Enthusiasm for renewables in Asia Pacific

February 21, 2012

Posted by:
Dave Gralnik
Energy and Sustainability 

I just read our new Global Sustainability Perspective report on China’s approach to sustainability, and can attest that our people in Asia Pacific who put this together captured the can-do spirit of the region.

After a week in China and another in India—every day filled with back-to-back meetings with solar developers and portfolio owners—I feel as though anything I might say about the enthusiasm for renewable energy in Asia Pacific would be an understatement.

In the coming weeks I’ll be working closely with teams in both countries to finalize deals for renewable energy installations at multiple sites.  And not to be outdone by the rest of the region, it looks like installations in Australia are not far off.

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Categories: Asia Pacific, Sustainability

Funding energy upgrades, California style

February 20, 2012

Posted by:
Moh Palizi
Energy and Sustainability Services

The California Public Utilities Commissions (CPUC) is working with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to create a program with some similarities to solar power purchase agreements and PACE programs, enabling commercial and residential owners to pay for energy upgrades with the cost savings that those upgrades produce. Called On Bill Repayment, the proposed program differs from PACE financing in that loans would be tied to meters. So a building owner or tenant could leave a building and the loan would transfer to the new owner/tenant. Despite a financing fee, the total cost would be below current utility bill levels, and cost savings would grow as energy costs increase over time.

The main thrust of the program is to the residential market, where a monthly utility bill of $350 could be cut to $295, including payments on a 15-year, $20,000 investment loan at 6.25 percent interest, but I recently sat on a panel that discussed how the program might work at commercial properties.

While most panelists on most panels—finance companies, ESCOs, energy product vendors—were very positive about the program, I was more cautiously optimistic. The program is up for approval, and details such as the financing rate have not been settled. Tying to a meter rather than a property may allow this product to work for some tenants and owners, but it’s not a solution that would work easily for everyone.

For example, other panels discussed lighting upgrades as having easily calculated returns and 18-month payback, whereas I observed that many owners will self-fund projects like those. Where upgrades would require payback of two years or more, the financing rate and length of term could make or break deals. There was also a very healthy debate about how this could work for clients with leases, and Tom Poser was extremely helpful in providing me with the understanding to field those questions. 

Greater details are in this PDF

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Categories: Sustainability

Low cost, high impact sustainability strategies

February 16, 2012

Posted by:
Parker White
Energy and Sustainability Services, Asia Pacific

Owners can spend a lot on sustainability measures that don’t yield much benefit, or they can spend very little and improve properties a lot. If the second option sounds more appealing, here are three key ways to make sure you’re getting the best results at the lowest cost:

• Focus on process improvements. Buying and installing new equipment is expensive; making your existing systems work better is affordable. Use integrated design teams, energy modeling and commissioning, among other strategies, to ensure that energy efficiency is optimized.

• Measure your progress.  Measurement and verification (M&V) will provide your organization with the data needed to make informed decisions about future improvements. It also enables reporting, and in Australia and many other countries, transparency is important to aligning operations with increasingly stringent disclosure regulations.

• Create a plan for continuous improvement. A continuous process improvement (CPI) plan sets a course for reaching peak performance over time. Capital expenditures are easier to justify in the third or fourth year of an energy program, after you’ve already realized the cost savings from early-stage process improvements.

Following a program of cost-effective strategies and verification of the results gives investment properties a competitive advantage and differentiator, and helps turn corporate real estate portfolios into primary drivers of organizational sustainability initiatives.

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Categories: Asia Pacific, Sustainability

Here come the hybrids!

February 14, 2012

Bob BestPosted by:
Bob Best
Energy and Sustainability Services

Over this past weekend I went to the Chicago Auto Show, expecting to see the newest in all-electric vehicles.  I did not see many at all.

But, I did notice a different trend … nearly every car manufacturer now has a hybrid.  Toyota, Chevrolet, Ford, Lexus … even Porsche and Mercedes.

What’s happening?

I think we are entering the “Age of the Hybrids” as sort of gap between 100% gasoline-powered cars and all-electric vehicles.  Clearly, we are not ready for the all-electrics.  There are few cars out there to buy and the electric charging station infrastructure is just not there yet.  People have “range anxiety” and are not willing to jump into an all-electric vehicle for fear that they are going to run out of juice in the most unfortunate of circumstances.

What’s the answer?

It’s looking like the answer is hybrids, that take advantage of electric power to boot gas mileage, but don’t leave you high and dry in the current EV charging station desert.

It makes a lot of sense.  People start driving plug-in hybrids for the next few years, as the charging station network grows and, hopefully, battery technology improves the range of electric cars.  Maybe in 3-5 years, the hybrids will get pushed aside by the all-electrics.

In the meantime, here’s to a happy marriage between hydro-carbons and electrons.  I don’t think the marriage will last forever, but for now … it’s not a bad thing.

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Categories: Sustainability

Rating systems are a beginning, not an end

February 13, 2012

Posted by:
Chris Wallbank 
Head of Energy and Sustainability Services, Asia Pacific

In the early phases of an organization’s sustainability strategy, green rating systems and certification are often seen as the final goal, when in reality they are a means to an end. Rating systems are useful to improving awareness and establishing a baseline for improvement. Over time,  the more sophisticated and active participants come to see rating systems as one in a set of tools that can be used to deliver a sustainability outcome specifically aligned with broader organizational goals.  Other tools include:

• Life Cycle Costing – Above all else, the provision of sustainable features in any asset should be whole life cycle cost to prove its worth, and the benefits should be tangible and measurable.

• Measurement of GHG Emissions – Energy efficiency typically comes before emission efficiency because organizations tend to focus on cost reduction; in addition, energy efficiency leads to emission reductions, but the reverse is not always true.

Assessment and baselining is an important first step in an organization’s real estate sustainability strategy, at the portfolio level as well as at the asset level. Integrating and standardizing strategies across an entire portfolio sets the stage for a successful transition to a sustainable future.

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Categories: Asia Pacific, Sustainability

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