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Environmental Defense Fund Welcomes New Companies to EDF Climate Corps Program

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

The Environmental Defense Fund has welcomed the first round of companies committed to cutting carbon emissions through the EDF Climate Corps program. New participants include Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Dunkin' Brands, Facebook, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Microsoft. These companies will join returning companies such as adidas, Carnival, McDonald's, and P&G. The EDF Climate Corps program places top MBA students in companies to develop practical, actionable energy efficiency plans that cut costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The EDF Climate Corps program has placed over 30 companies in its fourth year, with companies such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Dunkin' Brands, Facebook, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Microsoft joining the program.
  • The program has already helped companies save a total of $439 million in net operational costs and avoid 557,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per year.
  • Participating companies have found that EDF Climate Corps fellows provide a fresh perspective and an extra set of skilled hands that complement the work of an in-house team, resulting in significant energy savings.
  • Many companies have seen a significant return on investment for an EDF Climate Corps fellow, with some identifying energy savings that pay back their salary many times over.
  • Examples of successful projects include a lighting retrofit at the Dow Jones printing plant, which could reduce annual energy costs by nearly $180,000 and avoid over 900 metric tons of GHG emissions.
  • The EDF Climate Corps program has received applications from top-tier MBA students at universities such as Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Stanford, and Yale.
  • The list of 2011 Climate Corps host companies includes companies such as adidas, AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Carnival, and P&G.

Statistics:

  • Over 30 companies in the fourth year of the EDF Climate Corps program.
  • $439 million in net operational costs saved by participating companies.
  • 557,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided by participating companies per year.
  • 86,000 SUVs worth of CO2 emissions avoided by participating companies per year.
  • 84% of energy savings identified by 2008 and 2009 fellows are either complete or already underway.
  • 10 weeks of project duration for Jonathan Stone, NYU MBA, who spearheaded a lighting retrofit at the Dow Jones printing plant.
  • $7.8 million in electricity costs saved by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA, Inc.) after implementing energy upgrades.
  • 52,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA, Inc.) after implementing energy upgrades.

Sources:

  • Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) (http://www.edf.org/home.cfm?)
  • EDF Climate Corps (http://edfclimatecorps.org/)
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (http://www.bluecrossma.com/visitor/community-leadership/good-business/our-environment.html)
  • Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/facebookGreenTeam)
  • JPMorgan Chase & Co. (http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/jpmorgan/investbk/solutions/ssf/sustainability?source=banner)
  • McDonald's (http://www.mcdonalds.com/corporate/corp.cfm?site_name=homepage&c=11423)
  • Microsoft (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/see/)
  • Environmental Defense Fund's news release (http://www2.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=0&VIEW=DTN&STORY=/stories/20110124_2)

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