Month: September 2023

September 22, 2023 /3BL/ – Major U.S. companies and business groups are celebrating the new collaboration and commitments among more than two-dozen U.S. governors, who have pledged to work together to advance strategies that eliminate emissions from buildings and collectively quadruple heat pump installations by the end of the decade.

Following the announcement today by the 25 governors in the U.S. Climate Alliance at Climate Week NYC 2023, more than a dozen companies, institutions, and trade groups released a letter supporting new state-to-state collaboration. The signatories to the letter include several building solutions leaders, such as JLL, Johnson Controls, NAESCO, Schneider Electric, Sealed, Siemens, Trane Technologies, and ZenniHome, as well as other major businesses such as Burton, CommonSpirit, DSM, Grove Collaborative, Legacy Vacations and Resorts, Mass General and San Francisco Airport.

“Bold action by state leaders is urgently needed to send clear, long-term economic signals to manufacturers, developers, building and business owners, and residents alike. Building decarbonization is essential to our ambitious climate goals and overall air quality and public health,” the letter reads. “We strongly support the execution of multi-state collaborative approaches to develop and implement market-enabling initiatives that unlock the long-term savings, and climate and clean air benefits of building decarbonization.”

Residential and commercial buildings are responsible for 40% of annual energy consumption, making it a leading cause of climate and air pollution. Energy efficiency and building electrification policies are critical to reducing pollution and its harmful effects.

The signatories of the letter emphasized support for state policy efforts that incorporate specific building sector initiatives within their climate action plans, including gas transition planning, expanding energy efficiency and electrification programs, accelerating heat pump adoption, and approving more ambitious energy codes, equipment standards, and building performance standards. Companies recognize these policies are vital both to reduce the risks that climate change poses to their facilities, supply chains, and workforces, and to enhance efficiency and electrification efforts that lower energy costs.

“Clean, energy efficient buildings can provide important cost saving benefits for households and businesses, while reducing pollution that harms communities and the climate,” said Savannah Bertrand, policy outreach manager, Sealed. “Sealed supports innovative policies that help people make their homes more comfortable, healthy, and sustainable, and we are excited that so many of the nation’s governors are committed to advancing these solutions.”

“As a climate innovator, Trane Technologies understands the financial and environmental benefits of sustainable energy efficient solutions for heating and cooling of the built environment. We applaud governors across the U.S. for working together on programs and policies that will help enable policy certainty,” said Paul Camuti, executive vice president and chief technology and sustainability officer of Trane Technologies. “We remain committed to working with these states, and we look forward to providing them with critical insights from our industry to help drive adoption of best practices.”

As recent federal climate legislation — highlighted by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — sparks increasing investment into climate solutions across the U.S., state policy is proving instrumental to ensure new programs are properly implemented and to maximize private-sector activity within their states. With federal funding available to states for energy efficiency and other clean building programs, it is especially important for states to design robust policy frameworks that ensure a strong return on investment in the building sector.

“State policy is critical to accelerating the adoption of technologies that are good for the climate and good for business. Companies support initiatives that encourage collaboration across state lines to develop best practices that tackle the climate crisis,” said Alli Gold Roberts, senior director of state policy, Ceres. “Ceres and the companies we work with applaud U.S. governors for their efforts to cut pollution from the building sector and look forward to collaborating on ambitious solutions to tackle this important sector.”

About Ceres

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org and follow @CeresNews.

Originally published on Built From Scratch

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) annual Green Power Leadership Awards have recognized America’s leading green power users for their commitment to using renewable electricity and advancing the nation’s green power market. This year, the EPA presented Home Depot with a Green Power Leadership Award for outstanding clean energy initiatives and impact on the green power market.

“We are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for our efforts to help realize a clean energy future. It’s essential for our organization to lead the way on green power and show others that it’s an affordable, accessible choice that can help reduce the risks of climate change.”

– Ron Jarvis, chief sustainability officer at The Home Depot

Green power is electricity generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, including wind, solar, geothermal and biogas. The Home Depot is currently using nearly 409 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough to meet 15% of the organization’s overall electricity use. Using green power helps advance the American green power market, which accelerates the development of these resources in the United States.

To enable residential consumers to generate clean energy at home, the company offers a range of home solar, EV charging, and battery systems to its customers. In 2022, the company provided retail access to solar panels for more than 7,000 homes and recorded sales of over 4,000 EV chargers. The Home Depot has also developed solar panel buying guides that educate homeowners on the key components, types of panels and installation options.

Click here to learn more about The Home Depot’s commitment to sustainability or check out the company’s 2023 ESG Report.

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