几十年来，能源专家已知戏剧性的改善energy efficiency提供令人信服的经济效益。我们在我们家中使用的能量的一半，办公楼和企业浪费了。建筑物消耗了40％的我们在美国使用的能量中的40％。直到最近，市场的障碍阻碍了我们减少这种浪费的能力，让客户在勾选的电力票据上进行了数十亿美元 - 可以在其他地方度过的美元。
New Jersey is making huge strides in breaking down these barriers. Thanks to the recent integration of a new pilot program into the state’s existing Pay for Performance energy-efficiency program, the Garden State stands on the cusp of creating a new, robust market for efficiency investments — one that could unleash job creation and cost savings for New Jersey businesses. Getting the private sector involved also helps New Jersey achieve another objective: meeting state environmental goals without burdening energy consumers or taxpayers.
The pilot program, developed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) in conjunction with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Investor Confidence Project (ICP), utilizes a set of standardized project guidelines to facilitate investment in energy-efficient buildings.
As a principal with Joule Assets, an investment firm that specializes in energy-efficiency finance, I can confirm the attractiveness of this investment opportunity for New Jersey. NJBPU’s pilot, which outlines a clear system of standards and protocols for energy-efficiency projects, closes a gap that has prevented scalability for investments in this arena. It’s important for everyone to understand why this is such a big deal.
A big barrier in this market has been the inconsistency in approaches to performance measurement. Most energy-efficiency projects in buildings target obvious renovations to yield efficient lighting, improvements to heating and air conditioning systems, upgrades to boilers and pumps and better insulation. Surprisingly, though, few projects include measurement of the actual energy savings that these installations produce — and when they do, performance measurement is not standardized.
For investors interested in capitalizing on financial savings from energy-efficiency measures, this inconsistency presents a problem: It’s difficult to deploy capital on a project-by-project basis. It would be a far more effective use of capital to invest in dozens or hundreds of buildings at a time. To do so, however, those buildings’ management teams need to measure the performance of their efficiency upgrades and report on energy and financial savings in a similar manner. The lack of consistent standards raises project costs for everyone involved.
这就是ICP进来的地方。该集团开发了一个专门设计用于评估投资者准备的能效项目的认证。哈特福德蒸汽锅炉是保险公司慕尼黑RE的子公司，提供绩效保险，为此投资组合在投资组合级别完成的绩效保险，而不是项目项目。这是ICP协议概述的标准化投资过程的直接结果。
这个概念相当简单。如果建筑物所有者或投资者想要改进旨在减少能源费用 - 例如，升级到照明或供暖系统 - 应该有一种方法可以通过时间衡量这些能源节省，并确保投资以减少的形式偿还能源票据。ICP方法包括一套严格的行业领先的协议，为能效投资的设计，调试和评估，给人和投资者的信心，即预期的回报将实现。
Consistent, rigorous metrics are like manna to investors. Every investment plan is different. But when the plans are developed using standardized protocols, financial risk can be analyzed across a portfolio of projects. Those data help make for informed investments. And because energy-efficiency projects essentially capture money otherwise wasted through inefficient lighting, old air conditioners and poor insulation, the returns on such investments are both large and uncorrelated to traditional stock and bond markets. In a weak economy, people are still wasting energy — and money in the process. If you invest in building upgrades, you will get a solid rate of return, even if the broader economy is struggling.
As the first state in the U.S. to adopt the ICP approach, New Jersey is at the forefront of this opportunity. The state will have a leg up on others that will inevitably emulate the model. New businesses will start here and expand while other states catch up. And certainly, by attracting private sector investments under pay-for-performance models, New Jersey is also ensuring that its energy-efficiency programs achieve the ultimate goal for green projects: turning wasted energy into cash flow.
在许多方面，效率的机会似乎太好了由于NJBPU和ICP，投资界对这些结果有更多的信心。这是花园州的每个人都可以兴奋的东西。
玛丽亚字段直接管理or and handles investor relations at Joule Assets, an impact investment management firm based in Bedford Hills, New York.