PACE Financing Goes Viral, No Thanks to ARRA
November 19, 2009
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By Derek Supple, Program Manager, Strategic Objectives, Johnson Controls

The excitement on the Delta King riverboat in Sacramento was palpable this week as local government leaders and the finance community gathered to discuss the nuts, bolts, and best practices of setting up property assessed clean energy (PACE) financing programs.

Under the PACE model, property owners borrow money from a municipal agency to finance up to 100% of the upfront cost of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and repay the loan over 5-20 years through an added annual assessment on their property tax bill.

The tax-lien financing model overcomes several well-known barriers to the adoption of energy efficiency improvements.  Financing spreads the first cost to create positive cash flow for building owners, so that monthly energy savings exceed their loan payments.  Since the loan is attached to the property, not the borrower, it transfers with ownership, enabling owners to take on longer payback projects with deeper energy savings. Tying payment to the property also solves credit and collateral issues that have been a challenge in commercial real estate.  It can also overcome the age-old owner/tenant split incentive problem because owners are allowed to pass-through property taxes (and, through PACE, the retrofit costs) to net lease tenants who also benefit from the savings.

The sheer number of attendees from the financial community at this week’s City & County Clean Energy Financing conference—from Wells Fargo to Hannon Armstrong to local community banks— was exciting, because it shows the potential of this model to “commoditize” energy efficiency. By creating standardized PACE bonds, markets can be harnessed to dramatically scale the capital available for clean energy projects.  The investment banks are excited because voluntary property assessments provide a very secure investment.  Like any tax assessment, PACE loans are senior to private liens, including mortgages.

The highlight of the conference was a panel of the leaders who championed the only four live PACE programs operating today: Boulder County, CO; Palm Desert, CA; Berkeley, CA; and Sonoma County, CA.  While programs are being planned in scores of other communities, these four are learning at the “bleeding edge.” Interestingly, there were two main drivers common for each of these four communities:  create jobs and reduce climate impact.  The Boulder County Commission has adopted a target to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions 40% below 2005 levels by 2020 within an interim 1.3 million ton reduction by 2012.  Even more aggressive, Sonoma County is targeting a 25% reduction below 1990 levels by 2016.  These targets are community wide, not just for municipal operations.  All panelists pointed out that without addressing existing building stock, which represents over half their emission inventories, they would have no chance at meeting these carbon targets.  PACE is the “best tool yet” for local governments to help their residents and businesses save energy and reduce emissions.

PACE has also been an effective way for municipalities to create jobs in their communities without significant financial burden or risk.  Sonoma County saw an 8.4% increase in building industry jobs last quarter, while neighboring counties Napa and Marin saw a 2% decrease in jobs in that sector.

With all these benefits, it’s no wonder that PACE is catching on quickly.  I think it is safe to say that PACE has “gone viral.”  In the last twelve months, fifteen state legislatures have passed enabling legislation for PACE programs including CA, CO, IL, LA, MD, NV, NM, NY, OH, OK, OR, TX, VT, VA, WI.  In addition, communities in FL, HI and UT have pre-existing authority to create municipal financing districts. New York actually just passed its legislation on Monday night (to cheers on the Delta King), through emergency legislation so that communities in that state could create programs to leverage stimulus funding.
 
Surprisingly, many communities in attendance expressed deep concerns and even reluctance to use ARRA funding through either the state energy programs or the block grant programs to support their PACE programs.  The largest concern was that use of ARRA funds would trigger prevailing wage requirements for all work completed in private homes, buildings, and factories financed through PACE.  Section 1606 of the Recovery Act specifies that “all laborers and mechanics employed by contractors and subcontractors on construction projects funded directly by or assisted in whole or in part under the Recovery Act must be paid at least the wage rates prevailing in the locality in accordance with the Davis Bacon Act.”  There were other concerns about the recently published federal policy framework for those planning to leverage ARRA funding with PACE financing programs, particularly the savings-to-investment ratio requirement.

Other hot debates at this week’s event included: outsourcing vs. in-house program administration, pooled bonding vs. project-by-project micro bonding, choice of interim financing source, and legal validation proceedings to address concerns outside the power of statute. Who knew that a county could sue itself!

These issues aside, the real question is how quickly the PACE model and best practices from the pioneer communities can diffuse across the thousands of other municipalities across the country, including when we will see less affluent cities and counties bring this option to those who need it most.

The wave of PACE programs coming has great potential and couldn’t arrive at a better time.  After all, energy efficiency has never been more important.  If you have thoughts on how Johnson Controls can help local communities and our customers to leverage the PACE model to rapidly scale energy efficiency and renewable energy investments, please share your ideas.

To learn more about PACE financing, see www.pacenow.org.





Impressions and a Challenge from Greenbuild 2009
November 16, 2009
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by Steve Thomas, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Excellent educational sessions, inspirational speakers, and more exhibitors than ever marked last week’s Greenbuild conference in Phoenix. The Phoenix Convention Center is an outstanding facility, and rooms for the conference sessions were easy to find and accommodating – although there were still plenty of sessions that were standing room only. The number of exhibitors grows every year, which made it necessary to have two levels of exhibitors in Phoenix – the only possible negative to this year’s event. Still, there was good traffic in the exhibits, and the quality of the attendees was outstanding.

The Green Buildings movement continues to grow and to spread around the world, a point made clear by Rick Fedrizzi, the President of the US Green Building Council, during the opening plenary session on Wednesday night. His comments were brought home by the in-person comments from leaders of Green Building Council chapters from around the world. How quickly this movement has taken hold both here and abroad. For our own part, Johnson Controls has been pleased to be involved with the launch of several Green Building Council chapters in South America – and we now have nearly 800 LEED credentialed employees worldwide.

Al Gore’s talk during Wednesday’s plenary session was at times folksy, often inspirational and ultimately motivational. He called on the thousands in attendance at Chase Field to go beyond what they’ve already done – imploring them to get involved with pushing Congress to pass clean energy legislation in time for Copenhagen. He acknowledged that this would be getting involved with politics – but said this involvement should not be about politics. Rather, it was about doing the right thing for our children and our grandchildren and for generations far into the future.

To paraphrase the crux of his talk, Gore asked, “If you were writing a letter that would be read by your children and your grandchildren at some point in the future, would you rather write a letter about all the reasons why you didn’t get involved in this effort to combat global warming -- or would you like it to be a letter about why you did get involved and about what you did to play a part in making the world and our environment better for the generations to come?”

So which is it? Which letter are you writing?

(Go here to learn about how Johnson Controls is greening new and existing buildings worldwide, and here to read about Johnson Controls activities at Greenbuild.)





Main Street Green: Connecting to the Conversation at Greenbuild 2009
November 09, 2009
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This week in Phoenix, an estimated 25,000 will walk through the doors at Greenbuild 2009, the annual conference sponsored by United States Green Building Council (USGBC). It’s one more sign that commitment to greener buildings remains strong as companies, government organizations and others continue to see efficiency as the first and fastest way to cut their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

The theme of this year’s conference is "Main Street Green: Connect to the Conversation," and as a Green LEED-er sponsor, that’s precisely where Johnson Controls is as the 2009 conference opens. We’re as committed as ever to helping spread the word that green buildings help make communities – large and small, in the U.S. and around the world – more prosperous and sustainable.

And here are some of the highlights of what we’ll be conversing about at Greenbuild this year:

 · Feet on the street: We'll report on our goal (announced at last year's Greenbuild conference) of employing 500 Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED®) Accredited Professionals.  These are our highly-trained people on the streets of communities everywhere who are helping building owners and facilities managers understand the importance and benefits of green buildings.

  · Growing our green portfolio: Johnson Controls now manages more than 11 million square feet of LEED certified facility space on Main Street and countless other roads, avenues and boulevards around the globe.

  · Making America’s best-known building a model: New York’s Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street may not be what you think of when you hear the words “Main Street,” but the energy efficiency upgrades to the Empire State Building currently underway at that storied intersection will be a model for buildings everywhere.

  ·  Soaking up the sun: What could be more “Main Street” than your local city hall or neighborhood school? That’s where more and more municipal governments and school boards are adopting solar photovoltaic technologies to lower their energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

If you’re headed to Phoenix and Greenbuild, look us up at booth #3344. And check out our Greenbuild 2009 web page for more information.

Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.



In Case You Missed Us...
October 26, 2009
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Last Thursday, viewers of Fox Business News got an in-depth look at Johnson Controls. From our corporate headquarters in suburban Milwaukee, reporter Jeff Flock presented three live reports that included interviews with two of our top executives.

If you missed the interesting and wide-ranging reports, click below to watch them.

Vice President and General Manager, North American Service and Global Workplace Solutions, Iain Campbell on the 2010 outlook, the Empire State Building project and other topics: http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27016444/cost-savings-through-energy-efficiency.htm#q=johnson+controls

 

Chairman and CEO Steve Roell on our history of strong financial performances plus our projecton for getting "back on track" in the coming year:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27018470/johnson-control-ceo-on-staying-profitable.htm#q=johonson+controls

 

Chairman and CEO Steve Roell leads a behind-the-scenese tour of our corporate headquarters control center:

http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results/m/27018901/driving-out-of-recession.htm#q=johnson+control

 

Also last week, Green Magazine TV was at our corporate headquarters videotaping an interview with Don Albinger, Vice President for Renewable Energy Solutions. Look for that broadcast on Discovery Channel in December.

 

Efficiency Now! It's never been more important.





Saving Energy and Empowering Students
August 16, 2009
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By Felicia McDade, Johnson Controls

Who can forget the back-to-school days of late summer? Checking the list of supplies you’d need for the coming school year. Hoping you had graduated from paste to glue, Big Chief Tablet to spiral notebook, round-tipped to sharp scissors, crayons to colored pencils. Then making the big trip to the store to pick out a new backpack and fill it with all the stuff you’d need to start another nine months of learning.

When students arrived for their first day of school in Madison County, North Carolina this month, many found they weren’t the only ones who had been busy preparing for the new term. Nestled in the rural mountains of western North Carolina, Madison County schools serve some 2,600 students in four elementary schools, plus a middle school and a high school.

Back in May, when the last school year ended, Madison County School System officials took a bold step – one that will benefit students, teachers and staff far into the future. What they did was enter into an energy savings performance contract with Johnson Controls to reduce energy consumption, save money, shrink the District’s carbon footprint, create more comfortable learning and working environments, and better prepare students to grow into responsible citizens.

As the project gets underway, major improvements will be made to Madison High School, Madison Middle School and three elementary schools: Hot Springs, Brush Creek and Laurel. The central administrative office, bus garage and maintenance shop will also receive upgrades.

Improvements will include installing a Metasys® energy management system, enabling school facility managers to heat and cool buildings when they’re in use, and turn down those systems when the buildings are empty. We’ll also upgrade mechanical equipment and controls.

In addition to making classrooms and offices more comfortable, the improvements will also:
  • Cut energy use by 36 percent
  • Lower harmful emissions equivalent to removing 8,250 passenger vehicles from roadways
  • Save more than $5.9 million over the course of the 15-year contract
The school district will accomplish all this without increasing its operating budget or raising taxes. Improvements will be more than paid for by the savings produced as a result of the energy efficient building enhancements.

Best of all, the benefits don’t stop with the facility upgrades. Johnson Controls will also provide Madison County schools with an energy education program – classroom curriculum that will help students and faculty learn what they can do at school and at home to save energy and reduce their impact on the environment.

At a time when so many school districts are grappling with aging facilities and declining revenues, this energy savings performance contract will help Madison County schools continue to make good on their promise to “embrace, equip and empower our students as lifetime learners.” More school districts should follow their lead.

Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.





Saving Lives and Energy in Beantown
August 02, 2009
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By Dan Collins, Johnson Controls

“Exceptional Care. Without Exception.” That’s the motto at Boston Medical Center, New England’s largest “safety net” hospital.

Boston Medical provides consistently excellent health services to anyone who needs it, regardless of their social status or ability to pay. Some 70 percent of the hospital’s patients come from low income families, are elderly, have disabilities or come from other groups that might otherwise find getting the health care they need difficult, if not impossible.

In 2008, more than three quarters of a million patients came through Boston Medical’s doors to receive health care services in more than 70 areas of medical specialty and subspecialty. The emergency room – the largest Level 1 trauma center in New England – had more than 129,000 visits, 60 percent more than the hospital with the second highest number.

When Johnson Controls took on an infrastructure renewal and energy efficiency project at Boston Medical, we knew success would mean more than finishing the project on time and within budget – which we did. We knew it would also mean doing everything we could to ensure patients continued to receive the top care they deserved and expected, without delay and without disruptions. I’m happy to say, “Mission accomplished!”

As general contractor on the project, we worked with the hospital’s administrators and facilities management team to schedule and coordinate project work so that disruptions to staff, patients and visitors were minimized, if not eliminated. In some cases, this required some pretty extraordinary measures.

For example, a major element of the project was the construction of a new 2,700-ton, high-efficiency, state-of-the-art chilled water plant to meet the growing need to cool patient care technology and lay the groundwork for future hospital expansion. This meant consolidating three existing chiller plants into one, while keeping one of them running to meet the hospital’s ongoing needs. We accomplished this by first removing two of the old chillers and then installing the three new chillers in the same space. After testing and commissioning them, we put the new chillers into service, enabling us to remove the last of the old equipment. With just seven months to complete the whole process, we were able to get the new chiller plant up and running ahead of schedule and, more importantly, ahead of hot weather.

Other energy efficiency improvements included installing variable frequency drives on motors, as well as lighting occupancy sensors to turn lights on and off in hospital hallways. We also commissioned equipment and systems to make sure they operate at maximum efficiency.

The result: $1.2 million in energy savings during 2008 – an accomplishment acknowledged by the New England Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers earlier this year when it honored the initiative with its Best Energy Project – Medical Facilities award.

The improvements also simplify building maintenance and reduce the hospital’s environmental impact. But in my mind the most significant achievement was summed up best in the words of a Boston Medical project manager we worked with: “At no time did the project affect patient care.”

Considering the critical role Boston Medical plays in the health and well-being of literally hundreds of thousands of people in the region, that’s something we’re all very proud of.

Efficiency Now! It’s never been more important.




Ringing the BELL for Energy Leaders
July 12, 2009
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By Sandra Buettner, Johnson Controls

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”

When John Quincy Adams – America’s sixth President – expressed that thought, steam locomotives and horse-drawn streetcars were among our major modes of transportation. Many of our homes and businesses were still lit by whale oil lamps. And “energy efficiency” was a concept that would mean very little to anyone for another 150 years.

Today, however, Adams’ words perfectly describe the kind of person (or persons) Johnson Controls hopes to honor again this year with a Building Efficiency Lifetime Leadership – or BELL – award.

Presented annually during our Green Tie Affair at the Greenbuild Conference, the BELL award recognizes outstanding and long-term individual leadership in pursuing, promoting and implementing energy efficiency and/or renewable energy initiatives. Award recipients are selected for their contributions to:
  • Energy efficiency in buildings
  • Energy policy development and/or advocacy
  • Energy efficiency product development and/or deployment
  • Renewable energy initiatives
  • Leadership in energy efficiency communications
Last year’s winner was Paul von Paumgartten, longtime director of energy and environmental affairs here at Johnson Controls. For many, many years, Paul has been a tireless advocate for creating the tools, developing the standards and crafting the strategies to convince more and more organizations to integrate sustainability into their operations. Paul was a founding member of the USGBC and helped in the development of the first LEED rating system. He was a most deserving recipient of the first BELL award.

We’ll present the BELL again on November 11th at our Green Tie Affair at Greenbuild 2009 in Phoenix. Nominations are open to anyone, but the deadline is fast-approaching: August 31, 2009.

You can review and download the nomination form and criteria here. Nominations can be e-mailed or faxed to me at the e-mail address or fax number on the nomination form.

Recipients are selected by a Johnson Controls Awards Committee, made up of well-known leaders in energy efficiency and renewable energy from both inside and outside the company.

Another famous person – the late Peter Drucker, a well-known management expert and author – said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”

It will be a privilege to again this year present BELL awards to people whose commitment and contributions to energy efficiency and renewable energy epitomize both the letter and spirit of those words.

Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.





Acupuncture and Lobsters in a Virtual World
June 29, 2009
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By Steve Thomas, Johnson Controls

Near the end of his keynote speech at last week’s Virtual Energy Forum, Amory Lovins was asked what I thought was a very interesting and telling question. Lovins is head of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), which describes itself as a “think and do tank” focused on energy and resource efficiency. Lovins says RMI is in the business of “institutional acupuncture” – locating the logjams restricting progress and sticking needles into them until they loosen up. Johnson Controls sponsored his presentation at the Virtual Energy Forum.

The question posed to Lovins was this: “Why isn’t more happening?” The question reflects the eagerness that those of us involved in energy efficiency share. We’re all anxious to see the pace of change quicken, see energy efficiency become a higher priority in more buildings and homes, see renewable energy provide a bigger percentage of our power.

But the question was also a reminder of something important: a lot is already happening. Lovins made reference to one excellent example: the energy efficiency retrofit now underway at the Empire State Building – a project on which Rocky Mountain Institute and Johnson Controls are partnering. Upgrades to windows, HVAC systems and more will result in a 38% reduction in the building’s energy use. Best yet, the project will create a template for other buildings to follow to become more energy efficient and more profitable.

It’s an example, Lovins pointed out, of what can happen when businesses realize that energy efficiency can be one of the lowest-risk, highest-return investments they can make. But it requires persistence, Lovins observed, like eating lobster: the big, easy chunks are in the tail and claws, but there are plenty of tasty morsels in other places if you’re willing to work a little harder for them.

To see Lovins’ entire presentation, go to the Virtual Energy Forum website, register (or log in if you’re already registered) and click on Archived Presentations.

Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.




Saving Water in the Wildest of Places
June 07, 2009
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By Tricia Kuse, Johnson Controls

More than two thousand miles of prairies, mountains and deserts separate Milwaukee, Wisconsin and San Diego, California. The climates and cultures in the two cities couldn’t be more different. But right now, they have at least two big things in common: wild animals and water.

In the wild animals department, both San Diego and Milwaukee have fabulous zoos. The world-famous San Diego Zoo is routinely ranked as the best in the nation, and the Milwaukee Zoo is often on lists of the top zoos in the U.S.

What about water? Well, each city has a massive body of water in its front yard – San Diego, the Pacific Ocean; Milwaukee, Lake Michigan. The whole state of California is in the midst of a severe water shortage – one that’s prompted the Governor to declare a state of emergency. And Milwaukee is working hard to establish itself as the World Water Hub for water research, economic development and education.

In San Diego, the emphasis on water ratchets up several notches next week when the American Water Works Association (AWWA) holds its annual conference and exposition in the city. High on the conference agenda will be water efficiency, which, coincidentally, is also high on list of priorities at the Milwaukee County Zoo.

At Johnson Controls, we’re proud to be working with the Milwaukee Zoo to make habitats for some 350 species of animals more water and energy efficient. After conducting an exhaustive audit of Zoo buildings that are spread out over 200 acres of spacious parkland, we’re implementing a range of large-scale equipment upgrades and operational improvements. To mention a few:

  • Updating to low-flow sinks, aerators, toilets and valves
  • Putting control valves on drinking trays in the Aviary Building
  • Regulating water flow at the Japanese Macaque Island
  • Turning off water at night for decorative displays and waterfalls in the small mammal building and in the bear and giraffe exhibits
These and other measures are expected to cut the Zoo’s water use in half and save 100 million gallons of water each year.

Just as importantly, they’ll help create a more comfortable environment for the 1,800 “residents” – from alligators to zebras – and for Zoo visitors and staffers of the two-legged variety.

What’s more, because of the strong linkage between energy and water usage, the improvements we’re helping make at the Milwaukee Zoo will also result in significant energy savings. Recently, my colleague, Joy Clarke Holmes, and I presented a webcast about this important relationship between water and energy and the incredible opportunities to maximize both economic and environmental returns with smart water management. You can view the archived webcast here.

A recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Fund estimates that if California businesses adopt proper water efficiency measures, enough water could be saved to supply San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego. The report calls on the commercial, industrial and institutional sectors to dramatically improve their water efficiency – and it’s clear that institutions such as the Milwaukee County Zoo are leading the way.

It’s also clear that the time is now for others to join in. Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.




Rocky Road and 31 Other Flavors on the Path to Energy Efficiency
May 06, 2009
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By Don Young, International Facility Management Association (IFMA)

Taking part in a webcast this week, I couldn’t stop thinking about ice cream.

The webcast actually had nothing to do with my favorite dessert. It was about the third annual Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey that IFMA is happy to partner with Johnson Controls on every year.

Johnson Controls, of course, is headquartered in Wisconsin – America’s Dairyland – but that isn’t what put an image of ice cream into my head, either.

Here’s what did: Most of the time, I’m pretty good about choosing the no-sugar, no-fat ice cream when the urge strikes. I have to admit that sometimes, though, I give in and have a scoop of “fully-loaded.” I know I should stop doing this altogether. But I don’t. There’s a disconnect between what I know I should do and what I actually do. And that is exactly what the results of this year’s EEI survey show:

•    71% of business leaders are paying more attention to energy efficiency than they were a year ago (that’s up from 62% in 2007)
•    58% say energy management is extremely or very important (up from just 20% in 2007)

But here’s the kicker:

•    10% fewer business leaders expect to spend capital dollars on energy efficiency improvements
•    6% fewer expect to invest operating dollars into energy efficiency

Businesses know what they should do, but fewer are actually doing it. Why? The number one reason is capital budgets that are shrinking due to the economic slowdown. Number two is the relatively longer payback on energy efficiency investments. Uncertainty is yet another big reason – uncertainty over the direction of energy prices, financial incentives and government regulation of carbon emissions.

Still, in the midst of this uncertainty and economic turmoil, organizations are making significant investments in energy efficiency. Two of them took part in the webcast:

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory signed a $89 million energy savings performance contract with Johnson Controls to dramatically increase energy efficiency and use of renewable energy on its 500-acre, 400-facility campus in Tennessee. When completed, the improvements will reduce fossil fuel use by 85%, save 170 million gallons of water a year and supply 21% of the facility’s power needs with on-site renewable energy facilities.

The Empire State Building, one of the most recognized and admired skyscrapers in the world, recently contracted with Johnson Controls to perform $20 million in energy efficiency upgrades to the 102-story Manhattan icon that will cut energy usage by 38% and reduce the structure’s carbon footprint. The project will serve as a model for energy efficiency retrofit projects that have sensible payback periods and enhance the profitability of owners.

The question I had is this: how were these two organizations able to look beyond the barriers preventing others from investing in energy efficiency? Their own responses during the webcast spoke loud and clear on that subject.

“It’s just good business,” said Tim Clancy, Director of Operations at the Empire State Building. “The investment pays back in lower energy costs, and we end up with a more valuable building.”

“I agree that it’s good business,” added Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Deputy Director of Facilities and Operations Jimmy Stone. “It’s how we’re going to be a viable organization going forward.”

No disconnect there. Two facility management professionals who recognize the critical roles they play in helping their organizations control costs and operate sustainably. They and their organizations are proof positive that strategic capital investments in high-performance building technologies can and do lower energy consumption, maximize efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

As the economy improves, credit markets ease and the regulatory picture becomes clearer, we’re certain to see more organizations like them lining up for their scoop of energy efficiency, with some renewables sprinkled on top.





Dead Cell Phones and Other Low-hanging Fruit
April 26, 2009
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By Don Albinger, VP of Renewable Energy, Johnson Controls

How many dead cell phones are you still the proud owner of? I know I’ve got at least three. Guess how many there are in America right now. About 500 million. That’s a half-billion lying around in desk drawers and utility room cabinets in our homes and offices. Think they’re worthless? Not hardly. Actually, they represent a gold mine.

Those cell phones contain an estimated 17 million pounds of copper, 374,000 pounds of silver and 38,000 pounds of gold. You’d have to mine two tons of earth to get a half ounce of gold – so think how much dirt you’d need to move to produce 38,000 pounds. And now think about how much energy we could save in mining, transporting and refining precious metals if we just recycled a bunch of useless cell phones.

Imagine that you are holding a handful of coal in your hand that contains 100 units of energy. If you burn that coal to generate electricity and then push that electricity through transmission lines to your building, you can use it to run electric motors that pump hot water throughout your facility to keep it warm.

Out of that handful of coal you started with, how many units of energy do you think actually end up in your building as heat? The answer is not much: only 10 out of the original 100 units of energy. The rest – 90% – is lost along the way.

That’s a lot of lost energy, right? But think about it this way: what if we reverse the process? Instead of thinking about how much energy we’re losing, what if we think about how much energy we could be saving? If you save ten units of energy by making your building more energy efficient, you avoid burning ten times the amount of coal that would have been necessary to generate that electricity. Save a little energy just by turning off the lights in your conference rooms and running your building more efficiently, and you save ten times as much on the generation of that electricity. Little things can make a big impact.

You know those power strips underneath your desk that the power supplies to your computer, monitor, printer and other electronics are all plugged into? Did you know that they continue burning electricity even when the devices are turned off? Each power strip uses from 20 to 40 watts of electricity – let's call it 30 watts on average. If just a million people started turning off those power strips before they leave the office, electric companies could avoid burning 1,255 rail cars of coal.

If you have two of those converter boxes for your cable television in your house – you know, the ones that are always on – they’re consuming about as much electricity as your refrigerator. That’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week. While you’re sleeping. While you’re at work. While you’re on vacation. If one million people unplugged their cables boxes for eight hours while they’re in bed, we’d save 87.6 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

On Earth Day last week, I was privileged to be one of the speakers at a conference on Wisconsin’s energy future. A bevy of distinguished representatives from government agencies, universities and private industry spoke about topics that included federal and state energy policies, renewable energy resources, green jobs, transportation issues and climate change.

It was a reminder that we’re grappling with big issues requiring big ideas and big investments of resources. But it’s also good to remember that some of the solutions can be pretty simple.

Efficiency now. It's never been more important.





LEED with Your Hips
April 20, 2009
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By Paul von Paumgartten, Johnson Controls

If I’ve learned anything from playing golf – and based on my handicap, I know the guys in my foursome are wondering what I could possibly be talking about at this point – it’s this: my game is a work in progress. Always has been. Always will be.

I’ve played for more years than I’d like to admit, and still there are days when I can’t hit the driver to save my life. Or if my driver’s working, I can’t chip. Or if I’m playing okay around the greens, I can’t putt. You get the picture.

Here’s what I love about golf, though: every year I learn something new from one of my buddies, correct a bad habit, try out a new club. Slowly, but surely, my game is getting better.

That’s how I feel about LEED v3. I’ve been involved with LEED from the beginning. Like you, I’ve seen all the changes. And I know there’s going to be some belly-aching about “change for the sake of change” this time around, too.

But I think that while LEED v3 definitely makes some significant modifications in the certification process, very soon we will be looking back and thinking, “Man, am I glad we did that!” Here’s why.

First, LEED v3 sets the stage for a much more orderly revision process going forward. From now on, updates to the standards will be more similar to building codes – meaning they’ll be scheduled every couple years and based on changes in the market that make them necessary. LEED v3 takes the randomness out of future updates.

Second, LEED online is faster and easier to use than ever before. It vastly improves communications between project teams and certifiers. If you’re managing more than one project at a time, it makes life much easier. Credit assignments are made to team members by name, not roles, eliminating those annoying, “That was on my list?” responses. And an improved timeline shows what’s been accomplished and what’s left to be done – including target dates – making staying on track easier. There are other big improvements in how the tool supports the certification process that you’ll have to experience. But, trust me, you’re going to love them. A lot.

Finally, LEED v3 will mean more improvement in the social, environmental and financial performance of buildings. Just like with golf – or any pursuit, for that matter – if you’re not in it to get better, you’re not in it at all. Besides, I talk with very few building owners and facilities managers who – now that they have their plaque on the wall – aren’t interested in continuously improving the energy efficiency of their buildings. Having tasted the cost reductions, improved working environments, positive public image and all the other benefits that come with a LEED certified building, they want more. And that is as it should be.

From where I’m sitting LEED v3 – like my new and improved golf swing – is progress. If you have a different perspective – or any tips on curing a chronic slice off the tee – let me know?



The Bell Tolls on a Brighter Energy Future in a Place Called Wyandotte
April 13, 2009
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By Ron Stimac, Johnson Controls

It’s coming. A little too slowly for some. But it’s definitely coming.

In a few short weeks, the hour that every school kid in the nation fervently prays for will finally arrive. The moment when school bells ring one last time and the curtain drops on the 2008-2009 academic year. Another nine months of multiplication tables, book reports, essay questions and cafeteria food draws to a close – and a long, lazy summer of swimming pools, sandlot baseball and sleepovers begins.

In at least one city in America, the start of this summer break also marks the end of a truly remarkable year – a year in which local school officials took another bold step into a cleaner, brighter and more sustainable future for every kid in a classroom and every taxpayer in the district. That city is Wyandotte, Michigan.

Located in metro Detroit, Wyandotte Public Schools does the best it can to serve about 4,700 students on a budget that is, to put it politely, “constrained.” As I’m sure you’ve noticed, things have been tough in Detroit and pretty much all of Michigan for awhile now. That’s why what schools officials are doing in Wyandotte is so smart.

For more than a decade, Johnson Controls has worked with Wyandotte Public Schools to help make the high school, middle school and six elementary schools more energy efficient and more comfortable for kids, teachers and staff.

We’ve replaced old boilers, lighting fixtures that contained PCBs, and leaky doors and windows with new high-efficiency ones. As a result of the improvements, all 11 Wyandotte school buildings have earned ENERGY STAR® certification, making the district the first in the entire state to accomplish that.

Performance contracts have been used to fund all of the improvements, meaning the upgrades pay for themselves with the money they save on utility bills and operations – more than $6.9 million over 15 years.

But it’s the latest project that may have the biggest impact on the school system, the kids and the community. In 2008, we installed solar photovoltaic (or PV) panels on the roof of Wilson Middle School. We worked with the municipal utility in Wyandotte and the State of Michigan to get grants that paid about half the cost of the solar system.

The 10 kilowatt system will convert the free rays of the sun into electricity to help power the school. But more important is the impact the panels are having on students – particularly the kids in the 8th grade class who have taken ownership of the solar system. They have an entire curriculum about solar energy and a website that tracks the amount of energy the panels are producing. (Check out videos about the system.)

These students are learning about the impact their energy use is having on the environment, how to use less through energy efficiency, and how renewable sources like the sun can meet the energy needs of the future.

You know why that’s important? Because these kids are someday going to be the adults who solve our energy and climate problems. And it’s our responsibility – our solemn duty – to prepare them today to be the energy engineers and the solar technicians and the smart energy consumers of tomorrow.

When the school bells ring again next fall, that’s what they’ll be doing in Wyandotte. Don’t you wonder why every school in America won’t be doing the same?

Efficiency now. It’s never been more important.



The Empire State Building: Teaching an Old Building New Tricks
April 06, 2009
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By Iain Campbell, Vice President and General Manager, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Towering above the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in Manhattan is without question America’s most famous skyscraper: the Empire State Building.

At a few inches over 1,453 feet, it was the world’s tallest man-made structure for 23 years. It has 6,500 windows, 73 elevators and 1,860 heart-pounding, breath-stealing steps from the street to the 102nd floor.

Existing commercial buildings like the Empire State Building consume some 18 percent of the energy used in the United States and account for about the same percentage of greenhouse gas emissions. Many buildings have made progress in reducing their energy usage and environmental impact – the Empire State Building included. But the initiative announced on April 6th at this historic structure is dramatically different and proof positive that even old buildings can learn new tricks.

The “Empire State Building Leadership in American Progress in Sustainability” project promises to make the world’s most famous office building a world leader in energy efficiency and sustainability. And at Johnson Controls, we’re pleased to be collaborating on the project with the Empire State Building Company, Jones Lang LaSalle and two of the world’s leading organizations focused on sustainability: Rocky Mountain Institute and Clinton Climate Initiative.

Together, we’re developing a $20 million sustainability project to complete upgrades to the Empire State Building that will include:
  • Refurbishing windows to make them substantially more energy efficient
  • Improving the insulation behind existing radiators to reflect more heat into the office space
  • Installing a new state-of-the-art energy management and control system
  • Rebuilding or replacing HVAC equipment with new high-efficiency models
  • Providing tenants with a web-based  tool to help them track and manage their individual energy usage
When we’re all done, we’ll have reduced energy usage in the building by 38 percent, energy costs by $4.4 million per year, and greenhouse gas emissions by 105,000 metric tons over a period of fifteen years.  Most importantly, the project team has collaborated to develop an innovative approach to retrofitting multi-tenant commercial office buildings that will be a model for the industry.

The project will be good for the owners because it will make the building more valuable, more marketable and more cost effective.

It will be good for tenants because their operating costs will be lower, their environments more comfortable and their employees more productive.

It will be good for the world, because our approach (tools and documentation available at www.esbsustainability.com) can be used over and over again to lower the energy usage and environmental impact of commercial office buildings around the globe. 

For nearly eighty years, the Empire State Building has stood as a towering landmark to American ingenuity. Soon it will also become a symbol of energy efficiency and sustainability for the entire world.

Efficiency now. It’s never been more important.




Cow Power and Other Inspirational Stories of Leadership on Renewable Energy
March 30, 2009
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By Don Albinger, VP of Renewable Energy, Johnson Controls

I was very pleased to be one of the speakers at the recent Wisconsin Renewable Energy Summit in Milwaukee. The session topic was the Role of Local Governments in Moving Towards Energy Independence with Renewable Energy – and I was honored to appear with a distinguished group of people who are doing just that:

Larry Nelson, Mayor of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Larry talked about the work he and his colleagues are doing to demonstrate that cities can be fiscally and environmentally responsible at the same time. Larry proudly pointed to two commercial developments – a new Kohl’s department store and a Wal-Mart super center – that will be showplaces for sustainable practices when they’re completed. Solar panels on the Kohl’s will generate 15% of the store’s electricity. And the Wal-Mart will incorporate – among a host of other sustainable features – more than 100 skylights to lower (or even eliminate), the need for interior lighting on sunny days. Larry also presented details of the energy efficiency upgrades to Waukesha municipal buildings (performed, I’m happy to say, by Johnson Controls!), that are paying for themselves with more than $2 million in savings on utility bills.

Jeanne Hoffman, Facilities and Sustainability Manager for the City of Madison, Wisconsin. Jeanne talked about MadiSUN – the city’s solar energy program aimed at doubling installations of solar electric and solar hot water systems by 2001. One of the ingenious features the program provides, Jeanne pointed out, is a “solar agent” – an expert who answers questions and provides free advice to home and business owners about solar systems, required permits and rebates – and then helps them pick out a qualified contractor. More than 300 citizens and businesses have taken advantage of the program so far.

Dave Merritt, Dane County, Wisconsin. Dave correctly pointed out that “the key to energy independence and climate change is local.” And he provided an excellent example of how Dane County is doing more than giving that lip service: Cow Power is the County’s program to build two digester systems to turn cow manure from a number of dairy farms in the County into electricity. The program positions Wisconsin as a national leader in making available to small farms these manure-to-energy systems that in the past have only been used by large cattle operations. Construction of the digesters will create hundreds of jobs, and when they’re completed, each system will generate $900,000 in revenue from renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 pounds. The digesters will also remove thousands of pounds of phosphorous from the manure and prevent it from entering Madison area lakes where it contributes to algae growth and green water (when it comes to lakes, “green” isn’t necessarily a good thing!).

And Ann Beier, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Environmental Sustainability. Ann painted a clear picture of the critical role Milwaukee city government is playing in energy independence by setting the right example, testing new technologies, and developing innovative programs and policies. Ann talked about the progress the city is making in meeting its goal to reduce energy use by 15% by 2012 by installing solar electric and geothermal systems in municipal buildings, and converting city stoplights to high-efficiency LED fixtures – a step the city is also studying for municipal parking garages. She also talked about Milwaukee’s participation in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities program – a partnership of 25 major cities (Madison is also a participant), designed to accelerate adoption of solar technologies by giving home and business owners information, guiding them through the permitting process and helping them pay the initial cost of going solar. Later this year, the city and Focus on Energy will launch a pilot Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program – or Me2 as it’s known – which will pay up-front costs of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in two city neighborhoods, allowing building owners to pay off the costs over time on their utility bills.

In my mind, the stories told by each one of these speakers demonstrate how we already have the means, the funding mechanisms, the technologies and the expertise to put energy efficiency and renewable energy to work in city halls and county courthouses across America to save money, create jobs and protect the environment.

Waukesha, Madison, Dane County and Milwaukee – they’re all leading the way. A lot more like them need to find the will to join in.

What do you think?



Caring for Kids in a Leaner and Greener Phoenix Children’s Hospital
March 09, 2009
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By Claudio Andreetta, Johnson Controls

I’ll bet you’ve heard the saying, “First, do no harm.” I’ve always thought that old motto was part of the Hippocratic Oath – the pledge traditionally taken by doctors when they enter the medical profession.

Turns out it isn’t part of that ancient oath at all – that’s just a widely believed misconception. But it is one of the fundamental principles followed by doctors, nurses and other health care professionals worldwide. And increasingly it means more than “do no harm” to your patients.

Today, like never before, health care organizations are under mounting pressure to “do no harm” to the world around them – the environment and the communities they touch. Hospitals across the country and around the globe are looking to improve their triple bottom lines – their economic, environmental and social performance. And I’m proud to be part of an organization that’s helping them get there.

Here’s just one example – Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Already one of the nation’s ten largest children’s hospitals, Phoenix Children’s provides Arizona’s sickest kids with state-of-the-art health care in more than 40 specialty areas. But the population in Arizona is growing rapidly, and that means the hospital must grow, too, so Phoenix Children’s broke ground last year on a $588 million, multi-year expansion project. A new 11-story patient tower, a Ronald McDonald House and a Level One Pediatric Trauma Center are all part of the plan.

These new and expanded facilities will require substantially more electric power and water -- and that’s where Johnson Controls comes into the picture. In May, we will complete construction of a new central utility plant that will not only meet the hospital’s growing needs, but will save significant amounts of energy and water and make Phoenix Children’s even leaner and greener.

In addition to meeting the current and future needs of the hospital, the new utility plant will save $10.9 million in energy and operating costs over the next 15 years – money the hospital can redirect to taking care of kids and their families. The plan will also save 5.6 million gallons of water a year – a major consideration in an area where water is an increasingly scarce natural resource.

Just as impressive is how we were able to partner with Phoenix Children’s to make the project a reality. The hospital had already chosen a conventional design for the central utility plant, until we convinced them of the benefits that an alternative, enhanced design could offer. Our design uses heat pumps to cogenerate heating and cooling from one single energy source, which dramatically reduces the use of natural gas, while very modestly increasing electrical use. Additional cost savings come from:
  • More efficient use of cooling tower water
  • Reduced discharges to the sanitary sewer system
  • Variable-speed drives on chillers
  • Variable-flow primary heating system pumping
  • Implementation of higher efficiency condensing boilers
  • And the industry’s most sophisticated automation and control systems
And even though we came into the project in the middle of the design phase, we worked hard and collaborated with everyone on the project to make sure the construction timeline stayed on track.

In our contract with Phoenix Children’s we guarantee the energy and water savings, as well as the availability of chilled and hot water and standby electrical power. What’s more, we’re operating and maintaining the entire utility plant for the next 15 years at a fixed cost.

In the end, the new utility plant we’re completing won’t just provide power and water to meet Phoenix Children’s growing current and future needs. It will also support the hospital’s goals to save money, conserve resources and operate more sustainably.

And it’s just one more example of how we’re working alongside healthcare organizations nationwide to help them make good on their promise to “do no harm” to the people and communities they serve.



How Tax-exempt Organizations Can Still Benefit From Tax Breaks for Solar Energy
February 09, 2009
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By Derek Price, Johnson Controls, Inc.

Picture a large medical center in a major metropolitan area. An eight-story hospital dominates the center’s two-acre campus, which is also dotted with smaller clinics, office buildings and parking structures. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, administrators and other staff work around the clock to provide top-notch health care to people from all over the region – care that saves many lives, and makes many more worth living.

Now picture the center’s electric bill. It’s big, really big. And with energy prices that are always either rising or falling – sometimes quite dramatically and with little warning – it’s pretty hard for the facility manager to come up with a budget every year, much less stick to it.

Here’s a thought: with so many buildings, couldn’t the medical center generate its own electricity with solar panels spread out over all those empty rooftops? Wouldn’t that help stabilize the center’s electric bills, reduce its carbon footprint and send a strong message to the community that it’s a caring and responsible corporate citizen? Isn’t that an option?

The answer is yes, it is an option. But it’s not a very good one, and here’s why: Many of the financial incentives available to help offset the initial costs of installing a solar photovoltaic (PV) system come in the form of tax credits, or accelerated depreciation on the solar equipment itself. Those incentives are great for businesses that pay taxes. But the medical center is a non-profit organization, so it doesn’t pay taxes. That means it can’t benefit from the tax breaks. And that makes it much, much harder for the medical center to make going solar financially feasible.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution: a Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. A PPA is a contract – in this case, a contract between someone who owns a solar PV system and someone else who buys the electricity that system generates. Here’s how it could work for the medical center:
  • The medical center signs a PPA with a third party – typically an investor or group of investors
  • The medical center agrees to let the third party install solar panels (and related equipment) on its facilities
  • The medical center also agrees to buy all the electricity the solar panels generate – at fixed prices – for the life of the contract, which could be as long as 25 years
What’s in it for the medical center? Lots:
  • No up-front costs of purchasing and installing the solar panels –the third party puts up the money
  • No ongoing operating and maintenance expenses – likewise, the third party bears those costs
  • Stable electric rates for the life of the contract – eliminating the ups and downs in its electric bills and providing a hedge against dramatic increases in energy prices
  • The positive goodwill in the community that comes with doing the right thing

The third party investors are, of course, a commercial business, so they can benefit from the tax credits and other incentives that make these kinds of projects good investments. It’s a classic win-win – and it’s perfect for hospitals, schools, state and local governments and other non-profit organizations in states where a) electricity rates are relatively high and b) state tax credits are available.

If you’d like to learn more, check out our white paper on funding renewable energy projects.



Green Buildings: More Than Just an Act of Faith
January 12, 2009
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by John Coleman, Johnson Controls

Remember the first time another grownup said something really nice about one of your kids? I mean, something really nice. Something like, “Your son is a joy to have in my class” or, “Your daughter is the kindest, most considerate person I know.”

It puts a lump in my throat just thinking about it. All along you’d been relying on your instincts, hoping you were raising them the right way. But you didn’t know, really know, know for sure until that moment came along. The moment when someone said to you, “You’ve been doing the right things.”

Funny as it may sound, that’s precisely the way I feel about the 2008 Green Building Impact Report, researched and written by Rob Watson and Elizabeth Balkan, and released at Greenbuild (with my employer, Johnson Controls, as a presenting sponsor).

Let’s be honest. This whole green building thing has been largely a “go with your gut” thing from the get-go. Up until now, we’ve all been pretty sure we were doing something good for the environment by adopting LEED standards, whether it was for new construction or existing buildings. After all, reducing environmental impacts of buildings is what LEED is all about. But did we know, really know, know for sure that we were making a difference? No we did not. Why? Because, as the report so aptly puts it, “No comprehensive evaluation of the overall impact of LEED has been conducted. Until now.”

For the first time, the Green Building Impact Report documents the broad spectrum of accomplishments LEED has helped us achieve in the last eight years:

  • Reduced energy usage by 25% on average – by 2020 this is projected to save the amount of energy that would be produced by burning more than 48 million tons of coal
  • Lowered CO2 emissions by 7 million tons to date – a number the authors estimate will grow to more than 700 million tons by 2020
  • Generated or purchased 1.63 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity – enough to power 150,000 homes. That number is expected to approach 59 billion kilowatt-hours by 2020
  • Avoided nearly 400 million vehicle miles traveled by occupants of LEED buildings – expected to reach more than 4 billion miles by 2020
  • Saved nearly 10 billion gallons of water in 2008 alone, – expected to exceed 245 billion gallons by 2020
  • Created a $10 billion plus green building materials industry – projected to surpass $100 billion by 2020
  • Realized annual productivity gains on the order of more than $170 million from improvements in indoor air quality – a figure that is expected to grow to nearly $2 billion per year by 2020
“Green buildings,” the report confirms, “Are an undisputed market success.” And indeed they are. But, just like our children, they’re also a work in progress. The report concludes that there is much more to be done, and done quickly.

The report quotes a study by the U.N. Commission on Sustainable Development that says while the total square footage of building space is expected to increase 150% by 2050, CO2 emissions from all those buildings will have to drop to 20% of what they are today if we hope to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Obviously, this means many more buildings will have to be LEED certified, and every one of those buildings will have to be even more efficient – actually, a lot more efficient – than they are today.

One step in the right direction is the new headquarters for Integrated Design Associates, Inc., a San Jose, California company that provides electrical engineering and lighting design services to schools, medical facilities, offices and other clients.

The company bought a 60’s era windowless concrete building that had previously been a bank and – with Johnson Controls’ help – turned it into the first commercial office building in the U.S. designed to produce 100% of its own electricity, burn no fossil fuels and produce no net greenhouse gas emissions.

The IDeAs building:

  • Includes a geothermal heat pump system that uses the constant temperature just below the surface of the ground to help cool the structure in the summer and warm it in the winter
  • Generates as much electricity as the building consumes through solar photovoltaic panels
  • Takes advantage of available day-lighting through skylights, sensors that turn off some lights when sunlight is sufficient, and windows that darken when the sun strikes them directly
  • Uses high-efficiency lighting and occupancy sensors
  • Extends energy savings to computers and office equipment that automatically shut down when the building’s security system is armed
If you’d like to read more, check out this case study.

And, every time you get the chance, make a parent’s day. Say something nice about their kid.




Seeing it All Come Together
January 05, 2009
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By James F. Dagley and Terry W. Hoffmann, Johnson Controls, Inc.

This is a great time of year to be a football fan. For a few short days around New Years, we get to see the best-of-the-best in college football compete in one bowl game after another. It’s thrilling to watch teams that are hitting on all cylinders – their players performing at the top of their games on offense, defense and special teams. It’s a rare combination that produces remarkable results, including – at least for one school – a national championship.

That’s exactly the situation we see developing in the facilities management game, only the players aren’t quarterbacks, linebackers or punt return specialists. They’re facility and IT managers – just like the ones at Ave Maria University.

Located in southwestern Florida near the city of Naples, Ave Maria represents the coming together of two visions – one to build the first major Catholic university in the U.S. in more than forty years, and the other to usher in a new era of land planning that protects the environment and agriculture while promoting economic prosperity. Ave Maria University and the community around it are being developed at the same time in an effort to create an environment where living and learning converge. It’s a model for rural development everywhere.

This spirit of convergence is especially evident at the school, where IT and facility operations have been merged into one. Nearly two dozen systems encompassing IT infrastructure, fire, security, HVAC and building control systems have been combined on a single platform operating on a single IP network. Converging these systems has been a boon for the University, saving the school $1.5 million in up-front construction costs and $950,000 annually in reduced utility and staffing costs.

Merging facility and IT management systems to this degree would have been impossible just a few short years ago. It’s possible now thanks to another convergence – this one in the industry as a whole: the coming together of the technology, standards and expertise to merge previously separate facilities management and IT systems on standard platforms, applications and infrastructures.

This perfect technology storm is unleashing opportunities for facility and IT managers to make quantum leaps in building and business performance – lowering their construction costs while increasing operating efficiencies and reducing energy usage. And in many cases, a Technology Contractor is the coach that makes it all possible.

Technology Contracting is a coordinated, enterprise-wide approach to managing the installation and integration of complex building systems. The Technology Contractor is the single point of responsibility, the person who brings to the table the right mix of expertise and perspective, and who calls the shots on choosing, installing and operating the building’s network and its systems. It’s not a new idea, but it’s one that’s catching on fast now that the return on investment has been documented.

If you’d like to learn more, check out the white paper we’ve written about this topic. It’s called The Perfect Technology Storm.

And while you’re watching your favorite schools play on the wide screen, think about how convergence is helping organizations such as Ave Maria University – a school that may never compete for a BCS Championship – win big for themselves, for their communities and for the environment by encouraging facility and IT manager to play together on the same team.



Greenbuild Expo Heightens Focus on Energy Efficiency
December 09, 2008
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Darryll Fortune, Johnson Controls

One attendee described it as “another blowout conference,” and that it was. I was among the more than 25,000 people who packed this year’s Greenbuild conference the week before Thanksgiving in Boston. Despite tough economic conditions (how’s that for understatement?!), I didn’t see any signs that enthusiasm about green buildings is in retreat.

For those of us who work for Johnson Controls, this year’s Greenbuild was another opportunity to raise our collective voices about the importance of energy efficiency as the first step towards a solution to the energy crisis. Operating under the Efficiency Now mantra a new web site was unveiled looking at some fun energy and sustainability factoids, games and videos. Individuals and businesses are asked to look at energy efficiency as the first step toward solving our energy crisis. Log onto the site:  www.johnsoncontrols.com/efficiencynow

Besides that pronouncement, there were several other key initiatives:

  • Greenprint – a new online tool we put together in partnership with the National Resources Defense Council that helps both consumers and businesses take next steps to cut their energy use. www.mygreenprint.org to try it out.
  • Kilowatt Ours – if this fabulous documentary that we’ve sponsored doesn’t inspire you to take action, you’re hopeless. The film will be broadcast by more than 70 public television stations nationwide. As the announcer says, “check your local listings!”
  • New technologies including Gridlogix, PWI Energy and IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Energy Management – all designed to dial up any organization’s energy efficiency.
  • And a new training program to certify 800 (500 in the U.S., 300 in Asia) of my Johnson Controls colleagues as LEED Accredited Professionals by this time next year. The salespeople and service technicians who’ll receive this training will be better able to help customers make their buildings as energy efficient as possible.

It was obvious to me that this focus on energy efficiency is in lockstep with what people who attended Greenbuild are looking for –people who design or build or own buildings – people who are hungrier than I’ve ever seen them for new and innovative ways to further reduce their energy costs, shrink their environmental footprint and make their buildings more valuable.

One final announcement Johnson Controls made at this year’s Greenbuild has a very special and very personal meaning to me. That’s the introduction of the new Building Efficiency Lifetime Leadership (or BELL) award and its first recipient: Paul von Paumgartten, director of energy and environmental affairs for building efficiency here at Johnson Controls. Paul is a longtime friend and colleague, and he’s been a champion of green buildings in our company and throughout the industry since before green was cool. Paul was a founding member of the USGBC and helped in the development of the first LEED rating system. He deserves this award more than anyone I know, and we’re all very proud of him.

Future BELL awards will be presented at our Green Tie Affair at GreenBuild in coming years. We’re looking for longstanding leaders in energy efficiency in buildings, energy policy, energy efficient products, renewable energy or energy efficiency communications. If that describes you or someone you know, you’ll find a nomination form here.

Here’s hoping to see you at the next big green events: AHR Expo and ASHRAE Winter Conference, both next month in Chicago. Until then, efficiency now!





New Administration Must Boost Energy Efficiency in the US
November 12, 2008
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Enough talk. One of the longest presidential elections in U.S. history is finally over. The time has come for action – bold, bipartisan action – to address our nation’s pressing energy needs. And energy efficiency must be the lead-off batter.

We are certain that it will be. President-elect Obama’s detailed position paper on energy policy, called New Energy for America, promises that his administration will “deploy the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source – energy efficiency,” and “strive to make American the most energy efficient country in the world.”

The plan specifically calls for:

  • Reducing electricity demand 15 percent from the Department of Energy’s projected levels by 2020 by setting annual demand reduction targets for utilities and implementing more stringent building and appliance efficiency standards.
  • Improving new building efficiency by 50 percent and existing building efficiency by 25 percent with a goal of making all new buildings carbon neutral by 2030.
  • Implementing regular updates in appliance efficiency standards and working with lawmakers to improve national efficiency codes.
  • Making the federal government a leader in the green building market by achieving a 40 percent increase in efficiency in all new federal buildings and a 25 percent increase in all existing buildings within five years.
  • Putting 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars – cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon and are built here in American – on the road by 2015.
  • Ensuring that 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.
  • Implementing an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.

President-elect Obama promises to invest $150 billion over the next ten years to catalyze private efforts to build a clean energy future, resulting in the creation of five million new jobs and the elimination of oil imports from the Middle East and Venezuela within 10 years.

Here at Johnson Controls, we stand ready, willing and able to help. We are already working to ensure that leaders in the new administration and Congress understand that we can play a key role in advancing the administration’s efforts to dramatically improve the energy efficiency of buildings (http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/publish/us/en/products/building_efficiency.html), as well as with advanced batteries and other critical components for hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/publish/us/en/products/power_solutions.html).

Improving energy efficiency is the first and most important step toward controlling rising energy costs, reducing environmental footprints, creating jobs that will strengthen the economy, and improving our energy security.

We’ve all heard the promises. Action must be next. Efficiency now.





Joe the Plumber, Sam the Serviceman and Our Energy Future
October 25, 2008
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By Mark Wagner, VP - Government Relations, Johnson Controls

When he walked up to Barack Obama at a rally in Toledo, Ohio the other day, I’ll bet you the ranch that Joe Wurzelbacher had no idea what he was getting himself into. The news footage of that brief, but fateful, encounter has transformed Wurzelbacher from just another guy at a campaign stop into “Joe the Plumber,” and made him the subject of political ads, campaign speeches and news reporters around the world.

Will Joe actually influence the outcome of the election? Who knows? But here’s one thing that is clear: there are lots of other people out there who are going to make a big impact on the future of our economy, the use of energy and the security of our nation regardless of who wins the election.

They’re people like Sam, Lilly and John. And they’re the faces of the new green collar workforce.

Sam is a serviceman who maintains HVAC systems in buildings, correcting problems that waste energy. Lilly develops software that makes data centers more energy- and cost-efficient. And John is an engineer designing advanced battery systems for hybrid electric vehicles.

Two years ago, there were about 750,000 green collar workers like Sam, Lilly and John in the American workforce. Care to guess how many there’ll be in thirty years? Would you believe more than four million? One out of every ten new jobs will be green. That’s the current estimate.

A new study by the University of California concludes that “energy efficiency and innovation can pave the way to economic security and growth.” Those are two things we could use a little more of right now, don’t you think?

But as I said at a recent Capitol Hill briefing (http://www.eesi.org/102208_green_jobs), to get there we must have a coherent strategy. Not just individual programs, but a comprehensive strategy that takes a consistent and complimentary approach to increasing energy efficiency in buildings and vehicles. To begin with, how about:

  • Legislation and regulation that mandates CO2 reductions, bakes energy efficiency into building codes, requires that appliances waste less energy and raises the bar on energy efficiency and renewable portfolio standards
  • Financing programs and tax incentives for energy efficiency initiatives, plus innovative leasing structures
  • Training programs focused on preparing workers for careers in energy efficiency
  • Greater access to energy usage data by utilities, and improved labeling standards for buildings

And unless we want to be left sitting at a stoplight while the rest of world races ahead, we must develop a sustainable manufacturing capability right here in America to produce the advanced batteries and other critical components for hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. To start with, that’ll mean:

  • Laws and regulations that require energy efficiency gains and CO2 reductions in vehicles, maintain high CAFE standards and promote investments in R&D for next generation vehicles
  • Incentives for manufacturers to make, and consumers to buy, hybrid vehicles, as well as investments in a domestic supply base for these vehicles and their components
  • Greater emphasis on school programs that turn out more engineers and increase our overall competitiveness
  • Technology standards for hybrid battery systems and other vehicle components

If government, industry and educational institutions can work together to make the right investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, we can tackle some of our greatest challenges: the financial crisis, energy security and climate change.

And regardless of the name of your plumber or serviceman, that’s a platform all Americans must get behind.



Some Not-So-Nutty Ideas for National Energy Awareness Month
October 14, 2008
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 07:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Andy Armstrong - Unitary Products, Johnson Controls

This month, as I'm celebrating National Popcorn Poppin' Month, National Sarcastic Awareness Month and Workplace Politics Month, I'm going to make sure to remember that it's also National Energy Awareness Month. In the midst of an economic crisis, saving a little energy sounds like a pretty good idea, doesn’t it?

Here’s my list:

  1. Finally get serious about compact fluorescent light bulbs. We have a few scattered around the house, but we still have a lot of regular bulbs. The CFLs use 75% less energy and last ten times longer. Duh.
  2. Turn the temperature on the hot water heater down to warm – about 120 degrees. That will save energy and maybe I'll stop scalding my hands! 
  3. Buy AND INSTALL a programmable thermostat. OK, I bought one a few years ago, but apparently you have to actually install them to work. I’m actually home only about eight hours a day and I’m sleep six of those. (I’ll deal with the sleep deprivation issue in March during National Sleep Awareness Month.)
  4. Have someone come out and check the furnace to make sure it's running efficiently. After all, half of our winter energy bill comes from heating, so it pays to make sure the furnace is in tip-top shape. At a minimum, I can replace the filter and make a note on my calendar to that monthly.
  5. Caulk instead of complain about those drafts coming through the windows, around the fireplace in the family room and through that hole where the water pipes come into the house.
  6. Hardware stores have some cool electrical outlet and light switch covers tailor-made for blocking drafts. On a cool day if you put the back of your hand over those areas you’ll be amazed by the tailwind.
  7. Drip, Drip -- not the financial kind, but the drips coming from that faucet I keep tightening when I know a 30-cent washer is all that’s needed. I’m also gonna’ spend about ten bucks replacing that rubber flapper thing in the bottom of the toilet tank instead of jiggling the handle and standing there until the water stops running.
  8. Finally, I think I may have our local electric company send an auditor out to go through the house and see if I've missed anything. Can't hurt, right?  

Around my office I know I can:

  • Do a better job of turning off lights when I leave an empty room.
  • Adjust the window shades to let in more daylight in the morning, and block the warm rays of the afternoon sun.
  • Unplug stuff I'm not using, like my cell phone charger, printer and radio - and shut down my computer and monitor when I leave.
  • Use the copier only when I absolutely must.
  • And use the blank side of scrap paper for notes.

At the end of the month, I'll feel better about my own personal energy usage and I'll be saving money. Maybe I'll buy some nuts for Squirrel Awareness Month!





Greening Business Culture Through Precise Navigation
September 22, 2008
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Paul von Paumgartten

A recent report on sustainability initiatives from the Aberdeen Group notes that top performers place the transformation of an enterprise’s culture at the center of their sustainability and corporate responsibility platforms.

“Sustainability is as much about change in organizational culture as it is about process transformation. Accordingly, vision, leadership, education and communication are as important as changes in operational processes and technology,” according to Aberdeen.

One way Johnson Controls has been helping companies and organizations develop a culture of sustainability is through interactive Sustainability Navigator™  sessions.  We’re offering a free session at this year’s U.S. Green Building Council’ Greenbuild Conference, November 18 at the Westin Boston Waterfront.

In two highly interactive sessions – limited to 80 people each – participants will be introduced to our innovative gameboard-inspired assessment tool, the Sustainability Navigator. Johnson Controls developed the award-winning Navigator to help organizations identify and prioritize opportunities for improving their triple bottom line.

Participants complete a needs assessment covering a broad range of sustainability issues including environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic prosperity.  Then they evaluate their organization’s effectiveness in implementing sustainability best practices in the areas of:

•        Management/strategy
•        Environmental design
•        Operational efficiency
•        Social development
•        Metrics and reporting

After both assessments are completed, participants can compare results with other attendees and take away useful ideas about how to develop and implement a culture of sustainability in their own organizations. 

Click here to watch a video and see what happens at a Sustainability Navigation session.

Click here to register for the free sustainability planning session.

 





ENERGY STAR ® Keeps Plugging Along
October 29, 2007
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

By Paul von Paumgartten
Director, Energy & Environmental Affairs
Johnson Controls

Hats off to ENERGY STAR!  I’ve been working with this voluntary EPA/DOE program since its inception in the early 1990s as “Green Lights.”  Considering that it’s a government program with limited resources for market research and promotion, ENERGY STAR has become a star in its own right.  According to EPA’s 2006 survey:

  • More than 9,000 organizations are engaged in the ENERGY STAR program, helping Americans save more than $14 billion on energy bills while avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 25 million vehicles.
  • 68% of American households recognized the ENERGY STAR label, and 73% had a high or general understanding of the label’s purpose.
  • Mentions of ENERGY STAR in local, regional, and national press now have an average circulation of 100 million per month.
  • More than 3,200 buildings, representing almost 575 million square feet, have earned the ENERGY STAR label for superior energy and environmental performance based on EPA’s building rating system.

And that’s the part I’m interested in. ENERGY STAR has encouraged many third-party organizations to integrate their standards into a burgeoning drive towards building certification, or at least industry recognition and awards.  For instance:

  • LEED-EB ® Certification – An ENERGY STAR rating of at least 67 provides two points towards certification. A rating of 75 means four points.
  • Commercial/Corporate Real Estate - ENERGY STAR benchmarking earns one of the major points in BOMA’S 7-Point Challenge.
  • Counties: The National Association of Counties uses the ENERGY STAR Courthouse Campaign to promote energy reduction in county courthouses.
  • States: In his first act as chair of the National Governors Association, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced an initiative entitled "Securing a Clean Energy Future.”  Details of the program are being developed, but they may include elements of Minnesota’s “Next Generation Energy Initiative.” That program includes a goal of having 1,000 commercial buildings in the state achieve the ENERGY STAR label by 2010. 
  • Healthcare - The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) has teamed with ENERGY STAR in the ASHE Energy Efficiency Commitment campaign, which requires benchmarking.

ENERGY STAR also addresses other organization’s buildings, including Higher Education, Hospitality, Industrial , K-12,  Retail, Small Business and Congregations.  See the ENERGY STAR website for more details.

As businesses and organizations try to figure out how to get their arms around their own climate footprint, I offer a starting spot.  It’s right at the blue label.





Green Performance Contracting
June 05, 2007
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Arizona state buildings to businesses in Michigan, performance contracting is being used to pay for capital projects that improve building performance.  It’s usually considered for energy or water projects.  Now it’s time to use “green” performance contracting to pay for a comprehensive approach to making buildings more sustainable.

Performance contracting removes a major barrier for public and private entities, which face ever-tightening budgets, to make necessary upgrades to their facilities. Depending on local regulations and laws regarding performance contracting, the traditional tools for implementing energy efficiency improvements can be expanded to address overall building and site sustainability.

Employing integrated design – a central element of green building philosophy – allows high benefits at low cost by achieving synergies between disciplines and technologies. The project development process requires some balancing of choices to produce an overall payback period that meets the building owner’s requirements.  Performance contracting is highly effective because energy savings only need to pay for the incremental cost of higher-efficiency measures rather than for the whole cost.  And green performance contracting is even better for overcoming any first-cost barriers for sustainable improvements.  

Green performance contracting can be used to achieve sustainability goals in new building design and construction and in existing buildings.  
•    New Buildings: Higher-efficiency choices are compared to the modeled performance of the as-designed less-efficient building. Applying performance contracting to buildings being designed and built is the perfect cure for pressure to “value engineer” the efficiency and sustainability out of new buildings as they are designed. In new buildings, performance contracting bridges the gap between the first-cost and life-cycle-cost perspectives by using long-term energy savings to pay for the incremental first-cost of high-efficiency measures.  

•    Existing buildings: Green performance contracting provides a mechanism for implementing and financing the building’s efficiency and sustainability upgrades, including improved operations.  Achieving sustainable building performance in existing buildings can be done at reasonable costs. If needed, system or building upgrades can be spread out over time and implemented when capital dollars become available.

Green performance contracting provides comprehensive integrated solutions to a wide variety of building, site and infrastructure improvements, and it allows building owners to pay for these building sustainability improvements, including capital improvements or renewable energy, with funds in the organization’s expense budget.  

Michael Arny is president of the Leonardo Academy, which promotes environmental improvement and sustainability. A series of white papers on green performance contracting is available on the Leonardo Academy’s web site.  “The Users’ Guide to Green Performance Contracting” explains how public and private sector building owners can use green performance contracting to implement sustainability in their buildings. Three supporting white papers outline specific areas in detail.  All of these white papers are available at: www.leaonrdoacademy.org




State of the Union: Energy is about Technology, Buildings and...
February 14, 2007
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 11:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The energy pundits certainly have had a field day in the aftermath of President Bush’s State of the Union speech (link to speech - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html)

Many of us were pleased to hear the President's plan for reducing U.S. gasoline usage, as alternative and renewable fuels are a very important part of our nation's energy future and they can contribute mightily to curbing greenhouse gas emissions.   It’s also important to, as the President says, “press on with battery research for plug-in and hybrid vehicles." 

While much of the focus is on America’s addiction to gasoline, in actuality, the transportation industry only consumes about one-quarter of our nation’s energy. Wouldn’t you think the pundits would be more focused on the area where there can be a bigger impact:  Buildings

According to the American Institute of Architects, “Buildings account for forty-eight percent of U.S. energy consumption and generate far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector.”  From schools and office buildings to big-box retailers and factories, all those structures use energy. 

The good news is that something can be done, and it’s far easier than setting up biofuel stations around the country.  It is always easier and cheaper to save energy than it is to create it.   In fact, the president said, “In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about not through endless lawsuits or command-and-control regulations, but through technology and innovation.”

Commercial, off-the-shelf technologies exist to save a third of almost any building’s energy use.  Yes, Johnson Controls is in the business of high-tech building controls that help save energy and money.  But there are dozens of innovative technologies – from better lighting and fixtures to insulation and new windows– that reduce energy and result in fewer greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The president’s commitment to energy efficiency in buildings was demonstrated the day after the State of the Union when he signed an executive order (link to http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070124-2.html) requiring federal agencies to lead by example by reducing energy and water use.  Agencies also need to ensure that new construction and major renovation of existing buildings comply with sustainability principles.

Energy efficiency is too often overlooked in the energy policy debate.  If we are to truly manage our energy needs and combat greenhouse gas emissions, we need a balanced portfolio of remedies, which includes a major focus on energy efficiency, particularly as it relates to buildings.





Sustainability Boardgame for the Boardroom
November 28, 2006
Posted by johnsoncontrols at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Clay G. Nesler
Vice President, Innovation Services
Johnson Controls, Inc.
 
“We don’t have time for games!”  This is sometimes the reaction from senior management when they learn that they will be using a game board as part of a strategic planning session.  While the reaction is understandable, using a game-board as a planning tool actually has many advantages over traditional approaches.  Continue reading "Sustainability Boardgame for the Boardroom" »



Energy Efficiency Challenges
September 14, 2006
Posted by Gerrit Reinders at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In this dialogue, Gerrit Reinders, director, Sustainable Energy Solutions, Johnson Controls Inc., and Ron Fillmore, Dow Corning global executive director for Construction and Xiameter, discuss the importance of sustainability to businesses.

How are energy-efficiency challenges driving business sustainability initiatives?

GR: With today’s volatile energy prices and unprecedented awareness of the environmental impact of our addiction to oil, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that upgrading buildings to make them “green” is critical, particularly since green buildings are, by definition, very resource efficient. Many local governments now require that new buildings be constructed to green standards.  This is a great thing that unfortunately only addresses one percent of buildings; the opportunity is greatest if we also “green” the existing building stock. For that reason, organizations are hiring energy services companies to renew their infrastructures with more energy-efficient equipment. Some are paying for these improvements through the savings they generate.  We’ve seen energy savings as high as 90 percent by upgrading lighting and 60 percent by upgrading HVAC, office equipment, and appliances. The business case for energy efficiency is clear, and there’s widespread acceptance that doing the right thing and making money are not conflicting strategies.

Continue reading "Energy Efficiency Challenges" »



A Steady Regimen of Diet and Exercise
August 07, 2006
Posted by Paul von Paumgartten at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

On Monday, July 31, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) held a press conference announcing its National Energy Action Plan for Energy Efficiency.  The plan seeks to address the nation’s growing demand for energy in U.S. homes, buildings and industries through efficiency.  I’m all for it!

Continue reading "A Steady Regimen of Diet and Exercise" »



 
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