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Decrease Carbon Emissions

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Operating efficiently and sustainably is good for the environment and for business.

Buildings that work minimize their impact on the environment. It’s what people want and many governments require. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions also lower energy and operational costs. That’s why today’s businesses, educational institutions, health care facilities and government agencies are becoming greener and more sustainable. For example, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee reduces its carbon emissions and dependency on fossil fuels by utilizing geothermal heating and cooling systems and generating renewable solar energy. Those efforts earned a Gold rating under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Integrated Design Associates, Inc. (IDeAs) in San Jose made its headquarters a net zero energy building, generating more clean renewable energy than the traditional energy it consumes over the course of a year. It now operates without any negative impact on the environment.

You can reduce your carbon emissions, too.

The first step is to quantify your carbon footprint. Online tools enable users to enter information such as electricity, gas and diesel fuel usage; fleet size and vehicle fuel consumption; and renewable energy generation. The consolidated data from all your sites provides an accurate measurement of your organization’s total carbon footprint.

The next step is to develop and implement a carbon management and sustainability strategy. For example, by installing more efficient heating, cooling and lighting systems, building state-of-the-art central utility plants, and by deploying renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, you can lower your energy consumption, fossil fuel dependence and carbon emissions.

There are a number of ways to make your projects affordable. Through performance contracting retrofits, energy and operational savings can offset project costs. Not only will you save money, but the environment will benefit. In fact, since January, 2000, our customers have saved more than 13.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide as a result of performance contracting projects.

Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to reduce your real estate footprint. You can do so by consolidating where possible and eliminating unneeded facilities. By reducing your square footage, you reduce your energy usage and carbon emissions. You can take advantage of numerous other programs to conserve natural resources and reduce carbon emissions – such as recycling, using less paper and scheduling building cleaning shifts to overlap with regular business hours so you won’t have to leave the lights and HVAC system on at night.

To learn more about how others like you have reduced their carbon emissions, read our case studies. To find out how you can do so, too, contact us.