Daily Archives: January 19, 2021

USEPA Announces 2020 ENERGY STAR Top Cities

The USEPA recently unveiled its annual ENERGY STAR Top Cities list of 2020, showing which US metro areas earned the most ENERGY STAR-certified buildings in 2019. They ranked the Top 25 Cities overall, the Top 10 Mid-Size Cities, and the Top 10 Small Cities. See: https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/topcities

In 2019, the USEPA updated its ENERGY STAR scoring models to make them more stringent, partially as they reflected the improved energy performance of the overall US commercial buildings. ENERGY STAR scores are based on a 0 to 100 median system. Despite the more stringent criteria, over 5,600 buildings earned ENERGY STAR certification. According to the USEPA, they saved over $1.4 billion in energy costs and prevented the emissions of nearly 5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. The tough standards caused a number of previously ENERGY STAR-certified buildings to drop out of ENERGY STAR status, as many dropped below the criteria of 75. The USEPA noted that many such buildings went on to incorporate upgrades to enable them to go back over 75 again and bring back their ENERGY STAR status.

Los Angeles earned 1st place with 546 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings. Washington, D.C. finished in 2nd place; San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, and New York came in 3rd through 7th place this year, the latter with 200 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings in 2019.

Among mid-sized US cities, the top 5 ENERGY STAR metropolitan cities were San Jose, CA, Provo, UT, Des Moines, IA, Raleigh, NC, and Louisville, KY with 274 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings between them. The top small US city was Jackson, MI, with 50 ENERGY STAR-certified buildings by itself, 1 building for every 670 people. These buildings saved their owners over $1.1 million in energy costs.

In total, nationally, since 1999, over 36,000 buildings have earned ENERGY STAR certification. Their energy upgrade projects implemented to earn the award has brought their owners significant, continual energy costs savings for many years.

CCES has the experts to assess whether your building may already merit the ENERGY STAR award. If it does not meet the criteria, we can recommend strategies to be more energy efficient and earn the award, what each strategy costs, and what the cost savings will be. Contact us today at karell@CCESworld.com or at 914-584-6720.

6 Skills To Get Your Ideas Implemented in 2021

You are probably a smart person and perhaps head up a group or department and have put together a program to advance the group or your company in 2021, based on that knowledge of yours. But getting the program actually implemented may take a different set of skills from what you learned in school. However, much of your experience can be adapted to enable you to do better in these “soft” skills. Developing these skills and using them to get your ideas implemented may well dictate how 2021 goes for you.

1. Think Outside the Box, suggesting novel ways to implement a project, is sometimes scary to the environmental or energy professional. But this can be achieved by really understanding the concepts you wish to implement and seeking alternative ways to meet the goals. What do other businesses or industries do in similar situations? Don’t be afraid to share your thoughts with others who you believe think creatively and work with their ideas to see if it can work to meet your final goals.

2. Persuasion. It is normal that any idea – novel or conventional – will have naysayers worried about its effects. Convincing them to go along (or at least not oppose) a project is part of implementing an idea. While there is no successful standard method, studies show that demonstrating reciprocity and consensus are most successful. Put another way: people do not like to be sold on something, but they do like to buy.

3. Honest Communication. It is critical to communicate your idea to all those that may be impacted by it and honestly show the benefits for the individuals involved and the company as a whole, as well as the “warts”, some of the growing pains in implementing the idea and the risk of downside or failure. Glossing over the negative will not only raise suspicion of others about your idea and cause you to lose future credibility.

4. Communicate by Story. Not only is it important to communicate and do so honestly, but also how one gets a point across most effectively. Studies show that story telling is a powerful way to communicate and motivate your stakeholders. Instead of saying: “This is where we are in the project today. Last week we did this….”, try to describe the process with stories about how the equipment was purchased, how the contractors did their work, why the project will be successful, what the benefits will be, etc. You still are communicating the timeline; yet you are doing so in an engaging way that will get the audience involved and root for a positive outcome.

5. Ability to Adapt; Resilience. Perhaps the greatest constant in the future is change. Your ideas developed in 2020, accepted for incorporation in 2021 may have to change due to many factors (the pandemic, the election, the economy, etc.). You need to be able to anticipate changes – even from month to month – and be resilient to modify your idea or its implementation so that it seamlessly works and still benefits all.

6. Passion vs. The Steady Hand. It is important that you be a passionate advocate for your idea, demonstrating your belief that it will benefit your company or people. If YOU don’t have the passion, how can you expect others to? On the other hand, it is critical to show a steady hand, that this idea was well thought out, negative outcomes anticipated, risks lowered, and potential benefits maximized. You need to anticipate and address change, risks, and time snags so as to constructively move forward on your idea.

These 6 items are not easy to master. However, improving in these areas will make it easier to implement your idea and further your ideas in the future and bode well for your and your firm’s future.

CCES has the experts to help you implement many good energy and environmental projects. Besides the technical expertise, our experience in project management allows projects to be implemented smoothly with proper communication among all stakeholders. Contact us today at 914-584-6720 or at karell@CCESworld.com.