Energy Exchange

Caught On Film: Watch How AT&T, QTS & New York City Housing Authority Saved Energy

By EDF Blogs / Published: January 5, 2012

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF Business Blog. 

It sounds so simple:  saving energy saves money.  McKinsey & Company estimates that the U.S. could reduce its annual energy consumption 23 percent through efficiency measures, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by over a gigaton and saving both companies and consumers over a trillion dollars.

So why do we as a nation still waste so much energy?  And how do we stop? The fact is organizations face many barriers to implementing energy-saving projects, which have nothing to do with technology and everything to do with the way people make decisions.

One of the most common challenges is the lack of information.  So in the holiday spirit of sharing, we worked with three of our EDF Climate Corps hosts to tell the story of how they are capturing their piece of that trillion-dollar opportunity.

AT&T, QTS and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) welcomed EDF’s cameras into their facilities and spoke openly about the energy efficiency projects they’ve got in the works. Together, we compiled a series of videos spotlighting successful projects in lighting, cooling, heating and data centers.

Here’s a quick rundown of featured projects along with a link to each video:

  • AT&T worked with EDF Climate Corps to uncover potential savings of up to 50 percent associated with cooling costs at 250 of AT&T’s facilities by using a technique called “economizer mode” – a process in which cool external air replaces the need for mechanically chilled air during cool months.
  • AT&T also worked with EDF Climate Corps to find ways to cut its lighting energy use by 80 percent. A project that is now being rolled out across its 250 largest central offices.
  • Data center provider QTS worked with EDF Climate Corps to optimize efficiency in its LEED Gold datacenter and reduce annual costs by $4 million. The company plans to invest $10 million to implement these projects.
  • New York City Housing Authority worked with EDF Climate Corps to analyze the energy savings potential of installing Wireless Energy Modules across its portfolio. The EDF Climate Corps fellows found that the project would lead to more consistent, comfortable temperatures for residents, save $56 million in NYCHA’s annual costs and avoid 177,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year.

AT&T, QTS and NYCHA have all helped get the word out about how they’re maximizing energy opportunities. AT&T recently shared insights on potential savings at 250 facilities; QTS announced a plan to invest $10 million in energy efficiency projects at the world’s second largest data center; and New York City Housing Authority announced its mission to spur public housing authorities and private landlords around the nation to make smart energy investments.

You can help share these lessons too. Send a video along to a company, city, or university you know, to help them cut costs and carbon emissions in a big way.  Or tell them about EDF Climate Corps, which has uncovered a billion dollars in energy savings for participating organizations in its first four years.  We’re recruiting now for 2012 — visit edfclimatecorps.org to learn more.

EDF Climate Corps places specially-trained MBA and MPA students in companies, cities and universities to develop practical, actionable energy efficiency plans. Sign up to receive emails about EDF Climate Corps, including regular blog posts by our fellows. You can also visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to get regular updates about this project.

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Tagged | Read 3 Responses

Making Do Under TSCA: EPA To Require Reporting Of Health Data By Makers Of Chemicals Used In Hydraulic Fracturing

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 9, 2011

This commentary was originally posted by Richard Denison, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, on the EDF Chemicals & Nanomaterials Blog.

Last August, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and over one hundred other groups recently filed a petition under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)  calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require manufacturers and processors of chemicals used in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P chemicals) – including those used in hydraulic fracturing fluids – both to conduct testing and submit to EPA health and environmental data they already have on hand.  The aim of the petition was to ensure EPA obtains better information on the identity, production, use and health/environmental effects of these chemicals in order to evaluate their health and environmental risks.  Late last month, EPA announced its decision. 

EPA Decision on the Petition

In November, EPA partially granted the petition.  It granted the petitioners’ request that EPA develop rules requiring makers of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids to submit existing information to EPA identifying the chemicals, their intended uses, quantities produced and health or environmental exposure to or effects of the chemicals.

While this is a positive step forward, EPA denied two other aspects of our petition. EPA rejected the request to issue a rule requiring testing of these chemicals to fill data gaps because the agency lacks sufficient information to make the potential risk or high-exposure findings it is required to make under TSCA to justify a test rule.  (The high evidentiary burden EPA must meet to require testing is of course a serious limitation of TSCA and a major reason why TSCA reform is so badly needed.)  It also limited the scope of the reporting rules only to chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, and did not include other E&P chemicals, such as those used in drilling muds, or fluids.

An Important Clarification

It is important to note that the actions called for under the TSCA petition are different from the disclosure efforts EDF and others have been pushing for on a state-by-state basis, in three respects.  First, the reporting rules will apply to manufacturers and processors of the chemicals themselves, whereas the disclosure initiatives focus on oil and gas drillers to publically disclose chemicals they add to hydraulic fracturing fluid.  Second, the EPA rules are intended to provide EPA with information sufficient to understand the potential risks of the subject chemicals at an aggregate, national level, whereas the disclosure initiatives are aimed at a local, even well-by-well scale.  Third, the EPA rules encompass information beyond just the identity of the subject chemicals to include other information about their production, use and potential health/environmental effects.  While much of the information reported to EPA under the rules can and should be made public, increasing disclosure per se is not the primary focus of our petition nor of the rules.

Next Steps

EPA’s decision is in sum welcome as an advancement of efforts to identify and reduce environmental and public health impacts from oil and gas exploration and production.  EPA plans to solicit input on the design and scope of reporting requirements as well as the process by which information is “aggregated and disclosed to maximize transparency and public understanding.”  Through these processes, EDF, Earthjustice and other petitioners can argue for EPA to make enhancements “to ensure that the health and environmental risks posed by E&P chemicals are fully understood,” as we stated in the TSCA petition.

Posted in Natural Gas, Washington, DC / Comments are closed

New York City Housing Authority Works With Environmental Defense Fund, Finds $56 Million In Cost Savings With New Technology

By EDF Blogs / Published: December 7, 2011

 This commentary was originally posted on the EDF Business Blog by Rory Christian, Director, Energy Department, New York City Housing Authority.

Though the first official day of winter isn’t until December 22, New York City is already well into heating season. And with over 178,000 apartments to keep warm, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) knows all too well that cranking up the heat means drastic spikes in energy bills. However, that is not the case for one of our Bronx developments.

This year NYCHA installed a new technology known as Wireless Energy Modules in the 14 buildings that make up Castle Hill Houses. This technology allows NYCHA to provide consistent, comfortable temperatures to our residents in the 2,023 Castle Hill apartments throughout the year, while actually saving money and energy. NYCHA worked with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) on this effort. EDF is a national organization widely recognized for innovative solutions to tough problems, such as increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions.

With the help of EDF Climate Corps, NYCHA analyzed the potential of installing Wireless Energy Modules across our entire portfolio. We found that NYCHA could save $31 million in annual heating costs and up to $25 million in annual electric costs and avoid 177,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. Check out this two-minute video about the project and its savings potential.

What is even more exciting than the impressive savings opportunities is the power of scale the technology offers. The benefits of Wireless Energy Modules aren’t unique to NYCHA and can be realized by public housing authorities and private landlords across the nation. The ability to measure temperature at the apartment level and to heat buildings more consistently provides immense savings potential, as well as greater comfort for residents. 

At NYCHA we are eager to share what we’ve learned with our contacts across the country. This includes national and regional public housing authority associations, as well as our network of private landlords in our Section 8 program.  And you can help spread the word too. Please share the video  with public and private landlords who are interested in cutting their energy costs, avoiding CO2 emissions and keeping their residents comfortable during heating season.

If NYCHA can save $56 million and avoid tons of emissions each year  in New York City alone,  just think of the savings that would result from a national commitment from housing authorities and private landlords to improve energy efficiency.  Now that’s a New Year’s resolution worth making, and keeping!

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Tagged | Read 3 Responses

Freight Sustainability Future Depends On Strong EPA SmartWay Program

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 22, 2011

This commentary was originally posted on the EDF Business Blog by Jason Mathers, EDF’s Corporate Partnerships Project Manager.

Source: EPA SmartWay

On the train back north from the U. S. Freight Sustainability Summit this past Friday, two thoughts kept circling around in my mind:

  • First, the U. S. EPA SmartWay program has created a powerful coalition working on freight sustainability, and its efforts have produced significant benefits for the environment, economy and energy security.
  • Second, the gulf in scale of action between where we are today and where we need to be is enormous.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) co-hosted the freight summit.

Since its inception, EPA SmartWay has injected $6.1 billion dollars into the U. S. economy by reducing fuel consumption from the nation’s freight system– producing a heck of a return for the small investment that taxpayers have made into this program.  In the process, it has cut over 16 million metric tons of carbon pollution.  It’s a great start.

However, 16 million metric tons is a small percentage of the overall emissions attributed to the freight sector – over half-a-billion metric tons a year in the U. S. alone. And, as we heard again and again at the Freight Sustainability Summit, demand for goods movement is expected to grow significantly over the coming years.   So, we simply need to do more.

There were many reasons for optimism at the summit. Top among these is the collective focus of industry, advocacy groups and government agencies on working collaboratively to further this effort. There is universal recognition that we must radically increase the efficiency of freight movement in order to meet the challenge of increasing levels of freight demand while still facing a tighter fuel market, an aging and overextend infrastructure and an environmental mandate to cut carbon.

We also heard scores of success stories from some of the largest and most sophisticated companies in the world. Lowes has reduced a million tons of carbon already from its fleet. Conway told the group how it cut fuel consumption by six million gallons simply by reducing the top speed for its trucks (now 62mph for less-than-truck load and 65mph for truckload applications). Swift shared some impressive results from its pilot of a new aerodynamic fairing that is bolted on underneath a trailer. Michelin told us about real-world studies demonstrating a 9% improvement in fuel economy for tractor-trailer combinations that use new generation wide base tires. My personal favorite was from Home Depot, which was able to cut its domestic supply chain freight emission by 13% in one year – largely from operational improvements.

It’s not just the Fortune 500 group of companies that are acting. Smaller companies shared their stories too. Vic LaRosa, the president of Total Transportation Services, spoke about how his company is helping reduce air pollution around some of the nation’s busiest ports by leveraging alternative fuels and advance vehicle technologies. Several speakers mentioned how small firms and owner-operators will benefit from increases in truck fuel efficiency.

These stories and other sparked by the leadership of the EPA SmartWay program make very good business sense too.  Walmart alone has cut its fuel costs by half-a-billion dollars a year since 2005 from improved logistics.

Clearly, progress is being made and more – much more – is possible.

Consider for a second that—based on the SmartWay data points of $6.1 billion saved and 16 million metric tons carbon reduced – the average cost of a ton of carbon reduced under this program is negative $381. That is every ton reduced was accompanied by a nearly $400 dollar savings for the company. We’re not dealing with the low-hanging fruit of cutting freight emissions.  We are largely dealing with the apples already on the ground.

Given these massive cost savings still available and the fact that the best science tells us that we need to cut our emissions on the order of 80% over the next 40 years, it is imperative to move freight sustainability well beyond 16 million metric tons that the program has achieved over seven years in fact, we need five to six times these reductions each year going forward.

How do we do this?

First and foremost, we need the EPA SmartWay to remain a strong program. Given its track record of financial returns for society and the urgency of the freight sustainability challenges we face, the program, frankly, should be greatly expanded. SmartWay provides incredibly useful forums for sharing lessons learned. This new generation of tools are performance-based; they enable shippers to track and manage their emissions footprint, while giving carriers a platform where they can compete on environmental performance. Companies that use the services of this vital program should make sure policymakers understand the value it provides.

Next, shippers – the companies that consumer goods movement services – need to step up to the plate and join the program in much larger numbers. As they are the primary customers in the freight economy, shippers play a critical role in rewarding superior environmental performance of carriers. If your company purchases goods movement services and you are not sure if it is a member of SmartWay, you can check here.  If it turns out that your company has been on the sidelines of this effort, you can  join SmartWay here.

We all need to redouble effort to share lessons learned. As Randy Mullet if Conway noted, like safety and security, companies should freely share their advancements on sustainability. The journey is too long and the challenge too steep for all of us to have to figure out the answers individually

Finally, the freight community needs to aim higher.  Significant progress has been made over the last seven years of the SmartWay program. The buy-in from diverse stakeholders, case studies from partners and new generation of tools has created a foundation upon which we all need to build a new freight future; one that measures success against an ever larger scale.

Posted in Washington, DC / Comments are closed

Cooling From The Outside In: AT&T And EDF Climate Corps Uncover Energy Savings Of Up To 50 Percent

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 19, 2011

By Mike McCarthy, 2011 EDF Climate Corps fellow at AT&T, MBA Candidate at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and John Schinter, Executive Director of Energy at AT&T.  This commentary was originally posted on the EDF Business Blog. 

I’ve always been interested in how energy efficiency projects can reduce operational costs and environmental impact. Not only are they a win-win for sustainability but I’d also like to focus my career on them when I graduate from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business next year. I was excited to learn that my EDF Climate Corps fellowship would be working with AT&T’s Corporate Real Estate (CRE) division this summer. I knew that AT&T was working aggressively to increase energy efficiency and had a goal for 2011 to reduce company electricity consumption relative to network data growth by 17 percent over 2010. I also knew that AT&T’s 2010 EDF Climate Corps fellow helped the company identify opportunities to cut lighting energy use by 80% at its 250 largest central offices, a project that is currently underway in many of these locations. I looked forward to contributing to AT&T’s progress on energy efficiency. My project to evaluate the energy savings from optimizing the use of free-air cooling—as opposed to mechanical cooling systems—uncovered real and scalable results. Recently I sat down with my boss for the summer, John Schinter, AT&T executive director of energy, to chat about our key findings.

John: Mike, with your help, we accomplished a lot in the past three months of your EDF Climate Corps fellowship. The hard work certainly has paid off. What energy efficiency opportunities did you discover this summer?

Mike: It turns out that about a quarter of AT&T’s largest heat producing buildings are located in cool climates. Furthermore, their utility bills show a historic pattern that suggests that they can use more outside air for cooling instead of using air cooled by energy-consuming chiller units. It was an important first step to identify 250 buildings that could benefit from optimizing economizer mode, or free-air cooling.

John: Participant buy-in is fundamental to any successful program. Talk a little about how you helped ensure that the property managers were involved.

Mike: You’re right. Buy-in is critical here. Early in the process, we sent a quick email survey out to the property managers of all the buildings to determine how well they thought they were using free-air cooling. It was important to show that we were working with the property managers to secure funding for their buildings. These managers execute the day-to-day components of energy management so it was important to hear their voices from the outset of the project. It was amazing to watch as the responses came in. The property managers and building engineers have a lot of great ideas for energy savings projects. We just needed to help them build the business case for these investments.

John: The surveys made me confident that our data analysis technique was on to something big. Describe what you found.

Mike: Based on the responses to the surveys, AT&T could reduce its carbon footprint by over 50,000 metric tons of CO2/year by using this technology. That is equivalent to almost 9,000 cars removed from the road each year, according to the EPA greenhouse gas equivalencies calculator.

John: That’s great that the project uncovered a tangible way to help minimize environmental impact. But you also thought about the financial implications to AT&T. What were the highlights?

Mike: Yes. Looking at our database of existing energy audits to estimate costs at a high level, we found that on average, the free-air cooling building retrofit projects pay back in around two years. We’ve identified real potential savings in reducing the electricity used for cooling our buildings.

John: Your plan to identify energy savings projects in AT&T’s buildings using trends in utility bills and weather data really worked. In ten weeks, you helped us accomplish what would have taken years using site visits and third party energy audits. From an outside perspective, what do you think were the keys to success?

Mike: Sometimes making a breakthrough in energy efficiency requires a creative approach that combines thinking from several disciplines. We couldn’t have gotten to these results without using Six Sigma data analysis, statistics, geography, and engineering.

John: So the project found economic and environmental benefits of optimizing AT&T’s use of free-air cooling. What’s your recommendation on the future of free-air cooling at AT&T?

Mike: I designed the project with an ongoing monitoring mechanism that will be extremely useful to AT&T down the road. We can use the method of analyzing utility bill trends in the future to “flag” buildings in the system that could benefit from an upgrade. Because this project is scalable, the business case is that much stronger.

See a video case study on this free air-cooling project here and check out the video case study on AT&T’s lighting project mentioned above here.

EDF Climate Corps places specially-trained MBA and MPA students in companies, cities and universities to develop practical, actionable energy efficiency plans. Sign up to receive emails about EDF Climate Corps, including regular blog posts by our fellows. You can also visit our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter to get regular updates about this project.

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Read 1 Response

Just What The Doctor Ordered: Prescription For Green Savings

By EDF Blogs / Published: September 2, 2011

By: Martin Hill, 2011 Climate Corps Public Sector Fellow at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia; MPA Candidate 2012 at Clark Atlanta University

Morehouse School Of Medicine (MSM) continues to strive to be a world-class leader amongst medical institutions regarding “energy efficiency”. It is a small tucked-away medical institution in Atlanta, Georgia that serves the community in many capacities.  MSM continues to strive for a healthier world whether it is through personal care or environmental health.

MSM is no stranger to energy efficiency; Director of Facilities, Mr. Alonzo Jones, conducted an Energy and Water Conservation Audit identifying key energy saving projects to implement once funding becomes available. The Doctor’s prescription, if implemented, will save energy and money as well as reduce the institution’s carbon footprint by improving air quality through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Everyone on the facilities staff has been a doctor in their own way, which is evident in their high level of dedication displayed regarding energy efficiency projects from plumbing to the Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) system here at MSM. Furthermore, as I worked tirelessly with the Facilities Management Team, we discovered a cure to off-setting a few capital projects with rebates offered via Georgia Power, including incentives for lighting upgrades and energy efficient HVAC systems.

Morehouse School of Medicine has demonstrated the institution’s strong commitment to energy efficiency and serves as an example of environmental stewardship among other institutions in the medical field.

EDF Climate Corps Public Sector (CCPS) trains graduate students to identify energy efficiency savings in colleges, universities, local governments and houses of worship. The program focuses on partnerships with minority serving institutions and diverse communities. Apply as a CCPS fellow, read our blog posts and follow us on Twitter to get regular updates about this program.

Posted in EDF Climate Corps / Comments are closed