Archive for the 'Commercial' category
CalCEF Innovations, the market strategy and public policy arm of the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF), recently announced the release of the second white paper in its Energy Efficiency (EE) series: “Energy Efficiency Paying the Way: New Financing Solutions Remove First Cost Hurdles.” The CalCEF Innovations report examines in detail various EE financing options, including pooling of individual projects, technologies and service offerings into inventive, larger and more attractive retrofit investment opportunities
Here are some of the programs highlighted:
- Clean Energy Works Program: A city-wide initiative in Portland, OR providing comprehensive financing through long-term loans and technical assistance to local homeowners.
- Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE): Government programs, such as the highlighted Palm Desert, CA initiative, offer property owners 20-year loans for EE that are repaid through property tax assessments.
- On-bill Financing: San Diego Gas & Electric’s program is an example of the 100% financing terms for EE that small and medium-sized customers receive with loan repayments included on the regular utility bill.
- Utility Aggregated EE Deployment: Ice Energy partners with utilities to deploy large numbers of Thermal Energy Storage units under a single financing structure at no cost to customers.
- Efficiency Services Agreement: Metrus Energy offers large industrial and commercial customers a PPA-like solution to finance and implement EE projects with repayment based on a cost per avoided unit of realized energy savings.
- Managed Energy Services Agreement: Transcend Equity finances and implements EE upgrades at commercial buildings and takes responsibility for repaying a customer’s utility bill.
According to managing director Paul Frankel of CalCEF Innovations, financing of EE retrofits is an integral hurdle to overcome: “We’ve uncovered a critical gap in the EE sector, where the deployment of retrofits is not at pace with the large potential for profits—both economical and environmental—due to a perceived cost-prohibitive barrier to entry. Energy efficiency can pay back, three or four times on its investment in a relatively short time frame when strategic financing and aggregated deployment strategies are implemented.” Art Rosenfeld, PhD is a CalCEF board member and recently retired Commissioner of the California Energy Commission and Emeritus Professor of Physics and the University of California, Berkeley adds: “The work undertaken by CalCEF Innovations sheds light on reliable financing solutions that overcome the first-cost barriers to efficiency that have hindered substantial energy savings for far too long.”
Given the choice, most homeowners and commercial property owners would institute energy efficiency retrofits if there were no large upfront costs involved. To reach significant energy bill savings, though, many retrofits do require a fairly substantial upfront cost, to the detriment of the homeowner. However, the aforementioned new and creative methods can remove these upfront costs and distribute the loan over a long period of time. In addition to these programs, the White House is trying to push the Home Star Program (also commonly known as Cash for Caulkers), which would provide government rebates to homeowners who make their homes more energy-efficient by installing new windows, doors, insulation and other materials from an approved list.
Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial, Residential
February 3rd, 2010 / 1 Comment
Laboratories nationwide are very energy intensive typically consuming 5 to 10 times more energy per square foot than traditional office buildings. Certain cleaning rooms and specialty labs can consume as much as 100 times the energy of similarly sized space. Despite the high energy use intensity levels, laboratories can be designed and retrofitted with energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, and green sustainable practices. Laboratories for the 21st century has instituted an approach to optimizing energy performance in the lab. Some of the energy difficulties include controlling the high cost of ventilation in labs, the effect of heat gain from plug loads and energy waste resulting from different HVAC requirements within the building zones. The mantra should be “reduce, reuse, and recycle.”
Some best practices for promoting energy efficiency in laboratories:
- Benchmark, monitor, and report annually on building energy performance
- Consider energy recovery from exhaust air or process cooling water
- Incorporate energy monitoring and control systems with direct digital controls
- Fume hoods can use as much energy as an entire house so be cognizant of type, location, and size
- Use renewable energy such as solar for building lighting only after energy efficiency is applied
- On-site power generation utilizing cogeneration could be a viable option
It all starts with utilizing the Energy Benchmarking Tool through Laboratories for the 21st Century, which is a resource co-sponsored by the EPA and DOE for laboratories. This allows laboratory buildings to input both their whole building metrics as well as system level metrics in order to compare the performance to other buildings in the database.
 Fume Hood Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial
January 21st, 2010 / 2 Comments
(Solana Beach, CA)- Greener Dawn, Inc today announced a fundamental commitment to protect the environment by becoming an ENERGY STAR Partner. Greener Dawn’s voluntary partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR means that we will be working toward helping their clients improve the energy efficiency and performance of their facilities; we believe that an organization-wide energy management approach will help our clients enhance their financial health and aid in preserving the environment for future generations.
“We are committed to being a nationwide leader in energy efficiency in conjunction with the EPA’s Portfolio Manager,” says Courtland Weisleder, President of Greener Dawn. “One major step towards that goal is our partnership with Energy Star in anticipation of AB 1103 in California. We are proud to be associated with the United State’s EPA.”
In partnership with ENERGY STAR, we will help our clients to:
- Measure and track the energy performance of their facilities at all locations.
- Set a goal to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings by 10% or more, in support of the ENERGY STAR Challenge
We will also:
- Encourage our staff and community to learn about the benefits of energy efficiency and to implement appropriate energy efficiency measures
By helping our clients to reduce energy consumption, we can save money and Kwh’s each year – the equivalent energy required to power numerous American homes. This will also reduce air pollution by preventing carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere – the equivalent of removing numerous vehicles from the road!
ABOUT ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR is a voluntary partnership between businesses, government and others united to protect our environment for future generations by changing to energy-efficient practices today. ENERGY STAR works with more than 9,000 partners to improve the energy efficiency of products, homes, buildings and businesses. Businesses can use ENERGY STAR to improve efficiency, enhance profits, and create a competitive advantage. In 2006 alone, ENERGY STAR helped businesses and consumers save more than $14 billion in energy costs while reducing global warming emissions equivalent to those from 25 million vehicles. For more information about ENERGY STAR, visit www.energystar.gov or call toll-free 1-888-STAR-YES.
Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial
January 19th, 2010 / 1 Comment
http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/01/06/half-of-non-residential-buildings-will-be-green-by-2015-study/
According to a new study by Good Energies Inc., a New York based venture capital firm, green buildings will make up about half of the non-residential building stock by 2015, up from about 15% currently. Greg Kats, director of Climate Change for Good Energies, says that their findings and forecasts are based on USGBC’s LEED (Leadership in Energy Environmental Design) standards to define a green building. A report from October 2009 by McGraw-Hill Construction seems to offer support for Good Energies’ findings. McGraw-Hill says that the share of green building in the retrofit market could grow to 20% to 30% in the next five years, with the market opportunity for major projects growing to $10.1 billion to $15.1 billion. If we assume new green building construction could represent the other 20% to 30% then the 50% number sounds reasonable.
Good Energies also concluded that the so called “green premium” (the price to use green building practices) is much less than many people think. The public thinks that the green premium is about 17% more than a traditional building, but Kats suggests that the actual number is closer to 2%. The payback period for a green building is about 3 to 4 years and for certain projects such as lighting, as little as 6 months to a year. Their conclusion is that there is no good reason to NOT go green when there are both financial and environmental benefits.
In California, commercial building owners may soon find that going green will become a very compelling decision. According to Assembly Bill 1103 (AB-1103), commercial building owners will be required to disclose their building’s energy performance (in terms of an Energy Star benchmarked score) starting on July 1, 2010. In other words, a building’s energy efficiency (and thus utility costs) will be out in the open for all prospective buyers and lessees to see. Buildings that earn a score of 70 or more (out of a 1-100 scale) will receive the coveted Energy Star designation and are expected to command higher selling prices and rent premiums against buildings with lower scores.
By turning the commercial building market into more or less a competition for energy efficiency, green retrofits and sustainable building practices will become more market-friendly than ever. However, many property owners are understandably reluctant to spend any capital right now to retrofit their buildings in a harsh economic climate. What many owners don’t know is that there are many rebates, incentives, and even interest free, little to no out-of-pocket loans like On-Bill Financing (offered by San Diego Gas & Electric and other utilities) to help support the energy efficiency movement. OBF allow owners to pay back the loan amount through energy savings over a period of time. For example, if a building’s utility bill was $2000/month normally and a retrofit project that costs $20,000 saves $1,000/month in utilities, then the payback period would be $20,000/$1,000 = 20 months. After that period, the building owner would continue to enjoy the low utility use costs gained through OBF because it has “paid off” the loan. Building owners who are astute and take advantage of programs like OBF will get a head start in the real estate market as the green building market continues to build momentum.
Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial
The green building movement has transformed from solar panels and low-VOC paint to a complete shift in commercial real estate transactions – are you ready for green negotiations? Savvy and cutting edge brokers, lawyers, and business analysts are scrambling to figure out how to put green into legal agreements, because it is quickly becoming a deal-closer or a deal-breaker.
Despite what jargon lawyers come up with, it is critical in this economy and real estate market that property owners and managers have a plan to deal with building performance issues, especially in California with AB 1103. Tenant and buyer reps will be certain to leverage this mandate to get their clients a better deal – as it is very likely that this becomes the strongest point of negotiation available in this leasing/purchase landscape.
Scores are based on a scale of 1 to 100, with buildings that score closer to 100 having lower operating costs compared to similar buildings in the market. If your building doesn’t have a competitive Score, you will be experiencing longer leasing periods, lower occupancy rates, reduced rent rates, and a decline in asset value. The business case for an efficient building is too strong and risks are too high.
If you have leases expiring soon, or if you are delaying capital improvements and retrofits, you may want to re-examine the implications that building performance will have on upcoming transactions. Even if you have a LEED Certified building, you may find the building is not performing as designed.
Benchmarking will allow you to assess whether or not the building is providing the NOI you were expecting; and it is the first step to identifying opportunities for improvement. Owners of 1960’s office buildings may feel their hands are tied with no capital to make substantial renovations, but there are certainly low- cost strategies available to any building.
Assembly Bill 1103
- Reporting will now begin July 1, 2010
- Requires California utilities to report all commercial buildings’ energy use data to the EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
- Reports a performance Score, compared to similar buildings, on a scale of 1 to 100.
- Effective July 1, 2010, this Score will be a Mandatory Disclosure for office, hospital, retail, and refrigerated space above 50,000 square feet looking to lease, sell, or finance the asset.
- Any owner occupied building above 5,000 square feet will be required
- Also Food stores above 25,000 square feet and unrefrigerated warehouses above 200,000 square feet are also required
The ROI is easy to determine for tangible costs, but the value of mitigating risks associated with the green building movement may prove exponential. The water and energy crisis, air quality problems, commuting and transportation issues, carbon regulations, and social and environmental responsibility are just a few risks hitting headlines. Now is the time to implement improvements and reposition existing buildings on the market.
Easton Gardner, LEED AP
LEED Consultant
Greener Dawn, Inc.
Greener Dawn can help you navigate the opportunities and risks associated with green building by developing and implementing a strategic retrofit plan!
444 S. Cedros Ave., Suite 195
Solana Beach, CA 92075
858-345-1672 egardner@greenerdawn.com
www.greenerdawn.com
Source: Greener Dawn Inc.
Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial
November 15th, 2009 / 1 Comment
On Thursday this week I got the chance to attend my first Green Build Conference. The venue was huge and there must have been over 1000+ exhibitors and vendors. I was hoping that there would be some auto dealerships (Toyota and Audi to be specific) looking to get LEED certified so in that respect I was disappointed by the conference. However, the sheer amount of people and vendors at the conference (especially considering the current economic climate) indicated that green buildings is definitely a trend that will continue.
 Interesting Display at Green Build  Main Exhibition Hall Posted by Fan Ding in Commercial, Residential
November 5th, 2009 / 0 Comments
As many folks don’t know, there are two clean energy bills being discussed in DC as speak. The Health Care reform has dominated the press but these bills could have a similar or greater impact on our country.
The first bill, HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, passed the House in June 219-212. This bill aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States by 17 percent by the year 2020 (using 2005 levels).
A second bill that also is receiving criticism is Senate Bill (S) 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, also known as the Boxer-Kerry Bill.
Both bills, summarized on the Web site GovTrack.us, plan to “create clean energy jobs, promote energy independence, reduce global warming pollution, and transition to a clean energy economy.”
Alternative-energy sources like wind, solar energy and biomass will receive funding and a focus in the bill.
Renewable sources, such as biomass — waste products including straw, dead trees, tree branches, and animal waste that can be converted into fuel, electricity, and heat — have the potential to lessen America’s dependence on oil and gas.
Posted by Courtland Weisleder in Climate, Commercial, Investment Banking, Research, Residential
October 20th, 2009 / 0 Comments
The energy efficiency and clean technology snowball is swiftly gaining speed in Southern California and nationwide with the help of many particularly the DOE. After attending a recent Clean Tech San Diego event, the speaker shared with us a bar graph. The title of the bar graph was “Clean Tech Stimulus from the DOE”. It showed 4 bars focusing on the dates 2009-2012. In 2009, it is expected that the DOE is awarding $29 billion in clean stimulus funds which represents only 15% of the total amount. In 2010 and 2011, there is expected to be over $140 billion allocated and awarded nationwide under the clean tech umbrella. Over that two year period, we will see close to 5 times the amount which was allocated in 2009. I believe that we are still in the spring training of the clean tech revolution as we determine which renewable energy sources have a realistic chance to become cost effective and scalable. Buckle up- we’re in for fun ride over the next decade!
Posted by Courtland Weisleder in Climate, Commercial, Investment Banking, Research, Residential
September 11th, 2009 / 4 Comments
We had our grand opening/ribbon cutting event last night and it was a huge success! We also hosted the Green Drinks event and some 200+ people showed up. Thanks to everyone who came and we hope you’ll join us for future events.
 Our President Courtland Weisleder Cutting the Ribbon  Greener Dawn Ribbon Cutting and Green Drinks Posted by Fan Ding in Climate, Commercial, Investment Banking, Research, Residential
|
