Broadly speaking, this means carbon footprint reporting and building energy efficiency and monitoring, analyzing, reporting and reducing energy consumption.
The first kinds are those who use it for corporate sustainability reporting, and the others are for those that want to reduce cost through building energy efficiency.
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The proliferation of city and state building energy efficiency codes, combined with the eagerness of building owners to seek LEED ratings, tells me that policymakers and the market are increasingly demanding energy efficiency in new construction.
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California was able to achieve this efficiency by establishing building codes that require energy efficiency in new construction, and by stimulating private companies to improve the efficiency of their own operations.
Today, Puerto Rican workers are writing the next chapter by turning the building into a model of energy efficiency.
"I think what gets overlooked is the real nuts and bolts around energy efficiency itself, " says Dave Myers, Johnson Controls' president for building efficiency.
But what will remain sidelined is energy efficiency, which can eliminate the building of new of infrastructure but which is also fraught with details that must still get resolved.
Both building owners and governments have been turning their attention to energy efficiency in the last few years.
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Intel also reports on increased supplier assessments, renewable power and energy efficiency successes, employee engagement and green building design, among other topics.
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Mr Atkins also said: "Existing building stock is not being sweated enough" and great energy efficiency gains could be made by looking at the buildings already constructed.
Johnson Controls is one of the companies to push the envelope in this arena, in tandem -one would hope- with venture capital that can see the wisdom in energy efficiency multiplied by every individual household and building.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is program administered by the U.S. Green Building Council that awards points for buildings that incorporate various energy efficiency and water conservation features as well as providing such things as bike racks.
The Presidents welcomed the launch of the U.S.-Chile Energy Business Council, a new energy partnership focused on clean energy infrastructure to advance clean energy development, identify business and investment opportunities in both countries, and pursue collaboration on energy infrastructure resiliency, technology innovation, and incorporation of energy efficiency and renewables in industry, transportation, building and public sectors.
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Beijing also requires government agencies to buy energy-efficient products, and it has focused on improving building efficiency in hotels in the China's cold northern regions.
Working through grantees, it has had significant impact on promoting adoption of state and federal vehicle efficiency standards, more stringent residential and commercial building codes to reduce energy consumption, and development of renewable energy technology.
The age of the local building stock represents a challenge, as well as an opportunity, to achieving the energy efficiency goals.
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The building sector has a huge energy footprint and uses a great mass of materials, so efficiency experts have targeted it for improvement.
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It's a safe bet that even if there were no pressure to reduce greenhouse gas-related emissions from buildings, today's efficiency ethos and sheer economic self-interest would drive interest in cutting building energy use.
Spread over nine equally-weighted categories, the scorecard rates colleges on factors like sustainable policies by administration, commitment to energy efficiency and conservation, food and recycling policies, campus-wide green building initiatives, student involvement, alternative transportation.
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That along with a high-efficiency cooling system resulted in a 34% energy savings compared to a typical building.
Operating buildings cooling, heating, lighting accounts for about 36 percent of our overall energy consumption, according to the EPA, which is why efficiency retrofits and improving building codes have been a big focus of late.
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Participants also recognized the process of building green economies and societies as a source of job creation in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency in buildings and construction, sustainable transport, and organic farming.
How do you align molecular biology and algorithmic algebra with a career in energy efficiency, retrofitting, solar power, power consumption, and further, corporate reputation, building trust and promoting ethical business?
The current environmental crisis poses new challenges to the building and construction industry, in areas where engineering can provide innovative alternatives such as energy-neutral housing and energy efficiency, construction materials and practices, recycling and reuse of materials.
The energy efficiency tools can be used with a network of assets such as smart meters, smart plugs and building management systems to keep a tab on real-time energy use of corporate assets.
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