Renewable Energy Certificates: JD Capuano

Our last blog post was an interview with JD Capuano and his work with Closed Loop Advisors, a sustainability management consultancy focused on helping organizations with two things: environmental sustainability strategy, measurement, and analytics; and green building fit-outs and certifications. 

While we were chatting, we started talking about energy efficiency and RECs. I really appreciated his perspective and wanted to share it with the Holistic Spaces readers. So, read on!

AC: Let's talk about RECs, what are they exactly?

C: RECs are renewable energy certificates bought and sold in the U.S. Basically, RECs allow you to buy the bragging rights for renewable energy without actually buying the energy. One REC is created for every megawatt hour (mWh) of renewable electricity generated. They were first thought up as a way to incentivize energy developers to invest in renewable projects like wind farms or solar arrays.

There are two markets for RECs – the compliance market and the voluntary market. The compliance market is regulated and is comprised mostly of utilities purchasing these credits to help meet a state's renewable portfolio standard, or RPS. We focus on the voluntary market, where companies can buy RECs to claim they use "green power" for their operations or that their product is carbon neutral. Most of the time you hear such claims, it's not because companies are directly consuming 100% renewable energy.

What's the truth about RECS and your opinion on them?

Most RECs purchased on the voluntary market are considered "national RECs." National RECs mostly come from less populated regions where there's a lot of wind, like west Texas, Iowa and Oklahoma. My colleagues and I have been digging into this for a year, and our problem with RECs is that if you're in New York or Michigan or California and buy national RECs, it is physically impossible for that electricity to reach you. There's a myth out there that the U.S. electricity grid is like one big bathtub where you can turn up the green energy faucet and make the whole thing greener. In reality, there are 26 grids in the U.S., so 26 bathtubs. While there are connections between grids, there are also substantial transmission losses. There's no way an electron generated by a wind farm in west Texas is making it to New York. 

Unfortunately, national RECs are cheap and easy compared with other "green power" options. Our concern is that programs like the EPA's Green Power Partners and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (the gold standard on international guidance about emissions) give RECs the same weight as onsite renewable generation, power purchasing agreements, and utility green power schemes (that aren't REC based). This allows companies to make big green claims while not making financial decisions that add more renewable capacity to the grid. And why wouldn't they if the EPA and GHG Protocol tell them this cheap and easy option is equivalent to putting solar onsite? We believe this sends a weak market signal for the development of new capacity. We're actually talking with people at the EPA and Greenhouse Gas Protocol to try and influence change. We also have a paper coming out on the topic.

Your readers can also be unknowingly making the wrong choice. In states with deregulated utilities, like NY, you can pay extra to buy green energy. Some just use national RECs, while others use local RECs. Is it a good REC (local) or a bad REC (national)? You can usually find this if you check their website FAQ. If you can't find anything about local RECs, assume they're national. There are some good companies working in this space, like Ethical Electric and Community Energy.

Companies can also purchase local RECs, which we think are okay, so long as they have no options for onsite or utility green energy programs. 

So, rather than buying RECs, we recommend good old energy efficiency! What is a simple tip for our readers, so they can become more energy efficient?

Insulation is the best place to start. People can more quickly and easily impact their homes than their offices, no matter if they own or rent. I rent and have found noticeable savings with weatherstripping my doors and caulking cracks. This method is effective, so long as you're diligent, and inexpensive. So find those leaks and seal them up! Use your hand and feel for air. Around windows, window frames, interior room door frames, and where any molding meets the floor are good spots to check. Ditto for any pipes entering for heat or water. If you're unsure whether air is coming in, use a match as both the flame and smoke are telling when it comes to air leaks. If you're a city dweller, this is also helpful for keeping out any unwanted vermin.

by Anjie Cho

JD Capuano, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Closed Loop Advisors – JD Built his career using data to solve business problems. For nearly a decade he worked in various positions within the Business Analytics group at Schering-Plough. JD utilized technical skills such as big data analytics, deep-dive analysis, data modeling, and metric development, to advise decision-makers on strategies and tactics. JD also spend years as a volunteer working on environmental advocacy and pro-bono sustainability consulting for the city of Hoboken, NJ. Today JD helps clients with strategic planning, advanced analytics and helping them effectively tell their sustainability story. JD holds a B.A. in Business from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

Sustainable Building: Closed Loop Advisors

JD Capuano is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Closed Loop Advisors, a sustainability management consultancy. He is super passionate about sustainability and helping businesses truly incorporate sustainable green practices. Holistic Spaces interviewed JD about his business, the Living Building Challenge, and sustainability.

Be sure to check in on the next blog post, to read JD speak about Renewable Energy Certificates! 

AC: Tell us about your mission at Closed Loop Advisors.

JC: Closed Loop Advisors is a sustainability management consultancy focused on helping organizations with two things: environmental sustainability strategy, measurement, and analytics; and green building fit-outs and certifications. Our mission is to change business as usual by integrating commerce and deep green environmental sustainability.

AC: What is the Living Building Challenge and how have you incorporated it into your consulting? 

JC: The Living Building Challenge (LBC) is the most inspiring and stringent green building standard in the world. It imagines that we design and construct buildings to function as elegantly and efficiently as a flower. LBC has three certifications – the full challenge (7 PETALs, or areas of certification), PETAL Certification (3 PETALs, one of which has to be Energy, Water or Materials), and Net Zero Energy Building Certification. Our involvement with LBC started with my colleague, Eileen Quigley. Eileen was project-managing the Chicago office fit-out for our client, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and posed the idea of pursuing LBC PETAL Certification in their Chicago office. Once we realized there was a chance of doing it, they were all for it, and we were off and running.

Tell us more about PETAL certification and at zero-toxicity materials -- what does that mean and what can we learn from it?

We spend most of our time indoors, and we're surrounded by many human-made materials that are off-gassing toxics. You know the smell of new carpeting or fresh paint? When you smell that, you're inhaling the toxic gasses seeping out from those materials. The Materials PETAL places emphasis on all of the inputs to a building's structure and finishes with very specific requirements, such as a certain amount of material reuse for a renovation, forestry requirements and a definition of local for wood, and most important their Red List of materials and chemicals products cannot contain. By following this PETAL we learn to create an indoor environment where residents or employees can be healthier and more productive. 

Tell us about the Chicago Natural Resources Defense Council project, where you were able to create a notable innovation and really make a difference.

The Natural Resources Defense Council project was innovative because it was the first time anyone suggested that an office could go for the LBC certification. Every project before ours was residential or an entire building. We saw the chance to do something on a smaller scale while still having an impact. We didn't know about the PETAL Certification until we researched it. We got excited once we realized we didn't have to worry about net zero water or energy, which are really difficult to do for a project that is 1% of the building square footage. We pursued the materials PETAL. I think it has just as much if not more, of an impact than water or energy, because it's causing ripples in a huge industry of materials manufacturers and making them re-think their processes. It's also making us re-think what's healthy for people to be in the presence of, especially considering how much time people spend at work.

What are three tips that the readers can do to make their work spaces more sustainable?

It depends. Are you staying in the same space, or moving? Where are you geographically? What have you already done? Sorry, force of habit as a consultant to make sure I'm answering the right questions!

Assuming you're staying in the same space:

  1. Track and analyze your data over time to look for areas of improvement. You can get electricity, maybe heating and water. Start tracking your waste and see how you can reduce it.

  2. Focus on reducing electricity use by changing set-points, upgrade lighting or de-lamp if your space is over-lit, install sensors (daylight and movement), maximize use of daylighting, make sure lights and equipment turn off when no one is around.

  3. Look at what you're purchasing and consuming. What can you reduce? Are you purchasing eco-friendly, reusable or recyclable (preferring the former) and non-toxic products (from the little things to furniture)?

by Anjie Cho

Closed Loop Advisors is changing business as usual. We are passionate about integrating sustainability and business. From addressing specific environmental problems to organization-wide sustainability planning, we help our clients become more efficient, responsible and adaptive. Our work focuses on each client’s desired outcomes that we align with their unique combination of priorities, values and budget.

Our services fall into two categories. The first is Strategy, Measurement and Analytics, with projects ranging from environmental target setting to carbon foot-printing to GRI reporting. The second is Buildings and Certifications, where we manage office fit-outs and certify projects to LEED or Living Building Challenge standards. Founded in 2011, we are based in NYC and manage projects in Europe, China, and across the US. We are a Certified B Corporation. 

Energy We Need With Alexander Frantzen

1377987_171253093076001_2097082623_n.jpg

Alexander Frantzen was an intern of mine when I managed the EcoBizNYC program at the Lower East Side Ecology Center. Of course I was so impressed when he reached out to me recently to share with me his new project, Energy We Need.  Alexander has always been deeply dedicated to sustainability, and I'm proud to share his mission with my readers!

AC: Please, tell us about Energy We Need. What is your mission?

AF: In short the mission: Provide a free open-platform that: Encourages, educates and empowers—Individuals, groups and cities—to consume less and conserve more. The site makes all the math (and assumptions) transparent (you can download a PDF with all the formulas and explanations) in order to show people that it is possible to quantify out impacts, even though the effects that those impacts have exist in a (narrowing) range from bad to worse. 

How did you come up with the idea for Energy We Need?

The site came up because I wanted to be able to calculate my energy impact without having to rely on other people’s assumptions or knowledge. So I read a textbook and learned how, and in the process of calculating my energy use (looking up appliance power use,  kW, etc.) I realized I was doing work that a lot of other people would have to repeat (or likely wouldn't do themselves). 

How have you seen this impact your life personally, as well as the people who use the app?

This impacted my life in the sense that when people make statements about their lifestyle impacts--most often we can't be accurate and thus the conversation ends in speculation. But with this website I know that my flight to London costs as much as driving a car 10 km every day of the year, or is equivalent to 200 laundry loads, etc. So I don't get stuck on (self-imposed) ignorance traps.

Put another way, it enables me to shed much needed light on our lifestyles’ impacts when having conversations with people, and almost all people have been excited about receiving this knowledge. In my eyes, we need to learn to empower ourselves to become informed (and to cut through inertia). People that try the app say it's cool when you get into it. 

Why do you do this work? What attracted you to promote sustainability?

I do this because humans are causing irreparable damage to the earth and our own health, which could take millions of years to restore. Among them, coral reefs will be extinct by 2050, 50% of species on the Earth will be extinct by 2100, and we will experience severe climate disruption.

Promoting knowledge and action to reduce our impacts, I find, is a moral and/ethical decision. To not change our lifestyles, knowing the high probability of disastrous impacts with business as usual, is ethically daunting. It originates from my love of nature though, and my high school teacher who played Princess Mononoke in English class, which brought the environment to my attention. 

What are 3 simple tips that my readers can do (and calculate on Energy We Need) right now to make their lives more sustainable and create a Holistic Space?

  • Eat vegetarian 6/7 days of the week
  • Use less heating/cooling by insulating, caulking, air sealing, putting on sweaters, etc.
  • Not flying, driving, or buying less "stuff" (gadgets, ornaments, decorators, appliances, etc.). 

by Anjie Cho

Energy We Need is a platform that empowers people and inspires hope. This site is all embracing and inviting to everyone that wants to learn: (a) about their energy use, (b) how they best can save energy and money, (c) how this will reduce emission, and (d) how meaningful their actions and decisions are to everyone.

One goal is to connect the scientific community with the greater community of people, people that are less informed, but want to learn from scientists. With or without this connection, the site will reward people by showing them how many people’s lives they will affect for the better—as a result of the changes they choose to make in their lifestyles and habits.