Could Energy Retrofits be the Best Performing Investment?
Okay, we all know the usual places to put money are performing pretty badly right now. But get this: the Empire State Building is embarking on a massive energy retrofit that will return nearly 28 percent a year! The project will cost $13.2 million, not exactly chump change–but will slash energy consumption by 35 to 40 percent, and save $3.8 million a year (considerably more, if energy costs spike back up again). After the third year, that’s nearly $4 million going directly to the bottom line. If the improvements have even a 20-year lifespan, that $13.2 million investment would return $176 million, and that’s with stable energy prices. The number is much, much higher if you factor in average energy cost increases of 5 percent a year. (I’m not going to do the math here, because I don’t know all the factors we’d need to compute–but it’s sure to be at least $200 million, maybe much more).
Too bad we can’t put our Roth IRAs into renewable-energy retrofits
Meanwhile, we can all learn from the creative thinking at Rocky Mountain Institute, which is doing the heavy lifting on this project–for example, remanufacturing the windows on-site to reduce trucking costs in fuel and money. For years, RMI has been generating this kind of holistic, big-picture energy planning that saves many times the cost, and quickly. I profile RMI founder Amory Lovins in my award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First.
A lifelong activist, profitability and marketing specialist Shel Horowitz’s mission is to fix crises like hunger, poverty, racism, war, and catastrophic climate change—by showing the business world how fixing them can make a profit. An author, international speaker, and TEDx Talker, his award-winning 10th book, Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World, lays out a blueprint for creating and MARKETING those profitable change-making products and services. He is happy to help you craft your messaging and develop profit strategies. Learn more (and download excerpts from the book) at http://goingbeyondsustainability.com
Shel –
One of the challenges with the green building is what to do with older buildings. Everyone lauds these new green buildings. But it takes much more energy to build a new building than retrofit an existing one. If you add in the changes to the commute and likely more time in a car, there is an even greater incentive to retrofit.
Then the question is who pays. Most capital expense like the one at the Empire State Building are paid by tenants as part of the building’s operating expenses. There needs to be a quick return on the expense to justify the cost.
Doug Cornelius’s last blog post… Swine Flu, Disaster Recovery, and Compliance
Shel –
One of the challenges with the green building is what to do with older buildings. Everyone lauds these new green buildings. But it takes much more energy to build a new building than retrofit an existing one. If you add in the changes to the commute and likely more time in a car, there is an even greater incentive to retrofit.
Then the question is who pays. Most capital expense like the one at the Empire State Building are paid by tenants as part of the building’s operating expenses. There needs to be a quick return on the expense to justify the cost.
Doug Cornelius’s last blog post… Swine Flu, Disaster Recovery, and Compliance
New blog post: Could Energy Retrofits be the Best Performing Investment? https://tinyurl.com/dxa42o