Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps is working to identify energy waste at Fortune 500 and top American companies that could be turned into more than $54 million in savings through energy efficiency projects.
EDF, a nonprofit that partners with businesses to affect resolutions for environmental problems, recruited MBA students from top schools such as Duke University, Stanford University, Cornell University and Yale University to promote energy efficiency at their host companies. Opportunities for these corporations to reduce energy use could translate into preventing 100,000 metric tons of pollution per year, EDF says. Climate Corps was initiated in 2008 to train business students to examine energy efficiency at their host companies, and, so far, most of the projects outlined have been completed or are in the process, EDF said.
With support from EDF, the students developed detailed energy efficiency investment and implementation plans for each host company, including Cisco Systems, Dell, eBay Inc., EMC, Genzyme, HP, Sodexo and Sony Pictures Entertainment. The students identified savings opportunities in improving lighting, computer equipment and heating and cooling systems. EDF said one student was critical to eBay quantifying a carbon emissions target and mapping out a plan to reach that goal.
Future Business Leaders
EDF’s vice president of corporate partnerships, Gwen Ruta, praised the students’ participation in promoting the business of energy efficiency, commenting that "As the next generation of business leaders, they are demonstrating first-hand that cutting costs while cutting carbon is a win-win proposition."
For example, students found that Cisco could save $1.8 million by slightly increasing the ambient temperature of the company's large data labs without harming laboratory equipment; and other energy efficiency implementations could save Raytheon Co. $3.4 million in operating costs; TXU Energy could save over $200,000 annually in two of its office buildings; and lighting retrofits and HVAC upgrades would save SunGard $5 million per year.
Additional companies involved in the program were Accenture, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD), Ahold USA, Biltmore Farms, Grubb Properties, Houston Rockets/Toyota Center, Inuit Inc., National Instruments, North Carolina Central University, salesforce.com, Savvis, and Shorenstein Realty Services L.P.
In selecting students, EDF partnered with Net Impact, a global organization of students and professionals using the power of business to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world.
EDF is a U.S. nonprofit group launched in 1967 with over 700,000 members. EDF does not accept money from corporate partners, but relies on generous donations and foundations to fund its work.
