Energy Exchange

EDF Energy Efficiency Initiative Goes International with Investor Confidence Project Europe

By EDF Blogs / Published: November 5, 2014

By Panama Bartholomy, Director, ICP Europe, with contributions from Steven Fawkes, Senior Advisor, ICP Europe

EDF’s Andy Darrell, Chief of Strategy, US Climate and Energy and New York Regional Director, at the ICP Europe launch in Brussels

Environmental Defence Fund’s signature energy efficiency initiative has gone international. EDF Europe/UK today rolled out the Investor Confidence Project Europe (ICP Europe), aimed at boosting private sector investment in European energy efficiency renovation projects in the building sector.

As Director of ICP Europe, I was thrilled to introduce the initiative with leaders from the financial, engineering, and government communities at an event in Brussels during a week when two of Europe’s largest energy efficiency events are being held: Renovate Europe Day and Building Performance Institute of Europe ‘s Efficiency Investors Day.

The potential for renovating existing buildings in Europe to reduce the impacts of climate change, generate financial savings, and create jobs is considerable – and largely untapped. Estimates say that large-scale energy efficiency efforts in Europe could reduce carbon emissions by 932 million metric tons, equivalent to taking nearly 200 million cars off the road, and create more than 1 million new jobs in the building industry by 2050. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing / Tagged Europe; UK | Comments are closed

Investor Confidence Project Releases “Soup-To-Nuts” Guide for Energy Efficiency Project Development

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 23, 2014

By: Tracy Phillips, ICP Technical Lead

There is a simple question that haunts building owners, energy services companies, and even utilities who invest in energy efficiency: “How do I know if I will really see the savings?”

To answer this question, EDF’s energy efficiency initiative, the Investor Confidence Project (ICP), is implementing a system that creates confidence in energy savings and cash flows.

Today, ICP is pleased to launch a new component of this initiative: the Project Development Specification. This product launch, along with the recently unveiled Software Provider Credential, is part of a larger effort by ICP to accelerate the development of a global energy efficiency market by standardizing how Investor Ready Energy Efficiency™ (IREE) projects are developed and verified leading to increased investor confidence in savings. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing / Comments are closed

Investor Confidence Project Releases Software Provider Credential To Boost Energy Efficiency Market

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 9, 2014

By: Jeff Milum, ICP Director of Marketplace Development

In virtually all established markets, from car loans to timeshares, standardization and automation has helped to accelerate underwriting, reduce long-term liability, and spur investment. The potential energy efficiency market is estimated at $1 trillion, but in order to achieve a fraction of this, the energy efficiency industry will need to leverage standardization and automation in order to scale to this level.

EDF’s signature energy efficiency initiative, the Investor Confidence Project (ICP), is accelerating the development of a global energy efficiency market by standardizing how Investor Ready Energy Efficiency™ projects are developed and energy savings estimates are calculated.

As a part of this effort, ICP is pleased to announce the release of the ICP Software Provider Credential, which will standardize the process of developing and documenting energy efficiency projects. Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency / Comments are closed

Mad Global Props: The International Energy Agency Hearts ICP

By EDF Blogs / Published: October 9, 2014

By: Panama Bartholomy, Director of ICP Europe

The Investor Confidence Project (ICP), was recognized by the International Energy Agency (IEA), a global organization for 29 member countries, in its annual energy efficiency report, released today.

The IEA’s Energy Efficiency Market Report 2014 highlighted ICP as a program that will accelerate the development of a global energy efficiency finance market, saying in its energy efficiency finance chapter that the EDF initiative will “facilitate a global market for financings by institutional investors that look to rely on standardized products.”

For investors, the IEA puts the financial market for energy efficiency in the range of $120bn, with the launch of new products, such as green bonds, corporate green bonds, energy performance contracts, and expanded sources of finance likely to expand that figure. Lending from multilateral development banks and bilateral banks alone amounted to more than $22bn in 2012. Read More »

Also posted in Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing / Comments are closed

Moving On, but Continuing the Work

By Brad Copithorne / Published: August 7, 2014

Source: Chuck Abbe

Four years ago, I joined Environmental Defense Fund to work on climate policy as I believe that the issue is one of the most critical challenges of our era. I felt that my background working on Wall Street could be put to good use in crafting finance policies that help fight climate change. I chose EDF because they are the environmental organization that best understands how to use market mechanisms to deliver environmental solutions.

Tomorrow will be my last day at EDF, but I am not leaving because of any disappointment with the organization or any decline in my commitment on climate issues. At this point in time, new market mechanisms to finance clean energy are in place. The biggest contribution I can make is to switch to the private sector and demonstrate how well these mechanisms can deliver job-creating private investment.

Over the past several years, On-Bill Repayment (“OBR”) and Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs have been developed that are expected to allow for significantly increased investment in energy efficiency and solar generation projects. State of the art PACE programs are up and running in California for commercial and residential properties, and in Connecticut and Ohio for commercial properties. Texas and New Jersey are expected to also launch programs in coming months. Later this year, Hawaii is expected to start the country’s first open-source OBR program that EDF helped design. Read More »

Also posted in California, Clean Energy, Climate, Energy Financing, On-bill repayment, Renewable Energy, Utility Business Models / Tagged Hawaii, PACE | Read 1 Response

Connecticut’s Green Bank Gives Commercial PACE a $24 Million Boost

By Brad Copithorne / Published: May 28, 2014

Last week, Connecticut’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (“CEFIA”), the state’s Green Bank, announced the sale of $24 million in loans for clean energy retrofits of commercial properties. The loans were originated through the state’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, which allows property owners to access 100 percent up-front financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements on their buildings. Repayment is attached to a lien on the property tax bill, making PACE loans very attractive assets for investors.

According to Jessica Bailey, Director of PACE for CEFIA, “Connecticut’s PACE program is able to provide financing for commercial property owners to implement money saving clean energy projects. Without PACE, most of these property owners might not have access to attractive financing and these projects would not be completed.” Read More »

Also posted in Clean Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Financing, On-bill repayment, Renewable Energy / Tagged PACE | Read 1 Response