​​Energy Project Investment Consulting, LLC

EPIC

EPIC is pleased to announce the addition of William Sisson, Sustainability Principal, bringing a proven track record as a sustainability professional who has advised corporations, the public sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on their environmental, social and governance efforts as well as developing and implementing demand side strategies and programs for improving the efficiency of the built environment.   Link to William’s bio.

EPIC, Energy and Sustainability

Energy is available in numerous forms that together can provide useful sources of fuel for running and growing our economy, industries, and more importantly our livelihoods.  Carbon-based energy (fossil fuels) and renewable energy are available resources that can provide meaningful economic and environmental choices, if utilized in an efficient way.   We are advocates of the “all-in” approach to energy, realizing that not all our energy needs can be met by any one type or approach and often times are constrained by geographic location and operational requirements.   All energy choices come with limitations, but efficient approaches will maximize the use of available resources while at the same time minimize their environmental impact.   At EPIC, we are looking to support you in understanding these many choices and developing efficient use strategies that are good for business, the economy and the environment – in other words helping to establish sustainable approaches.  
 
Sustainability is creating valued outcomes in balance with the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development and institutional change.    It is defined by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) as an economic activity that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.  The term “triple bottom line” is often associated with sustainability, where the three factors of economic, environment, and social costs are considered.   That is, where economic profits are essential for running a business and our economies, they should only be realized by considering the impact to achieve them on the environment and society.    In many places around the world, going forward, the cost of doing business will require sound and quantifiable efforts that define objective, measured and governed approaches for tracking a companies sustainability performance, called a company’s Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) rating.   

Many of today’s leading Fortune 500 companies are increasing efforts to improve their ESG rating in terms of measurement, impact, and reporting of environmental factors that are directly and indirectly associated with their business.   These ratings are now provided on many financial sites, such as Yahoo Finance “Sustainability” for all publicly traded companies listed.   However, companies are often challenged to establish value added, substance derived,  ESG programs that are strategically linked to their business and long term growth, leading to unwanted outcomes such as overstating environmental performance, or “green wash” marketing, and creating unnecessary cost burdens.  Nonetheless, savvy and environmentally conscious investors, which are increasing in number, are placing additional scrutiny on the sustainability of a company through their investment decisions, quantifiable environmental impact, and resilience to long term environmental change; noting that in 2017, nearly 30% of all globally managed assets fell into a sustainability linked investment portfolio.

Given today’s globally linked economies and increased environmental awareness, public and private sector leaders, large and small, can no longer wait to establish and implement their sustainability strategies as they risk becoming obsolete or worse, unable to practice their policies and business models.

Sustainability Consultancy and Advisory Services at EPIC

 

Private Sector

-         Advising corporations how to develop their sustainability strategy and programs in terms of initiatives that establish and support Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives;

-         Establishing business linked ESG strategies that maximize resource use and shareholder, employee, and community value;

-         Corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as energy efficiency and GHG emissions reduction advocacy, geared towards increasing measured performance and impact;

-         Enhancing consumer and investment visibility through green marketing strategies;

-         Establishing goals utilizing environmental metrics, such as recycled waste and green house gas emissions, along with quantitative measurement and reporting that will increase transparency in the marketplace with consumers and stakeholders;

-         Demand side management and energy efficiency/reduction programs geared toward increasing productivity of facilities and operations;

-         Identifying and leveraging high impact “green” financing strategies that offer incentives to invest in energy efficient solutions;

-         Green engineering and sustainable product development strategies;

-         Implementing product and service Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) strategies, both standards or screening based, that provide “hot-spotting” of opportunities of highest impact;

-         Design for Sustainability engineering programs oriented towards the sustainability of products and services that place emphasis on business, market and customer priorities.

 

Public Sector/NGOs

-         Advising public officials in establishing and implementing climate action objectives in terms of energy efficiency and emissions reduction initiatives on both energy supply and demand;

-         Knowledge expertise and market-wide strategies for green buildings, net zero energy/emissions, certified design programs, and green certifications;

-         Certification strategies, performance labeling, refined policy/regulations, and market-wide transparency schemes to address uncertainty and increase participation rates;

-         Funding and investment strategies for developing economy wide green programs, energy efficient new and retrofitted buildings, clean/renewable energy projects, and establishing programs that align with climate action plans;

-         Utility program design to increase the interest to invest in the energy efficiency of new and retrofitted buildings.

 

From our vast global network and successful private and public sector experience, we have established a long list of successfully implemented projects and initiatives that have helped businesses and cities thrive in these economically and environmentally sensitive times.    We will work to develop right sized efforts by establishing collaborative environments with cities and business leaders who desire more sustainable solutions.    Our bottom line is that sustainability efforts are all geared towards reducing costs, increasing productivity, avoiding fees, and improving the conditions of constituents and workers – successfully implemented sustainability strategies will save money, increase utilization, enhance operations, and improve performance.