseline metrics and evaluated progress toward BCBSMA’s corporate goals and developed implementation plans, 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).
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.
Potential Impact
When implemented, Farr’s recommendations 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.