Rachel Hinchliffe | January 22, 2010
Today, EDF announced the first 20 companies that have signed on to our Climate Corps program for summer 2010. It's amazing how far this program has come since we launched it two years ago.
We piloted the program in 2008 with just seven MBA students placed in Bay Area companies. Those students didn't know what exactly they were in for, and frankly, neither did we. But together, they found $35 million in savings through energy efficiency. Even more impressive: the companies actually followed their recommendations. To date, projects that account for 97% of those energy savings have either been achieved or are underway.
Last summer we nearly quadrupled the program, placing 26 fellows in organizations throughout the country. Those Climate Corps fellows helped their host companies identify net operating savings of more than $54 million. These projects could also reduce energy use by more than 160 million kWh a year—enough to power 14,000 homes—and avoid more than 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
As Gwen Ruta (vice president corporate partnerships) says, "The rapid growth of Climate Corps speaks volumes about the value it delivers to companies and the real reductions in greenhouse gas emissions it achieves."
Consider these results:
Ryan Whisnant of the University of Michigan worked at SunGard, an IT services firm. Although SunGard had already implemented many energy-saving measures at its headquarters before Whisnant started his Climate Corps fellowship, his diligent attention uncovered lighting timer errors that resulted in 1/3 of the open floor lighting remaining on during non-business hours. According to Whisnant, fixing this problem in just one building could save SunGard nearly $20,000 annually. SunGard is one of the companies that has already signed on to host another fellow in 2010.
I also love the story about Chris Anderson and Ahold. During one facility tour, Anderson found himself looking at freezer doors, wondering why some had heaters while others had more energy efficient anti-fog film. With some additional research, he uncovered an anti-fog product that could be retrofitted on existing doors which, if implemented across most of Ahold's stores, could reduce CO2 emissions by 26,000 metric tons per year . EDF didn't train Chris in the most efficient freezer door models, but he saw an opportunity and ran with it.
We've got a great group of companies signed on for 2010 so far – some returning for the second or even the third year. And it's not only the companies that are impressive: the students come from top-tier MBA programs including Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale.
Not only are we creating real business value for leading corporations, but we're also training the next generation of business leaders. We are grateful to have Net Impact as our strategic partner in growing Climate Corps.
We're now matching interns to companies for the summer of 2010. There's still time to reach out to us if your company hasn't signed on yet. For more information and details on how to host a fellow, visit www.edf.org/climatecorps.