Expert Columns

September 23, 2020 - By Jeff Colvin, MP2 Energy LLC

Redefining Corporate Renewables Procurement Strategy: Simplified, Effective and Accessible

For over a decade, renewable energy has been gaining prominence with leading global corporations. Yet even with declining renewable generation cost and increased pressure from shareholders to demonstrate sustainability progress, many organizations continue to struggle to execute on their sustainability strategies. This column from Jeff Colvin, MP2 Energy, explores innovative and simplified renewable energy solutions that can help them attain their sustainability goals.

August 21, 2020 - By Better Buildings, U.S. Department of Energy

DWS: Site-Level Climate Risk and Resiliency Checklist Pilot

DWS' real estate business has been investing in assets for more than 40 years and includes $55.6 billion in assets under management across the globe. This column from Better Buildings explores the company's implementation of a Climate Risk and Resiliency Pilot to assess properties at risk from the impacts of climate change and identify strategies and improvements that would protect occupants, interior systems and equipment, and the physical asset.

August 17, 2020 - By Debra Chanil, Smart Energy Decisions

Sustainability Programs During COVID-19: There’s a will… but is there a way?

As the energy industry faces the continuing shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s becoming clear that organizations want to hold firm to their sustainability strategies, even as budget uncertainty and competing priorities may get in the way. Smart Energy Decisions, in partnership with BloombergNEF, fielded a survey among energy executives to measure the current impact of COVID-10 on a series of sustainability factors as well as what they anticipate the impact to be as we move through re-openings and economic recovery.

August 7, 2020 - By Nexamp

Bringing Sustainability & Savings to Albany Medical Center

Hospitals everywhere are finding that budgets are very tight, which means they need to explore every opportunity to reduce operating costs. This column from Nexamp shows how Albany Medical Center jumped at the opportunity to join a nearby community solar farm to realize savings and support local renewable energy resources.

Demand Management - August 5, 2020 - By Jake Duncan, IMT

Stronger Together: Systemic Efficiency through Demand Management

Most conversations around clean energy are focused on what type of energy we are using, but to fully decarbonize our economy, we also need to address when energy is used. In this column from IMT - the third in a series - Jake Duncan explains that by purposefully managing energy usage, we can better match the demand for power with the availability of clean energy.

Energy Efficiency - July 17, 2020 - By Andrew Schaap, Aligned

Now Is the Time for Energy-Efficient and Sustainable Data Centers

As we begin to look back on the historic acceleration of telework, distance learning, and the digitalization of business and government caused by COVID-19, it’s clear that we have been afforded a glimpse into the future. In this column, Andrew Schaap, CEO of Aligned, a data center solutions company, explains that there has never been a stronger case, nor a more urgent time, for designing and building energy-efficient and sustainable data center infrastructure.

GHG Emissions - July 13, 2020 - By Better Buildings

IHG'S Green Engage Program

InterContinental Hotels Group, a member of the US Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, created the IHG Green Engage system, a comprehensive online sustainability management system that allows hotels to track, measure, and report on their carbon footprint and utility consumption.

Sourcing Renewables - July 1, 2020 - By Jake Duncan, IMT

Stronger Together: Optimizing Renewable Energy

The momentum behind the renewable energy transition is unstoppable. To date, 162 local governments, 13 states and the District of Columbia, and 229 global companies have committed to 100% renewable energy. In this column from IMT's "Stronger Together" series, Jake Duncan explores how efficiency and demand management can smooth over some of the challenges of the renewable energy transition so that we can power an electrified society quickly and cost-effectively.

Sourcing Renewables - June 29, 2020 - By Caitlin Marquis, Advanced Energy Economy

What COVID Means for Energy Goals and Sustainability Efforts, Today and Tomorrow

As companies adjust to a new normal during COVID-19, sustainability teams face their own challenge: assessing whether and how the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will affect progress toward their company’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals. In this column, Caitlin Marquis of Advance Energy Economy outlines how conditions are affecting the energy industry, how regulators and lawmakers are responding, and what to watch for in the months ahead.

June 19, 2020 - By John Failla, Smart Energy Decisions

Inspiring Diversity in Energy

The energy industry has a diversity problem. In October 2019, the Wall Street Journal cited the energy industry as 10th out of 11 industries measured. In this column, Smart Energy Decisions' Founder & Editorial Director John Failla says, let’s work together to address the problem.