The Decarbonization Race

As the UN COP27 meeting was winding down, Dana and Steven sat down to recap and discuss some of the highlights from the first half of the climate summit. The COP negotiation continues to be a key mechanism in trying to move the needle forward and keep countries accountable and collaborative as they work against climate change.

On this Energy Minute, Dana and Steven touch on some of the pledges the United States has made, an exciting announcement out of Brazil, an update on the 1.5-degree target, and more. Stay tuned until the end for a preview of more exciting climate news that came out of the last half of the conference—in particular, a report that they'll discuss in the next Energy Minute segment.

Resources

• How COP is pushing progress forward: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-15/you-can-t-tackle-climate-change-without-cop?srnd=green
• US Pledges from the Biden Administration: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/11/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-new-initiatives-at-cop27-to-strengthen-u-s-leadership-in-tackling-climate-change/
• Brazil's hard U-turn on climate policy: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-16/brazil-s-lula-offers-to-host-cop30-stresses-amazon-s-importance?srnd=green
• Keeping the 1.5-degree goal alive: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/11/1130622

Technological innovation around energy efficiency and sourcing renewable energy are enabling significant sustainability gains in the real estate sector. At the same time, consumer demand and new local regulations are putting more stringent requirements on the sector to reduce emissions and waste--causing asset owners with billions on the line to set and meet increasingly higher goals in concert with builders, building managers, and even tenants on sustainability.

In this episode, Cass McFadden, Global Head of Sustainability at Cortland, discusses the spectrum of real estate challenges - notably those arising when a company doesn't own the properties it manages - and shares accomplishments and experiences from her previous role at Bozzuto Group, where she was working at the time of this conversation. She explains sustainability concerns in multi-family structures, newly-minted single homes, and retail space managed by her firm. Listen in to hear McFadden discuss both progress and areas needing improvement in this compelling conversation.

There are 2 core approaches when it comes to counting carbon emissions from procured electricity: market-based and location-based carbon accounting. Is one better than the other? How can you use each (or both) to your benefit when working toward your clean energy goals?

In this Energy Minute, Dana and Steve discuss the pros and cons of both methods, and how granular carbon accounting data fits in, so you can assess how best to work toward your net zero goals.

Resources

Bloomberg News, "What Really Happens When Emissions Vanish"

As the the United Nations' 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) climate summit gets underway in Egypt - where all parties are focused on implementation, how is the world working together to tackle the climate emergency?

In this special episode, Martin Wainstein, Founder and Executive Director at the Open Earth Foundation, provides a glimpse into what a global framework united on sustainability needs to look like. Wainstein tackles the sticky geopolitical issues when nations convene and define the large-scale digital infrastructure needed by national government and state entities, corporations, and individuals to track both emissions and climate change mitigation efforts.

Recorded on the eve of the latest UN climate summit, Wainstein explains how these digital platforms are slowly moving through the crucible of international policy formulation. What emerges is a revealing look at the practicalities of crafting solutions that can help save our planet.

Why do are forward-leaning companies centering their decarbonization strategy around 24/7 carbon-free energy? How is it different from a 100% renewable energy target? This episode revisits fundamental concepts on renewable energy (including RECs), looks at the difference in these two models, and explains why hourly data is critical to meeting 100% decarbonization goals.

Institutional investors and investment managers need reliable and certified data to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. Fortunately, efforts to provide high-quality ESG data on real estate and infrastructure-focused funds are rapidly moving forward. In this informative episode, Dan Winters, Senior Director at GRESB, explains how the framework and theoretical basis to gather both high-quality and far-ranging data is taking shape at his organization.

Listen in as he reveals how GRESB works their assessment results into useful recommendations for major funds.

How can companies better work towards meeting their clean energy adoption goals?

This episode is about obtaining the best available data to inform your energy decisions. Tracking energy and by extension, carbon data by the hour provides granular-level insights you can't get from a monthly utility bill. By switching from monthly to hourly emissions reporting, energy procurement and ESG/sustainability teams gain a deeper understanding of their firm's carbon mix—consumption versus energy sources—and can monitor their decarbonization progress more effectively.

Tune in to learn more about how using more granular hourly data can help close the gaps in your company's energy load.

Suzanne Shelton, founder and CEO of the Shelton Group, helps clean businesses speak sustainability. In her words, Shelton Group "translates the good you do for people and the planet into business success." As a leading sustainability marketer, she helps businesses grow by making ESG initiatives understandable and attracting loyal, environmentally conscious consumers. In this lively interview with host Lincoln Payton, she explains why Americans are more concerned about ocean plastics than climate change and what companies focused on decarbonization should do to build brand affinity and market share.

Tune in for insights on how to make your sustainability or decarbonization initiatives more understandable and appealing.

Resources What does the future of ESG reporting look like?

What is load matching and how does it help companies address climate change?

Companies including Amazon, Apple, Iron Mountain, Microsoft, and Google are pioneering this innovative practice with bold goals of going 24/7 carbon-free. But…what does it take for both these companies and the non-tech giants of the world to start decarbonizing their operations? This Energy Minute episode should shed light on the situation!

Load matching helps businesses understand how well their electricity demand is aligned with available clean energy sources on the grid, so they can adjust their procurement strategy as needed to fill in gaps or meet their targets differently. Implementing load matching requires sophisticated tracking software to understand to what degree procured carbon-free energy matches up with each hour of a facility's consumption.

Tune in to learn more about this emerging trend in sustainability tech—the next frontier for companies sourcing carbon-free energy.

Iron Mountain Data Centers are in the vanguard of the clean energy transition: they not only run their facilities on 100% renewable energy, they are working towards a more ambitious goal, powering them with carbon-free energy 24/7.

In this episode, host Lincoln Payton dives deep into decarbonization with Chris Pennington, Director of Energy and Sustainability at Iron Mountain Data Centers, to understand the more ambitious goal, and how Iron Mountain is using hourly energy and carbon data as the foundation to match supply with consumption and help the company meet its emission goals.

Key Takeaways

• Why the future of decarbonization is moving away from annual market-based accounting methodology to hourly location-based accounting
• More granular data is key to understanding facilities' load and matching it in near-real time to available clean energy sources
• Why adopting a long-term clean energy and decarbonization strategy serves both the climate and Iron Mountain's bottom line

Resources: What is 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy & Why It Matters