Expert Columns

To achieve its Scope 1 and Scope 2 sustainability goals of reducing GHG emissions by 30%, Sherwin-Williams recognized the need for external energy audits to identify new opportunities and accelerate energy and emissions savings. In this Better Buildings column, find out how third-party audits produced energy reduction opportunities for the company with a potential of 7.7 million kWh in energy savings and a GHG emissions reduction potential of 10,000 metric tons of CO2.

In 2022, Norfolk City Council adopted a resolution around the commitment to reduce energy consumption by 20% as part of the Better Buildings Challenge. To increase awareness of participation, the City’s Environmental Sustainability Division created the Watts Going Down, Norfolk campaign, which has engaged 87% of City staff.

Five years into The Climate Pledge, Amazon's 2023 Sustainability Report showcases its progress in becoming a more sustainable company. This column presents highlights from the report, including how the company is meeting its energy goals, making strides to decarbonize its transportation and delivery fleet, improving delivery efficiency to reduce emissions, investing in climate solutions and more.

Google is launching a first-of-its-kind clean energy partnership built around a new clean transition rate that can be replicated in many electricity markets across the United States. Over the past two years, the company has worked with partners across the U.S. to create a new, scalable pathway for utilities and large energy users to invest in clean firm capacity and accelerate the commercial deployment of advanced, clean technologies like geothermal energy.

Did you know certain refrigerants have a global warming potential over 10,000 times that of CO2? Refrigerant emissions don’t get the fanfare that buildings and renewable energy generation do, but in this column, Second Nature's Bridget Flynn explains why campuses are the right target to take responsibility for these fugitive emissions.

Microsoft has issued a Datacenter Community Pledge to build and operate digital infrastructure that addresses societal challenges and creates benefits for communities. In this column, Noelle Walsh, Corporate Vice President, Cloud Operations and Innovations, explains the Pledge's focus on three core areas: contributing to a sustainable future, advancing community prosperity and well-being, and operating responsibly as a good neighbor.

Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) became the first water utility in the nation to have all of its water treatment plants—three, in this case—certified to ISO 50001 and SEP 50001. The utility has an energy policy that commits financial and labor resources to achieving continual improvement in energy performance. Read this column from Better Buildings Solutions Center to learn how DMWW improved its energy performance by 19%.

The U.S. Department of Energy issued the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs) Joint Policy Statement to provide guidance on how to advance high-integrity VCMs and fully achieve the potential of these markets. This column summarizes voluntary principles that U.S. market participants, including corporate buyers, should embrace as they engage in VCMs.

At Amazon, artificial intelligence is helping solar-plus-storage projects provide power even when the sun isn’t shining. Amazon teams are currently developing an AI model that will leverage machine learning capabilities, along with performance data from Amazon rooftop solar arrays, to help its San Bernardino Air Hub and other buildings minimize energy usage.

General Motors (GM) has publicly committed to reducing its energy consumption, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions across its 118 U.S. sites. All sites were tasked with evaluating potential contributions to the goal, as well as mapping glide paths to the targets. This column from Better Buildings explains how GM developed a new Energy and Carbon Optimization (ECO) Metrics Dashboard to standardize the process and help energy managers and plant leadership track monthly performance for energy, water, and emissions and estimate site-specific potential savings from their existing project roadmap.