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The Problem with Greenwashing

Why Businesses Need

Accurate Metrics to

Create Jobs and Wealth

2010 Behavior, Energy and

Climate Change Conference

Elton B. Sherwin November 16, 2010

Greenwashing

Marketing that promotes a misleading

perception that something is

environmentally friendly

Sometimes deliberate, but often

caused by inaccurate standards or

missing measurements

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Problem with Greenwashing

Cream doesn’t rise to the top

Best buildings/products undervalued

Top performers invisible

Poor performers praised

Wrong behaviors encouraged

Money is wasted

Innovation is stifled

Undermines morale

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Often Unintentional

4

Energy Consumption LEED

Buildings

5 NBI Study

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Performance of LEED Buildings With Poorest Performers Removed

HUGE Variation

NBI LEED for new construction, title and conclusion are the authors

Focus on Buildings

Aim today is to convince you:

1. Buildings matter: jobs and the

environment

2. Disclose energy consumption of all

buildings claiming to be green

3. Buildings need grades

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Recap of Situation in

California

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9 SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. http://www.bcdc.ca.gov/planning/climate_change/climate_change.shtml

16 Inches

of Sea Rise

San Jose

San

Francisco

Vallejo

San Rafael

Oakland

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SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

Foster City

East Palo Alto Menlo Park

16 Inches

of Sea Rise

Silicon

Valley

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SOURCE: Inundation data from Knowles, 2008. Additional salt pond elevation data by Siegel and Bachand, 2002.

Aerial imagery is NAIP 2005 data. BCDC.gov

Moffett Field

237

Sun,

Google,

and, Cisco

all at risk

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July Temperatures

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

California’s

agricultural

regions will be

hard hit

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Midcentury

Increase of 5 Degrees Fahrenheit

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation

5+

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Could See Increases of 10 to 14

Degree Fahrenheit in Central Valley*

2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy

*“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California”

Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

10+

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Smaller snowpack

More water shortages

Less water for agriculture

“Emissions pathways, climate change, and impacts on California”

Christopher B. Field and 17 coauthors, June 23, 2004, PNAS

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Heat Waves in Los Angeles

Basin Will Be Much More

Frequent

Dan Steinberg, Associated Press

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What is the Largest Source

of CO2

in America?

More than all cars, trucks and

planes added together?

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Buildings

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Building energy consumption

is almost 40% of U.S. CO2

emissions*

*Mitigating Climate Change: What America’s Building Industry Must Do

Mahadev Raman. Using DOE data

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To Effectively Deal with Climate

Change

Buildings Must Use Less Energy

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Employees Everywhere Must

Reduce Consumption

Retail

Commercial

Schools

Government

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It is Not Happening

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Solution:

Grade Our Buildings

A-

75 Recommendations

Two most important

1. Grade buildings

2. Reduce high GWP

agents

Soot, methane, ozone,

carbon monoxide, etc.

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Analyzed 12 Different Building Energy

Labels and Their Associated Rating

Methodologies

Recommended Label In Monthly Utility Bill

C-

B+

Electricity**

Gas**

*125 is highest score

1 is lowest

Compared to all federal buildings in

America (See Inverted Scale with Progressive Weighting)

** The energy grade is determined

comparing this building to other similar

buildings in similar climates

74 *

Image from iStockphoto

Building Energy Grades

Recommended Format

Relative grade

– Graded versus peers

– Similar type buildings in

similar climates

Absolute standard

– Compares all buildings

worldwide

– Absolute score based on

BTUs per square foot

Peer Rating

• Similar building types – Office to office

– Hospital to hospital

• In similar climates

• Top 20% get As A+ reserved for net zero

• Bottom 20% get Fs

• Include + and –

• Get the best of either per sq. ft. or per person

National Rating

• National standard

– Intuitive: scores above

80 are good, below 70

are poor

• 125 minus weighted EUI

• Source energy (per sq ft.)

– Combines natural gas,

oil and electricity

– All electricity weighted

at national average

What Would Happen?

Put a grade in monthly utility bill

Mail window sticker quarterly

Optional for the building to display

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What Would Happen?

Hotels with As get more business

Offices getting Ds would upgrade

Energy efficiency would be important

Some businesses and employees would

hunt down their energy hogs

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What Would Happen?

Best energy auditors become very popular

Backlog of work upgrading:

Lighting systems

Windows

Cooling towers

Insulation

Fans, pumps, and motor controls

Building controls, VAV boxes, etc.

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What Would Happen?

Millions of new jobs

Skills would improve

Burn less coal and natural gas

Send less money out-of-state to buy

hydrocarbons

Spend more money locally

Efficient products outsell inefficient

products

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Why This Label

Grades motivate change

Rewards small improvements Automatically update

monthly

Universal participation Does not require pre-audits

Fair: works for all sizes of buildings

Drive dramatic reductions in energy consumption

Summary Recommendations

1. Grade buildings: A+ to F

Optional quarterly window stickers

2. Disclose energy consumption of all

buildings claiming to be green

Include all government buildings and

builders requesting variances

Identify the architect

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In Closing

Building grades will motivate action:

1. Create private investment

2. Create jobs

3. Improve skills

4. Encourage innovation

5. Reduce emissions

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A+

For more information: www.EltonSherwin.com

Information on building grades:

http://www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwin/presentations

Specifically two presentations:

http://tinyurl.com/34dp6qx and http://tinyurl.com/34vrhl6

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Appendix

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Why Grades Based on Energy?

Energy => CO2 => Environmental Damage

Image: Roger Braithwaite, University of Manchester (UK)

Awards based on

anything other than

actual energy

consumption are not

helpful.

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http://www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwin/presentations

http://tinyurl.com/34dp6qx and http://tinyurl.com/34vrhl6

Also, see

Response to the

National Energy Rating Program for Homes

Request for Information

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World-

wide Next

20 Years

(Soot)

Soot and Smoke Also

Damage Our Environment

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EPA and

National

Research

Council

Estimates of

Ocean Rise

16 inches

1 meter

130 inches

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Encourage the Disclosure of

Building Energy Consumption

Cities have leverage:

Requesting permit

Requesting variance

Bidding for city business

Selling building

Challenge other city governments

Prohibit “green” or efficiency claims without disclosure

Give window stickers to all homes and businesses who disclose their data

Cities can encourage disclosure

• Last 2 yrs utility bills

• Next 10 yrs

Use Signage Laws to Ban Advertising

Without Disclosure

Energy Saving

Green Home (Data not disclosed)

Require

• Last 2 yrs utility bills

• Next 10 yrs

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US DOE. CO2 in America. Excludes other greenhouse pollutants: methane,

Soot, CFCs, etc. Also excludes embedded energy in imports and most impacts from Agriculture.

CO2 Emissions:

Circled sources are

mostly buildings

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Which Building Types Use the Most

Energy Overall?

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Which Building use the Most

Energy per Square Foot?

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Electricity Consumption in

Healthcare Buildings

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Checklists www.EltonSherwin.com What Can Cities and Counties Do?

Simple Green Building Code Homes

Commercial Property

What are Your Company’s Top Energy Wasters? Schools and public buildings

What are Your Home’s Top Energy

Wasters?

How Do I Find the Energy Hogs in My House?

Reducing Your Carbon Footprint

www.Amazon.com