, an Annapolis, Md., a financier of private-sector energy conservation initiatives, is teaming up with Virginia Tech to invest $500 million in energy-saving upgrades at 100 or more properties across the Washington, D.C., area. Virginia Tech will oversee, study and advise the efforts, reports David A. Fahrenthold with the Washington Post.
The ambition of the Energy Efficiency Partnership of Greater Washington is to reduce each building’s electricity use by 20 to 50 percent through the installation of energy-efficient light bulbs, insulated windows, cooling systems and the like. That should generate enough savings to generate a positive return on investment for Hannon Armstrong and a risk-free reduction in energy expenses for the property owner.
In theory, property owners could make the investment themselves, but they often find the up-front costs can be prohibitive. Hannon Armstrong has developed non-standard financial packages — capital and operating leases, synthetic leases, and leveraged leases — that can structure the investments to make them more attractive.
There are humongous energy savings to be derived from retrofitting Virginia’s existing building stock. And projects like this are just scratching the surface. Just wait until Hannon Armstrong, or a competitor, figures out how to pool the energy demand and financial resources of large complexes of buildings to support cogeneration plants and other highly efficient energy-generating techniques.
As I have long argued, the quickest path to a green future is through the private sector. Unleashing the creativity of entrepreneurs like Jeffrey Eckel, CEO of Hannon Armstrong, will conserve far more BTUs than any government enactment of arbitrary rules and regulations. Dominion, are you paying attention? Just wait until Eckel, or someone like him, starts retrofitting Northern Virginia’s server farms with energy-efficient systems.
Are we still sure we need to build that high-voltage transmission line through Virginia’s northern piedmont?
(Hat tip to Ed Risse. I came across this article while editing his column for Monday’s e-zine edition. Even though it’s a week old, it was too good to pass up.)