Sustainable Jersey
At a Glance
Industry
Nonprofit
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Climate Justice/Energy Equity, Data Analysis, Sustainability and Energy Management Strategy
Year
2021
Location
Ewing, NJ
Summary
Brickman House identified potential energy efficiency programs for Environmental Justice (EJ) municipal clients in New Jersey certified under Sustainable Jersey.
Goals
Sustainable Jersey, a non-profit organization located in New Jersey, works with municipalities all over the state to increase sustainable practices. Given the high volume of clients, introducing an EDF fellow helped Sustainable Jersey to focus on lower income communities. Sustainable Jersey brought in House to promote different energy efficiency and outreach programs by energy tracking and providing options for incentive programs.
Solutions
House approached the challenge using these four steps:
- Learn about clients and then meet the associated team.
- Collect utility data to implement in an energy portfolio manager and measure usage in each building.
- Meet with utility organization representatives and clients to gain an understanding of new programs.
- Pursue potential outreach incentives and partners to provide teaching opportunities to the EJ communities.
House helped the two EJ clients for the summer in energy tracking and in building a better understanding about energy efficiency. In order to begin the conversation about energy tracking, House met with community Green Teams and city council members. He also met with utility organization representatives to learn about new programs being offered in summer 2021.
Potential Impact
House worked to improve knowledge and understanding of energy efficiency in EJ municipalities by providing information on utility incentive programs and outreach actions to lower income communities. He then created an energy tracking system for both Irvington and Hillside municipalities.
Both clients were in lower income communities and struggled to maintain staff that focuses on energy efficiency. House’s aid this summer in creating a building portfolio and baseline for municipally owned buildings helped move both clients closer to an audit program. He also alerted them about buildings with a high usage/demand to help them prioritize potential upgrades.