Comcast Cable, Nestlé and JLL: Turning One Energy Win into Many

(BOSTON – October 22, 2015) Comcast Cable, Nestlé and JLL will lead the line-up of companies presenting at Environmental Defense Fund’s 6^th Annual Energy Solutions Exchange. The event gathers leaders from organizations that have utilized the EDF Climate Corps program to help them advance their energy management goals. All three companies will share how their initial energy management successes laid the foundation for larger improvements.

“Comcast, Nestlé and JLL are great examples of how companies are cascading one win into many and moving the needle on energy management,” said Liz Delaney, Program Director, EDF Climate Corps. “EDF Climate Corps is accelerating the adoption of clean energy innovation in these companies, lowering barriers and moving us closer to a low-carbon future.”

Comcast Cable: Scaling energy efficiency across 14 states

Comcast Cable has developed a multi-year financial model that enables the company to anticipate its long-term capital budgeting needs for energy efficiency investments. This summer, Comcast’s EDF Climate Corps fellow created an investment plan to scale the implementation of energy-efficient projects across its Northeast Division. These projects have the potential to reduce the division’s annual energy consumption by nearly 13 million kilowatt hours, which is equivalent to the annual electricity use of 1,200 homes.

“At Comcast, we know that investing in energy efficiency drives both environmental and economic benefits,” said David Newman, Senior Director, Environment, Health and Safety at Comcast. “Through strong financial modeling, we are able to gain the insights and internal support we need to scale projects beyond the initial pilot to make systemic change, and EDF Climate Corps has greatly advanced these efforts.”

Nestlé: Harnessing the power of renewables

As an RE100 signatory, Nestlé has committed to 100 percent renewable energy. Nestlé Waters North America operates in the United States and is developing a strategy to help get there. Building on previous work, Nestlé Waters retained the services of an EDF Climate Corps fellow to analyze the potential for off-site renewable power for certain facilities in Texas and Pennsylvania. The fellow also brought multiple Nestlé US companies together to help align on renewable purchasing strategies, thus increasing engagement, leverage and scale of potential future renewable power purchases.

It is estimated that just switching to renewable power at two of its facilities would position Nestlé Waters North America to save thousands of dollars per year in energy costs, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 42,000 tons and energy-related water consumption by 48 million gallons. Once implemented, these projects could increase Nestlé Waters North America share of renewable power by nearly 15 percent.

“Working with EDF Climate Corps has been a wonderful experience,” said Bob Viohl, Energy Purchasing Manager for Nestlé Waters North America. “Not only did our fellow provide the expertise we needed to help move our 100% renewables goal forward, we have developed a new process for working cross-functionally and across operating companies.  All of this work will help us reach our company-wide climate goals.”

JLL: Building on past success to engage tenants in energy management

Having already reduced base building energy consumption by more than 35 percent, JLL’s 77 West Wacker building in Chicago wanted to spur whole-building energy reduction through tenant engagement. Working with management and engineering to document and develop standards and guidelines for all renovation and new construction projects, the EDF Climate Corps fellow’s work is designed to help tenants understand the timing, environmental and financial implications of new, energy-efficient office designs. Ultimately, this documentation could help 77 West Wacker reach a nine percent whole-building energy reduction goal, putting it that much closer to its Retrofit Chicago goal of 20 percent energy reduction by 2018.

“In the commercial real estate space, we have to partner with a diverse group of tenants to reduce energy consumption in leased spaces,” said Myrna Coronado-Brookover, Senior Vice President and General Manager at JLL. “The work of our Climate Corps fellow will help us strengthen our communications with tenants about energy reduction and will help us continue to meet our energy goals.”

2015 Results: Accelerating clean energy projects

In addition to the work with the above companies, EDF Climate Corps worked with over 90 other host companies and organizations in 2015, supporting 117 fellows.

Fast facts from EDF Climate Corps 2015:  

• Fellows working on energy efficiency and clean energy projects identified opportunities for companies to save: $90 million dollars; 134 million kWh per year; and 130,000 metrics tons of CO2e per year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 27,000 cars.
• Fellows this year recommended over $60 million of new investment in clean energy technologies, including 30 megawatts of solar generation which is the equivalent of installing rooftop solar arrays on 6,000 US homes.
• The program placed seven fellows in China, who focused on reducing emissions in factories that supply goods to international companies.
• To date, EDF Climate Corps fellows have identified nearly $1.5 billion in energy savings, over 2.8 billion in annual kWh reductions, and 2 million metric tons of CO2e, equivalent to the annual emissions of over 420,000 cars.