About
2016 Fire Awards Winner
Champion
Andy Darrell, Chief of Strategy, Global Energy & Finance, Environmental Defense Fund
About
The building sector is responsible for 40% of global energy use. Despite wide acceptance that efficiency upgrades can dramatically reduce energy use, often 40% or more, building upgrade projects are often not pursued due to uncertainty about energy savings and financial returns, as well as the expected difficulty in project aggregation, caused partly by disparate methodologies that are used to predict savings. According to a McKinsey study, the U.S., the market for energy efficiency is estimated at $1 trillion. Europe needs to invest € 60-100 billion annually in order to reach its energy and climate targets in 2020, and yet current investments are below half of these requirements and one-fifth of that required to deliver 2050 decarbonisation targets for buildings.
The Investor Confidence Project (ICP) is an initiative to accelerate a global asset class for investor-ready efficiency projects, by scaling up a platform for standardized efficiency upgrades in buildings.
Barriers Addressed
• Lack of standardization
• Uncertainty about return on investments
• Limited private funding
Approach
A project to accelerate a global asset class for energy efficiency investment in buildings through the standardization of projects, from initial project design through to measurement and verification, increasing confidence in predicted returns and enabling scale up of investments globally. To achieve these effects, the project assembles existing engineering standards and practices into a consistent and transparent framework, certifies compliant projects as “investor-ready”, providing the consistency needed to “bank” on efficiency as an effective investment and demand-side resource.
BNEF On-Stage Pitch
Details
Invest
Key Impact Metrics
- Current market size: 100 million+ buildings
- Potential market size: $100 trillion+
Most Recent Update
The ICP “toolkit” is already operational in the US, where states are working to integrate ICP into their efficiency programs. The European Commission awarded ICP a €1.9 million grant to launch ICP in Europe, for which an additional €1.5 million in EC Horizon 2020 funds were awarded to develop protocols for industry and infrastructure (street lighting and district energy). ICP is also launching in Canada, and has strong interest in India and China. In late 2016, ICP released a key program element – the Building Button – which allows ICP developed projects to store on-going performance data.
In early 2018, ICP officially joined the portfolio of global certification programs delivered by Green Business Certification, Inc. (GBCI) including LEED (for green buildings), GRESB (for real estate portfolios), and WELL (for healthy buildings). GBCI is now providing world-class training and support for ICP’s Investor-Ready Energy Efficiency ™ (IREE) certification.
Investment Opportunities
To be announced
News & Events
2016 Fire Winners Reach Major Milestones
October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 A blog post by Gloria Coleman, Senior Analyst, Climate Policy Initiative, Fire Awards Secretariat In the six months following the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Future of Energy Summit in New York, there have been several successful outcomes for the 2016 Fire Winners, which kicked-off implementation of work plans to achieve growth goals, with support of […]
Finance For Resilience Honors Four Winning Ideas To Accelerate Investments In Sustainable Cities And Clean Energy
April 5, 2016New York, April 5, 2016 – Finance for Resilience (FiRe), a platform to crowdsource and champion new ideas to accelerate finance for clean energy, low-carbon infrastructure, and sustainable cities, today announced the four 2016 winners of its annual competition at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Future of Energy Summit. Over 1000 energy-sector and finance leaders at the […]
Finance For Resilience Announces Eight Finalists In Clean Energy, Sustainable Cities, And Climate Resilience
March 3, 2016Winners to be announced at Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit in New York on April 5 London, March 3, 2016 – Finance for Resilience (FiRe) today announced the selection of eight finalists in its annual competition for financial innovations to drive investments in climate-friendly projects and activities worldwide. At the 21st Conference of the Parties […]
Contact
Andy Darrell
Environmental Defense Fund
adarrell@edf.org
www.eeperformance.org