Environmental Defense Fund energy management initiative gets push from the industry

Environmental Defense Fund energy management

Private sector leaders like Apple, Facebook, General Motors and Verizon joined public sector firms like the U.S. Army, Chicago Public Schools and the cities of Boston and Austin to tap the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps energy management initiative.

EDF Climate Corps has helped advance energy management at 106 organizations across the nation this summer using cutting-edge energy strategies. This year, EDF Climate Corps has found nearly $1.3 billion in energy savings for participating organizations.

EDF Climate Corps aims to train and match top-tier graduate students with leading organizations to deliver energy savings and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The growing awareness on energy management in organizations shows that an increasing number of organizations are looking to stay ahead of the pack by pursuing strategies for long-term financial and environmental sustainability.

“When we started this program six years ago, no one could have predicted the magnitude of its impact,” said Victoria Mills, managing director for EDF Climate Corps. “Today, we’re catalyzing an industry transformation where smart energy management is a strategic business imperative.”

Environmental Defense Fund energy management

Data management is a growth area for EDF Climate Corps, as organizations struggle to make sense of the massive amounts of data collected by new technologies. More than 60 percent of this year’s participants report to have tasked EDF Climate Corps fellows with complex data analysis to identify energy-saving solutions.

“Our EDF Climate Corps fellow’s data analysis will provide value for years to come,” said Tom Blue, energy manager at Fort Bragg Army base. “The fellow’s work on this complex task will significantly contribute to future energy management decisions at Fort Bragg.”

EDF Climate Corps fellows focused on crafting financing solutions – like green revolving loan funds – to enable increasing investment in energy projects over time.

The EDF Climate Corps fellow’s work helped the City of Boston evaluate new ways to fund energy efficiency – ways in which it can build higher levels of efficiency into its capital construction projects.

The EDF Climate Corps fellow at Darden Restaurants worked on prioritizing investments to help the company meet its energy reduction goal. Their fellow was able to identify two most effective and valuable technologies that could reduce their energy use and save almost $20 million.

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