Commercial | Page 102

The Providence Marriott Downtown hotel closed a $2.5 million loan through a local bank's Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program to implement a series of energy upgrades that are expected to reduce the hotel's annual energy usage by almost 40%.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $11 billion in energy-cost savings by more than 950 public and private sector organizations in DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative. The 2020 Better Buildings Progress Report details partners’ progress in advancing energy productivity and highlights the 20 organizations that achieved their energy efficiency goals in the past year.

Kimco Realty Group announced July 6 achieved their goal of reducing same-site Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by more than 10% between 2015 and 2020.

The ODP Corporation announced July 2 that they succeeded in their goal to reduce energy consumption by 2021 and saw a 36% decrease in facility energy consumption between 2016 and 2019.

IBM announced that they decreased their energy consumption by 4.5% and CO2 emissions by 11.1% in 2019 and now source 47% of their electricity from renewable sources.

Darigold and the Northwest Dairy Association announced June 30 that they plan to be carbon neutral by 2050 through investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

L'Oreal announced June 25 their "L'Oreal for the future" sustainability plan, which includes targets to achieve carbon neutrality and 100% renewable energy at all their sites before 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions per finished product 50% from 2016 levels before 2030.

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.

Ford Motor Company announced June 24 that they are ramping up their climate change goals and intend to be carbon neutral globally by 2050 and power all manufacturing plants with 100% locally sourced renewable energy by 2035.

Smart Energy Decisions announces that the 2nd Distributed Energy Forum will shift into Virtual mode and take place on September 21-25, 2020.