HVAC Energy Efficiency Retrofits: The Basics

January 13, 2023/1 Comment/in From the Blog /by renew

RENEW Energy partners specializes in helping fund your energy saving retrofits for your commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. There are many different technologies we can install to make your buildings more efficient and reduce your energy bill. One place to deliver significant savings is by heating and cooling your building more efficiently, with energy efficiency retrofits to your Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning “HVAC.”

Last month we discussed the history of HVAC, a story where Willis Carrier’s practical solution to too much humidity in a publishing factory led to the first mass-produced Cooling and Ventilation System. Today, HVAC systems continue to get more efficient, regulating climates throughout modern buildings.

HVAC Retrofits

For energy efficiency retrofits, the first places you need to look are the upgrades that will save you the most money. You should aim for an HVAC system that is at least 80% efficient. If your HVAC is not as efficient, updating your system will reduce your energy bills. When updating your HVAC, you need to think about the following:

Basic Energy Efficiency Retrofits

- Economizers:
  - An economizer is a part of the outdoor system, most often mounted on the roof, of an HVAC system for commercial buildings. The economizer evaluates outside air temperature and even humidity levels. When the exterior air levels are appropriate, it uses the outside air to cool your building. HVAC economizers use logic controllers and sensors to get an accurate read on outside air quality. As the economizer detects the right level of outside air to bring in, it utilizes internal dampers to control the amount of air that gets pulled in, recirculated and exhausted from your building. It saves on energy, helps your A/C last longer, and improves air quality.
- Compressor/Condenser
  - The compressor reduces the volume of gas to add pressure to it. The compressor uses more power than any other component of an air conditioner, cutting down on how much power it uses helps immensely with increasing energy efficiency. Upgraded compressors provide the ability to operate at a lower capacity with controls that include Variable Frequency Drives.
  - An HVAC condenser takes the pressurized gas and turns it into liquid vapor.
  - Condensers and compressors should be upgraded at the same time to create the most efficient system possible.
- Condensate Recovery
  - In a typical commercial air conditioning system, warm, humid air from the building is run over a cold air handler that cools the air. When this is done, condensate water is created and recovered for reuse. A drip pan collects this relatively clean water, and it is discharged to a sewer.
  - With condensate recovery, that water is diverted to the cooling system, helping the system run more efficiently.
- Duct Insulation/Duct Sealing
  - To prevent air leaks, duct sealing is necessary along the entire length of the ductwork system. Air leaks in your ductwork system can account for a significant loss of energy and money, especially larger systems in commercial buildings. The most insulated method of construction continues to be pioneered by the Passive House International construction standard.
- Duct Size Optimization
  - Oversized Ducts: Larger than normal ducts are certainly capable of handling more airflow. But your HVAC system may not be equipped to pump that much air. In fact, your system needs a specific air pressure in the ductwork to properly distribute air. Oversized ducts could cause your HVAC system to work too hard and limit the amount of conditioned air that reaches your home. Forcing your system to work harder than it should leaves it prone to breakdowns and increases your energy usage.
  - Undersized Ducts: If your ducts are too small to accommodate the air flowing through them, the pressure increases and backs up in the system. This causes resistance for the blower fan, reducing your HVAC system’s efficiency and longevity. Over time, this can lead to significant stress on the components and can inevitably lead to a breakdown.
  - Duct Sizing Method: The Manual D Sizing Method is the industry standard that was developed by the Air Conditioning Contractors of America. This method involves evaluating the individual rooms in your home to determine optimal airflow, control excessive noise, seal ductwork, provide insulation, and retrofit the design as needed. This all works to correct pressure imbalances and ensure your system runs as efficiently as possible to supply each room of your home with adequate, conditioned airflow.
- Variable Air Volume (VAV)
  - Variable air volume (VAV) systems enable energy-efficient HVAC system distribution by optimizing the amount and temperature of distributed air. Appropriate operations and maintenance (O&M) of VAV systems is necessary to optimize system performance and achieve high efficiency.

- Heating and Cooling Recovery
  - This is the process of recovering excess thermal energy that would otherwise be emitted, in order to use it as energy and reduce your overall consumption.
  - Thermal energy can be recovered from water, air, or a ground source.
  - This can also fall under the umbrella of CHP (Combined Heat and Power), which could further reduce energy usage.

Chiller Upgrades.

For energy efficiency retrofits, it is important to specifically think about how your building is cooled. Freezer storage alone makes up about one percent of global emissions. Here are a few things to think about:

- - Chillers can be regulated by air or water. Air chillers are less expensive but use more energy.
  - Water chillers must be efficient and up to date to conserve and reuse water, but when maintained, are much more energy efficient.
- Chiller Controls
  - The most efficient ones we can install include Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) that regulate the amount of energy needed throughout the day depending on internal and external temperatures.

- Modular Chillers
  - Modular chillers are ideal because each module can operate independently from each other. If one module fails, the other can continue to run. This is ideal for efficiency and maintenance.

- Heat Recovery Chillers
  - If heating and cooling are needed at once, heat recovery chillers can allow for the heat they emit to be redirected to other energy sources. These chillers don’t always get hot enough for cold climates but are ideal for mixed use spaces.

Conclusion

To summarize, when contemplating energy efficiency retrofits, updating your HVAC systems is a crucial way to decarbonize and save money. Additional savings can be made by implementing water saving retrofits. The most ideal systems interact with each other and redirect excess energy for further use. An energy management system and variable frequency drives can help you control and monitor your HVAC effectively so that it does not have to run at full capacity 24 hours a day. Stay up to date about HVAC energy efficiency retrofits by reading our most recent article on the future of HVAC retrofits. Finally, keep your buildings and pipes well-insulated to prevent energy leakage.

No matter how you decide to increase your energy efficiency and decrease your carbon footprint, these kinds of project require funding. In order to fund an energy efficiency project for your building(s), RENEW Energy Partners offers an energy service agreement (ESA). The Energy Service Agreement:

Is an off-balance sheet transaction. You do not own the asset or carry it on your balance sheet.

RENEW provides preventive and corrective maintenance in the service agreement.

Your payment to RENEW will be based on the energy savings confirmed once the system is operational.

Unlike a lease or a loan, which are on balance sheet, do not include maintenance, and may or may not deliver energy savings, the service agreement provides all of the above and then some:

Executing a service agreement is fast – once the project is scoped by an energy professional (and we can recommend one), you execute a simple service agreement contract and RENEW will fund the project.

Executing a service agreement frees up your capital budget for your other priorities, allowing you to focus on growing your core business.

Executing a service agreement now means your net cash flows are higher than waiting and doing it yourself in a year.

And finally – executing a service agreement means flexibility. Perhaps you buy another building or look at additional efficiency measures–with a one-page addendum to your existing ESA you can have those new lights, HVAC, and controls at your new building, and you simultaneously reduce your operating expense!

The RENEW Energy Service Agreement allows businesses to focus on what they do best, while ensuring that their facilities are performing at their peak with brand new, and high-efficiency equipment. In this current climate of cost control and resource allocation, the energy service agreement is the perfect solution to help businesses meet sustainability goals and keep facilities in top condition. Reach out to RENEW and talk to us about financing your energy saving retrofits today.

A Brief History of HVAC: An Important Energy Saving Retrofit

December 9, 2022/in From the Blog /by renew

RENEW Energy partners specializes in helping fund your energy saving retrofits for your commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. There are many different technologies we can install to make your buildings more efficient and reduce your energy bill. One place to deliver significant savings is by heating and cooling your building more efficiently, with upgrades to your Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning “HVAC”.

A Brief History of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning):

In terms of heating, Benjamin Franklin invented the cast iron Franklin stove in 1742, which was a predecessor of the furnace. Until 1885, most homes were heated by wood-burning fireplaces, but a riveted-steel coal furnace transported heat by natural convection via ducts from the basement furnace to upper rooms. Cast iron radiators were invented around the same time and enabled homeowners to heat their homes with a coal-fired boiler that could deliver hot water or steam heat to radiators in every room. In 1935, the first forced-air furnace was introduced and used an electric fan to distribute coal-heated air through the home’s ducts; gas and oil-fired versions followed.

Where cooling is concerned, Willis Carrier is generally credited with the invention of Air Conditioning in 1902, motivated to solve a humidity problem for a Brooklyn publishing company. He designed and patented his “Apparatus for Treating Air” that used cooling coils to either humidify the air by heating water or dehumidify by cooling water using an additionally patented control system. When he realized other businesses could benefit from temperature and humidity regulation he formed his own company, the Carrier Engineering Corporation.

Carrier’s company installed the first well-designed cooling system for theaters in Los Angeles in 1922. Air was pumped through higher vents, which resulted in more equally distributed cooling. On Memorial Day in 1925, Carrier introduced a centrifugal chilling system at New York’s Rivoli Theater: a breakthrough in HVAC inventions. Although it was more reliable and less costly than previous cooling systems, it was still too big and expensive to use wide scale.

Frigidaire and General Electric both appeared on the HVAC scene within a decade of Carrier’s big achievement. In 1929, Frigidaire debuted a split-system room cooler that was shaped like a radio cabinet. Although it was small enough for homes, it was heavy and required its own condenser. A year later, General Electric patented 32 prototypes for improved self-contained room coolers. In 1931, H.H. Schultz and J.Q. Sherman invented the first room air conditioner; it sat on a window ledge, similar to portable units today.

Since 1947, AC units became more compact and cheaper. In that year, 43,000 systems were in use. By the 1960s, most new homes in the United States were built with central air conditioning. By then, electric air conditioner window units were affordable and had come down in price from the early days; a 1938 Chrysler unit cost $416 ($8,730.49 today). By 2009, the Energy Information Administration reported that 87 percent of all American households used AC units.

Today, heating, cooling, and ventilation systems are installed together as HVAC systems that work to distribute regulated temperatures throughout modern buildings. In upcoming blog posts, we will learn more about the future of HVAC and the energy efficiency measures that commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities can make to improve their facilities. Updating your (sometimes historic) HVAC system is a key part of most energy saving retrofits. Our experts at RENEW are in tune with the most innovative HVAC technologies on the market and we can install, run, and maintain these systems in your buildings, lowering your carbon emissions and reducing your energy bills without affecting your bottom line.

No matter how you decide to improve your HVAC system, energy savings retrofits projects require funding. In order to fund an energy efficiency retrofit for your building(s), RENEW Energy Partners offers our own energy service agreement (ESA). The Energy Service Agreement:

Is an off-balance sheet transaction. You do not own the asset or carry it on your balance sheet.
RENEW provides preventive and corrective maintenance in the service agreement
Your payment to RENEW will be based on the energy savings confirmed once the system is operational.

Unlike a lease or a loan, which are on balance sheet, do not include maintenance, and may or may not deliver energy savings, the service agreement provides all of the above and then some:

Executing a service agreement is fast – once the project is scoped by an energy professional (and we can recommend one), you execute a simple service agreement contract and RENEW will fund the project.
Executing a service agreement frees up your capital budget for your other priorities, allowing you to focus on growing your core business.
Executing a service agreement now means your net cash flows are higher than waiting and doing it yourself in a year.
And finally – executing a service agreement means flexibility. Perhaps you buy another building or look at additional efficiency measures–with a one-page addendum to your existing ESA you can have those new lights, HVAC, and controls at your new building, and you simultaneously reduce your operating expense!

The RENEW Energy Service Agreement allows businesses to focus on what they do best, while ensuring that their facilities are performing at their peak with brand new, and high-efficiency equipment. In this current climate of cost control and resource allocation, the energy service agreement is the perfect solution to help businesses meet sustainability goals and keep facilities in top condition. Reach out to RENEW and talk to us about funding your energy saving retrofits today.

Lighting: The Easiest Energy Saving Retrofit

November 4, 2022/in From the Blog /by renew

RENEW Energy partners specializes in helping fund your energy saving retrofits for your commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. There are many different technologies we install to make your buildings more efficient and reduce your energy bill. One of the best places to start is with an energy saving LED lighting retrofit.

A Brief History of Lighting:

Illumination has come along was since 1880, when the Edison Electric Company started marketing their newest product, a lightbulb with a carbonized bamboo filament. Eventually, the bamboo filaments changed to tungsten, and after a while the first incandescent bulbs were invented, which began to be distributed in the 1940s.

Modern incandescent bulbs, like their predecessors, are not energy efficient – less than 10% of electrical power supplied to the bulb is converted into visible light. The remaining energy is lost as heat. These low-efficiency incandescent bulbs are still commonly used today because they are widely available, have a low first cost, are easily incorporated into electrical systems, and have a low voltage operation in battery powered devices.

These incandescent bulbs could easily be the ones lighting your buildings. If that is the case, 90% of your lighting bill is being wasted! The good news is, a lighting retrofit is one of simplest ways to increase your energy efficiency, save money on your energy bills, and lower your carbon footprint. RENEW Energy Partners is here to provide the funding you need to do so.

The Future of Energy Saving Lighting:

A great energy savings retrofit starts with lighting. The best way to reduce your lighting costs is to switch to LED lighting (LED stands for light-emitting diode). Although once known mainly for indicator and traffic lights, LEDs are today’s most energy-efficient and rapidly developing lighting technology. LEDs use up to 90% less energy and last up to 25 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.

LED lights are such a great energy saving retrofit that most if not all new buildings use LED lights. However, 1,000’s of buildings have yet to convert. Energy-saving LED retrofitting is great because they have great payback (usually less than a few years), are now a proven technology with little performance risk, and they offer significant maintenance savings since they last 50 to 100 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

If you are exploring an energy savings retrofits start by looking up, if you don’t see LED lights than that is where you should start.

Once you have installed new bulbs, the next step to make your building more energy efficient is to install lighting controls. The technology varies, but these are effectively a dimmer switch. Instead of only two options for lighting (on and off), building operators can have lights running anywhere on the gradient between 1%-100% use). This allows for more efficient lighting settings, in addition to more efficient bulbs. In fact, using dimmable LED lights doubles the life of your bulb, saving on energy costs even further.

Another way to enhance your energy saving retrofit is to install motion sensors. Motion sensors allow your lighting to turn on when they detect movement and to turn off if they have not detected movement for a while. This helps save energy by automatically shutting of lights in empty rooms. The same effect is achieved with lighting timers if your building runs on a regular schedule.

Dimmers, motion sensors, and lighting timers are controlled using a smart lighting system. When these are incorporated into your building management system, they allow you to control the lighting for your entire building on one screen. In addition, some smart lighting systems have analytics tools so you can monitor your energy use in real time and compare it to your past energy use.

Implement Energy Saving Lighting with an Energy Service Agreement

No matter how you decide to increase your energy efficiency and decrease your carbon footprint, these kinds of project require funding. In order to fund an energy efficiency project for your building(s), RENEW Energy Partners offers an energy service agreement (ESA). The Energy Service Agreement:

Is an off-balance sheet transaction. You do not own the asset or carry it on your balance sheet.
RENEW provides preventive and corrective maintenance in the service agreement
Your payment to RENEW will be based on the energy savings confirmed once the system is operational.

Unlike a lease or a loan, which are on balance sheet, do not include maintenance, and may or may not deliver energy savings, the service agreement provides all of the above and then some:

Executing a service agreement is fast – once the project is scoped by an energy professional (and we can recommend one), you execute a simple service agreement contract and RENEW will fund the project.
Executing a service agreement frees up your capital budget for your other priorities, allowing you to focus on growing your core business.
Executing a service agreement now means your net cash flows are higher than waiting and doing it yourself in a year.
And finally – executing a service agreement means flexibility. Perhaps you buy another building or look at additional efficiency measures–with a one-page addendum to your existing ESA you can have those new lights, HVAC, and controls at your new building, and you simultaneously reduce your operating expense!

21 Ways to Save: Energy, Carbon, and Operating Expenses

December 14, 2020/in From the Blog /by renew

Saving energy, carbon, and operating expenses takes multiple solutions.

RENEW Energy Partners specializes in funding energy saving retrofits for your commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. A Master Service Agreement is the key to lowering energy, carbon and operating expenses as it allows us to provide and support various technologies to make your buildings more efficient and cut down on your energy costs.

The Low Hanging Fruit For Energy Savings

LED Lighting – Light-emitting diode (LED) is a type of lighting that consumes less energy and is longer-lasting than older options. The bulbs can be used in many different lighting types and are a great way to increase your energy efficiency. Lighting projects can save significant amounts of energy and are a great investment. (LED Lighting)
Lighting Controls – These systems switch your lighting fixtures on and off when in use or not in use, and by keeping the lights off when nobody is in a space, they help decrease energy usage. The different types of lighting controls are dimmers; motion, occupancy, and photosensors; and timers. LED technology has reduced the amount of energy that lights use to a point where controls are the next gateway to energy savings. Some states now require controls to be a part of the lighting retrofit to receive incentives. (Lighting Controls)
Variable Frequency Drives – Electric motors were initially designed to be binary, either on or off. Variable Frequency Drives or adjustable speed drives allows the motor speed to match demand. The motor is then able to operate much more efficiently. (Variable Frequency Drives)
Water Conservation – RENEW can fund projects as unique as hundreds of low flow toilets or the Internet of Things (IOT) water conservation programs. RENEW’s service agreement can also fund water-saving irrigation and management strategies.
Demand Response – Energy Demand Charges (which are part of each bill and often are linked to the building’s demand on the grid at the peak use periods of the year) can make up 50% of a building’s energy bill. RENEW partners with the leading demand response providers to integrate active and passive demand response programs into all of our projects when applicable. (Demand Response)
Retro-commissioning – Retro-commissioning Involves analyzing preexisting energy infrastructure and providing suggestions and alternative equipment to update it and increase its efficiency. (Retro-Commissioning: Significant Savings at Minimal Cost)

Large Scale Energy and Operating Solutions: Bringing the Power: Distributed Energy Resources

Microgrids – Microgrids provide sustainable and resilient energy. The traditional electric grid brings energy to buildings from a single power source. By contrast, a microgrid is a small energy production and distribution system for a discrete set of buildings. Microgrids are usually designed to be connected to the grid and can become independent of it to function on their own. In this way, a microgrid provides full energy independence and resilience when the grid becomes damaged. RENEW’s Microgrids are designed to meet each site or campus energy requirements with lower carbon emissions than the grid and have included cogeneration (combined heat and power), generators, batteries, and/or renewable energy. (How Microgrids Work)
Solar Photovoltaic – Solar PV or solar energy is a great solution to capture the sun’s energy and power your facility. It is renewable, can power buildings, connect to the grid, and solar modules can be placed practically anywhere with access to sunlight. (Energy 101: Solar PV)
Battery Energy Storage – Battery Energy Storage Systems use thermal, electro-mechanical, or electro-chemical solutions to accumulate energy. These systems are installed in conjunction with on-site power generation such as solar or cogeneration, or as part of a microgrid, to store energy produced in excess of the site’s demand and then use (or “dispatch”) it later to meet some or all of a building’s energy needs. The energy can then be deployed to help lower peak energy use or used for resilience when the main grid goes down. (Battery Energy Storage System)
Thermal Energy Storage (Viking Cold) – Viking Cold’s unique phase change material allows cold storage facility (think refrigerated warehouses) to store energy during low-cost times of the day and then use that stored energy for cooling when costs are high. The system provides better temperature control and lowers peak energy use. (Thermal Energy Storage)
Combined Heat and Power – CHP, cogeneration, or distributed generation generate two or more energy sources from a single source. Cogeneration plants have efficiencies in the 50 to 70 percent range. In layman terms, this typically involves generating electricity and capturing and using the waste product – thermal energy. Until the renewable energy powers the utility grid, these systems reduce a building or campus’s carbon footprint. (Combined Heat and Power Basics)
Fuel Cells – Fuel cells consist of an electrolyte encompassed on either side by a negative and positive electrode. A fuel cell works by using the chemical energy of the fuel it is given to create electricity. It can be used to power a multitude of structures. (Fuel Cells)

Fleet Solutions

ENOW Energy – Has developed the first and only solar and battery-powered refrigerated trailer. With over 40,000 trailers built every year and a separate diesel engine powering each one’s refrigeration units, the ENOW solution provides significant carbon and fuel savings. (ENOW Energy)

Deep Energy Efficiency and Industry Solutions

Daylighting – (Daylighting)
Building Management Systems –(Building Management System)
High-efficiency Air compressors – (Air Compressors)
High Efficiency Boilers and boiler plants –(Furnaces and Boilers)
Steam Trap Upgrades –. (Steam Trap)
High-efficiency electric motors – (Electric Motor)
Vending Misers (Energy Miser)
Submetering (Better Buildings Submetering)

Renew Energy Partners provides turnkey solutions for funding, installing, and managing energy efficiency and on-site clean power generation projects. We help building owners reduce their energy usage, carbon footprint, and operating expenses while making their buildings cleaner, nicer, and more resilient. With RENEW’s energy-as-a-service model, energy saving retrofits and power upgrades are funded by future savings and are at no cost to the building owner. For more information on our services, contact us today.

Sustainability After COVID

June 22, 2020/in From the Blog /by competenow

Rebuilding Better – Sustainability after COVID

Summary:

COVID-19 has transformed life around the world. Stay-at-home orders have thankfully slowed the spread of the virus, but as a result, the global economy is in disarray. The COVID-Recession will present significant and, indeed, heartbreaking economic challenges. As of June 1, 2020, one in four American workers have filed for unemployment. At the same time, the climate crisis will not wait—it is real and immediate. Is it possible that we can recommit to our climate goals in a way that addresses this economic emergency and vice versa? Meredith Fowlie of the Energy Institute at Hass (UC Berkeley) has suggested that “[w]e have a moral imperative to rebuild in a way that addresses systemic inequities that the pandemic has laid bare” even as we tackle the existential climate crisis. While addressing economic recovery, social justice and climate change mitigation is a very tall order, Fowlie argues that energy efficiency projects rise to the top of the kinds of investments that can address these three challenges simultaneously. This paper reviews strategies business leaders can use to capitalize on this transformative era and leverage new business models to meet climate goals, bring employees back, help rebuild a greater economy and better prepare for the future.

Background:

By May of 2020, the pandemic’s economic pause resulted in cleaner air and clearer water, but the long-term economic response to COVID-19 could push emissions in the wrong direction. Stay-at-home orders have produced significant improvements to the environment. The question is whether these changes will be short-lived or whether organizations take this opportunity to shape their corporate goals to include more aggressive climate action.

Whether sustainability has been just one item on your strategic plan or the core of your organization’s ethos, now more than ever energy efficiency and clean generation projects are smart business decisions. Regardless of where your organization stands on the issue, moving forward with efficiency projects are an attractive choice as they reduce operational expenses and mitigate risk– benefitting organizations on multiple fronts. As the global economy reopens, firms that implement energy efficiency projects can free up working capital to rehire employees and get back to full speed more quickly. Furthermore, acting on these projects now can make your organization part of the solution to the climate crisis

There is mounting evidence that our society is running out of time to lower emissions and curb climate disasters. According to the United Nations Fourth Assessment on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC report, we have ten years to limit carbon emissions to keep global warming below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels or we risk severe impacts of climate change on society. Achieving this goal requires a 60% reduction of emissions from 2018 levels. We need solutions now. The time to consider when to act has passed; it is time to make significant changes to how buildings operate, how we harvest our energy savings, how we create value for organizations and, most importantly, how we deliver carbon savings.

Strategies to help your businesses expand and achieve climate goals and accelerate job creation and hiring in a post-COVID-19 world include:

Update and renew your sustainability commitments
New capital and budgeting strategies

Sustainability Commitments:

In the decade following the great recession, sustainability rose in importance to the American consumer and the investment community. Organizations noticed and acted; according to the Governance & Accountability Institute, in 2011, only 20% of the S&P 500 reported on sustainability; in 2019, 86% reported on such metrics. In the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, sustainability and climate goals may take a back seat, but as long-term recovery commences, sustainability goals cannot be forgotten. The planet does not have another decade to waste if we want to avoid significant damage from climate change. COVID-19 has proven that listening to the scientific community and responding to such invisible threats with seriousness and speed are the only ways to avoid catastrophe. Furthermore, as time goes by, consumers and the public may not accept delay in achieving corporate goals that were set before the pandemic.

So-the time is right to understand sustainability goals and to recommit to them or even increase them in the post-COVID world.

To understand these goals, it is important to understand that the climate science community has divided emissions into three categories (“Scopes”) and that sustainability goals are understood to be more aggressive and more serious as the move from Scope 1 to Scope 3.

Scope 1: All Direct Emissions from activities under an organization owned or controlled sources.

Scope 2: Indirect Emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating, and cooling consumed by the company.

Scope 3: All other Indirect Emissions from activities that the organization neither controls nor owns.

Substantial gains not thought possible in the pre-COVID-19 world are now on the table because of the transformation wrought by stay-at-home orders. In the post COVID economy, organizations may be expected to expand their ambitions to include all three scopes. Furthermore, the adaptations required by stay-at-home orders have identified new tactics for reducing emissions for each Scope. Specifically, such changes might include:

Scope 1: Reevaluate physical office space needs. A telecommuting workforce would reduce the amount of office space needed.

Scope 2: Less office space reduces the indirect emissions from these sites. The remaining assets should be improved to use the least amount of energy possible.

Scope 3: Telecommuting will provide significant reductions in employee commuting and leased office space requirements. Teleworking will also significantly reduce business travel.

From WRI/WBCSD Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard, page 5.

Capital and Budgeting Strategy:

Any organization re-evaluating its sustainability goals must also think about capital budgeting strategies and limitations.

Increasing energy efficiency and reducing emissions inevitable includes capital expenditures. Executives make the best decisions they can based on the organization’s value system. It is common for a healthcare executive to ask, “Why should I invest my million dollars in sustainable lighting/solar/HVAC/etc. when I can purchase a new MRI machine for the same amount, which I know will be a better investment for our property?”

Whether it is an MRI machine, a freezer, or a new manufacturing line, the capital budget for any organization will always include line items that will have a better return on investments, better understood by management and have a more direct relationship with revenue than an energy project. This does not make cleantech a bad investment, but since the value may not translate directly to an organization’s short-term goals, the following alternatives may be more attractive.

Alternative #1: Traditional Financing

Energy efficiency projects have a payback calculation that is easy to grasp. Total energy savings per year (for instance, $50,000) divided by total capital cost (let us say $150,000) equals years to return on capital (in this case, 3 years). Many companies use this simple formula and create a finance package that delivers them an immediate operational expense reduction ($150,000 financed for 6 years, for example). Traditional commercial financing often requires a down payment, which could prevent the project from being cash flow positive Traditional financing is a simple alternative to capital budgeting; however, debt financing secures or looks for a guarantee on the capital the lender provides. If the energy savings estimates do not materialize as projected, the project can increase operational expenses; additionally, debt is subject to the balance sheet and can affect important lending ratios that could limit additional debt in the future.

Alternative #2: CPACE

A new lending mechanism that looks to solve the issue of debt on the balance sheet is Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or CPACE, a lending solution that ties the capital investment to the property and not to the owner of the property. The property then makes payments to their lender through property tax payments. CPACE provides off-balance sheet treatment because it is made directly to the local municipality. CPACE allows property owners to invest in their facilities without the worry of moving in 5, 10, or even 15 years. The assessment will stay with the property and not with the owner of the facility.

From <https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/financing-navigator/option/cpace>

Typically, each municipality must approve CPACE, and each state must pass legislation to allow Municipalities to do so. As of 2020, CPACE has been approved in over 20 states, adoption is growing every year, so jurisdictional limitations should become less of an issue over time.

Besides jurisdictional limits, the other main issue with CPACE has been the primary lien position requirement. Properties looking to use CPACE that have mortgages must have a lender willing to relinquish the prime position on the mortgage. CPACE requires a primary position on the property; however, one workaround is to use the same lending institution that owns the mortgage to back the CPACE agreement. In a world of mortgage-backed securities, finding mortgage holders can prove difficult, and receiving approval to accept a second position may just be as difficult.

Alternative #3: Energy Service Agreements

The latest evolution in funding mechanisms is the Energy Service Agreement or Energy As A Service, which solves the issues of debt and performance risk. It has no jurisdictional limits, nor does it take a position on the property. RENEW Energy Partners Energy Service Agreement helps building owners reduce their carbon footprint and save money by making commercial and industrial buildings cleaner, more energy-efficient, and more resilient. RENEW Energy Partners finances, installs, and manages systems for energy-efficiency and on-site power generation at no cost to the building owner.

The upgrades are funded by future savings. RENEW Energy Partners provides the upfront capital and expertise to purchase, install, and maintain new systems under an Energy Service Agreement. Monthly, for the duration of the agreement (typically 5 to 10 years), a portion of the savings is paid to RENEW Energy Partners, and a portion goes to the building owner. After the term of the agreement, 100% of the savings go to the building owner, and the new system becomes their property.

From <https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/financing-navigator/option/efficiency-a-service>

The RENEW Energy Service agreement is particularly beneficial for owners of multiple properties. In the Energy Service Agreement, the property owner can have work completed across the United States and only pay for savings as they are measured and verified. This off-balance sheet solution allows capital projects to get done sooner and no longer compete with other business projects that can only be purchased directly.

Conclusion

Government, Institutions, and Businesses must rebuild better. If COVID has shown society nothing else, trusting science can lead to favorable results, and society can handle extreme changes to daily life. While Governments and Institutions are implementing plans for reopening, Businesses must meet this opportunity as well.

Pre-COVID RENEW Energy Partners was proud that all team members took public transportation to our main office. Proud that we traveled almost exclusively by train for our interstate travel. Proud of the work we do every day in delivering carbon savings as a service. A new normal at RENEW will mean more telecommuting, virtual meetings, and even virtual energy audits. As a service company, our scope one emissions have always been low, and we are now able to reduce them further and reduce our scope three emissions significantly.

A new normal is more than a digital transformation. From companies large to small, it is an opportunity to test novel business strategies and meet new and unexpected customer needs. RENEW Energy Partners looks forward to seeing these ideas, companies, and products created to meet this moment. RENEW looks ahead to a more sustainable future.

Voices from an Intern: My Introduction to the World of Energy Efficiency

May 6, 2019/in From the Blog /by competenow

The energy sector can feel like an intimidating space to enter as a young professional. Complex technologies and confusing metrics often scare away skeptical college grads. However, my experience has taught me that with a curiosity for learning and a passion for the environment, the energy sector offers incredible opportunities to jumpstart a career. Before my internship with RENEW, energy efficiency was a foreign industry to me. It was my interest in real estate and green technology that introduced me to the world of retrofits and efficiency upgrades. The concept of transforming the buildings in which we live, work, play and create into modern and efficient spaces immediately captured me. Additionally, the RENEW team and approach align with my core values. Employees come to work every day eager to do their part in making the world a better place and leaving it cleaner than they found it, and that is the kind of team I am proud to be a part of.

Having the opportunity to work with the RENEW team provided me an incredible introduction to the energy efficiency industry. As an intern, analyzing energy policy and trends elucidated that the company is situated in an incredible place in the market. As more and more building owners, companies, cities, and states commit to energy savings and reducing their carbon footprint, deep energy retrofits prove to be a prime target to reduce energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Deep energy retrofits have the ability to bring outdated, inefficient buildings toward the goal of carbon neutrality. This is a win-win for building owners because they realize enormous energy savings, improve conditions for tenants, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. I believe that more and more young, talented candidates will be drawn to the energy efficiency industry because there is immense opportunity for career growth and it enables young people passionate about our impact on the environment to take responsibility in reshaping our future.

Additionally, RENEW’s approach makes energy solutions accessible for all. With no upfront capital spend, a turn-key, low risk approach, and an experienced team and network, it seems crazy for building owners to not get on board. Whether their priority is energy savings or reducing their carbon footprint, delaying energy retrofits is only setting building owners back. As buildings and their equipment deteriorate, these upgrades are inevitable. Therefore, building owners should act now to realize energy savings and maximize their energy efficiency.

Why work with RENEW? With no upfront capital spend, buildings owners can stop worrying about capital constraints or competing business priorities. One of the key features of RENEW’s solution is that there is no long-term debt added to building owners’ balance sheet. RENEW takes on the risk so that building owners do not have to. RENEW manages and funds 100% of the assessment, design, equipment, installation costs, and ongoing maintenance. Building owners pay RENEW for the energy services they provide that help achieve energy and operating cost savings. It is that easy. It is difficult to fathom why building owners would take on more risk and explore other financing solutions such as bank loans or leasing agreements. Moreover, RENEW’s turnkey process ensures that deep energy retrofits are planned, managed, and executed to maximize energy savings, increase property value, minimize disruption for tenants, adhere to building code, and guarantees energy savings are met as designed. There exists no better low-risk, high-reward energy efficiency solution than working with RENEW.

Nick Katz is scheduled to graduate from Tufts in May, 2019. He is hoping the Tufts lacrosse team on which he plays will compete for the national championship in the meantime.

Electrification of Buildings: Is This the Future?

April 3, 2019/in From the Blog /by competenow

To reach aggressive decarbonization goals at state and municipal levels, fossil fuel combustion must be replaced in part through electrification of buildings. What this means is substituting space and water heating/cooling fossil fuel technologies with electric technologies. The interest in electrification is a trending topic in energy efficiency and decarbonization at the commercial, industrial, and residential levels, and a primary component of the Green New Deal.

The Green New Deal may be a polarizing topic, but the implementation of electrification on a broad scale would have profound effects on energy markets. Electric grids continue to transition to renewables; therefore, as more consumers transition to heating and cooling from the grid, instead of from oil or gas-fired boilers, carbon emissions will fall—and continue to fall as the grid reduces its carbon intensity.

Electrification may provide other benefits to the nation’s energy system, such as “greater flexibility for managing electric loads, opportunities to provide additional ancillary services to the grid, and valuable synergies with electric vehicles, demand response, and distributed generation and energy storage.” With a grid that has more electrified end uses and greater control over those end uses, a utility can exercise greater control over the shape of the load on the grid, balance the grid in real time, and implement more nuanced demand response. Similarly, newly electrified end uses linked to controls and monitoring can be treated as “smart loads” to be used for demand response and shifting, providing more flexibility to a grid that has more renewables and a greater need for flexibility.

The “ultimate barriers” to electrification are not technical, but economic, and this is especially true in existing buildings. While the electrification of end uses such as space and water heating can be relatively cost-effective in new buildings, the up-front capital costs and project complexity can be a barrier to electrification of existing buildings. Fortunately, with programs such as RENEW’s third-party funding Energy Services Agreement, commercial and industrial energy users can become efficient and reach aggressive decarbonization goals regardless of policy. In addition, electrification could generate cost savings, making retrofits for existing buildings an attractive investment. Initial studies suggest there could be energy savings in certain regions and certain projects, such as replacing fuel oil heaters in the Northeast.

[Podcast] Green Beers Episode 1: New Belgium & What is LEED

April 1, 2019/in From the Blog /by competenow

Interested in emerging topics on energy and energy efficiency? Do you like beer? If you answered “yes,” then don’t miss our new podcast series: Green Beers.

Featuring RENEW Energy Partners’ Charlie Lord, Ani Punganur and Mike Savage, Green Beers follows the team’s two passions: sustainability and beer. During each episode, the team reviews a beer selected for its taste and sustainable production methods, then dives into a sustainability topic from local to national policy to clean energy project development and everything in between.

Episode 1: New Belgium Brewing & What is LEED

In this first episode, the team reviews Fat Tire Amber Ale by New Belgium Brewing and discusses Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, the most widely used green building rating system in the world, and its impact on energy usage.

It’s a Loan… It’s a Lease…It’s an Energy Service Agreement!

March 18, 2019/in From the Blog /by competenow

Much like the beloved Superman (ok-we do love our approach), an energy service agreement (ESA) is often misunderstood, yet always there to save you (energy). An ESA is a funding mechanism for your complete energy systems: HVAC, lighting, controls, and onsite clean generation. At first glance, ESA may seem like a loan or a capital lease. It is neither!

Energy Service Agreement:

It is an off-balance sheet transaction. You do not own the asset or carry it on your balance sheet.
Prevents monthly service bills, including preventative routine and emergency maintenance.
It is structured to deliver energy savings. RENEW will estimate energy savings based on an energy audit to show the project’s potential. However, your payment will be based on the energy savings confirmed once the system is operational.

Unlike a lease or a loan, which are on a balance sheet and do not include maintenance, and may not deliver energy savings, the service agreement provides all of the above and then some:

Executing an energy service agreement is fast. Once a professional energy team surveys the project (we can recommend one), you review a simple service agreement contract, and RENEW will fund the project.
Executing a service agreement frees up your capital budget for your other priorities. Allowing you to focus on growing your core business.
Executing a service agreement positively affects your net cash flows.
And finally, executing a service agreement means flexibility. Perhaps you buy another building or look at additional efficiency measures. With a one-page supplement to your existing ESA, you can have those new lights, HVAC, and controls for your new building while reducing your operating expense!

The RENEW’s ESA allows businesses to focus on what they do best while ensuring that their facilities are performing at their peak with brand-new, high-efficiency equipment. In this current climate of cost control and resource allocation, the energy service agreement is the perfect solution to help businesses meet sustainability goals and keep facilities in top condition.

Microgrids Provide Greener, More Reliable & Resilient Power Source

October 10, 2018/in From the Blog /by competenow

With extreme weather events driven by climate change, the electricity grid faces a “triple challenge”—it needs to be greener, more reliable and more resilient. Use of micogrids can be the solution to this challenge.

A microgrid is a small, free-standing combination of power sources, users and the wires to connect them. In the US, microgrids are typically embedded within the larger grid. At their simplest, microgrids provide a source of power to users if the grid goes down. In that context, a microgrid can separate itself from the larger grid and provide backup power until the main grid comes back on.

An advanced microgrid provides backup power and also makes the overall grid more reliable and greener. A triple-threat microgrid is one that is based on renewable energy, uses on-site energy storage systems to make that renewable energy available when needed, and has some other cleaner power source that can provide on-site generation when the sun in not shining.

Interest in microgrids is growing fast as utilities increasingly see that a well-designed microgrid “can provide grid services — storing energy when it’s cheap, providing energy when it’s expensive, serving as backup capacity, or smoothing out frequency and voltage fluctuations.”

To date, due to a microgrid’s complexity and cost, the military has been the only steady customer. Fortunately, the growth of firms like RENEW, that can fund, own and operate a microgrid, has unlocked this market for commercial buildings. In fact, the number of microgrids nationwide is slated to grow to 7.1GW over the next five years (up from about 4 GW).

RENEW is proud to be working on its first next generation microgrid at a Massachusetts hospital. Our project will include a solar array and combined heat and power system coupled with an on-site storage system. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more.

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A Brief History of Lighting:

The Future of Energy Saving Lighting:

Implement Energy Saving Lighting with an Energy Service Agreement

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Saving energy, carbon, and operating expenses takes multiple solutions.

The Low Hanging Fruit For Energy Savings

Large Scale Energy and Operating Solutions: Bringing the Power: Distributed Energy Resources

Fleet Solutions

Deep Energy Efficiency and Industry Solutions

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Rebuilding Better – Sustainability after COVID

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Episode 1: New Belgium Brewing & What is LEED

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Energy Service Agreement:

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