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Have you recently made or are you planning a shop retrofit? You can fund the purchase of equipment if you get certified green. Using government guidelines, shops can receive performance funding for green investments and work with a qualified professional of their choice to achieve an official “green” status.
Maybe you are looking at your first investment to ride the “green wave” or you just want to do your part in protecting the environment. If you want to improve your shop's efficiency and “go green” but are frustrated by the lack of financing available in today’s economy, then performance funding could be the answer.
Shop owners and the public at large are struggling with the growing mistrust of green claims and confusion about how to protect the environment and truly become green. Achieving Certified Green Investment “CGI” qualifications to fund a shop retrofit is a relatively new phenomenon; to help understand the gray areas in “going green,” keep the following points in mind:
Define 'green'
A shop owner needs to define what "green" means and the responsibilities for achieving and maintaining that status. In most cases, "green" means obtaining third-party certification that validates an audit. Official certification needs to be performed by “an accredited independent auditor," according to the U.S. EPA, Canada’s NRCan, or by a qualified individual satisfying section 179 D of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
Regardless of how a “green” shop is certified, if there are essential elements to define such status, they must be independently confirmed in accordance with authoritative standards.
Define performance funding
Performance funding is a process that allows shops to accomplish improvements for their facilities using energy savings and subsidy paybacks.
The CGI performance funding process is a program between a supplier, the shop owner and a licensed professional, such as a Registered Environmental Assessor “REA."
The REA conducts a comprehensive assessment and identifies improvements that will fund investments based on savings and subsidies. In consultation with government agencies and equipment suppliers, the REA develops and manages a performance project that meets the shop's needs.
The REA certifies the project accounting to assure that the improvements will generate a payback sufficient to pay for the retrofits over an established period. Performance funding such as the Natural Resources Canada's ecoENERGY Retrofit program provides financial support to help shops implement projects that reduce energy-related greenhouse gases and air pollution.
Guidelines such as the U.S. Government Executive Order 13423 of 2007 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 have set performance standards to qualify for a green status:
- Cut energy use (compared to 2003) by 3 percent per year in 2007 through 2015;
- Increase use of renewable energy to not less than 3 perccent of total electricity use in 2007-09, not less than 5 percent in 2010-12, and not less than 7.5 percent in 2013 and thereafter, with at least half from new sources in each year; and
- Reduce water use by 2 percent per year, 2008 through 2015.
Integrate green with investments
In most cases, retrofits are completed after a shop owner has an established business. The REA, the suppliers and shop owner participate in the “green” retrofit process, with each party substantiating the return on investment. All interested parties should make sure that the green aspects of a retrofit don't bog down this process:
- Acknowledge that you are seeking “green” certification for your shop, and agree that it will be reasonable for you to disapprove elements of the retrofit process that are inconsistent with that objective.
- Make sure that returns on investments take into account your green retrofit to the extent you discuss savings versus cost for your green vision with suppliers.
- If you are specifying materials that have long lead times or limited availability, identify and obtain the supplier's approval for acceptable substitutes.
Numerous sources of funding for green certification are also available at the national, state and local
levels. Visit: www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/tools/funding.htm#state to help you find a variety of sources
including grants, tax-credits, loans and others.
Monitor savings
Because a return on investment is central to the performance funding process, you will want to confirm the monthly savings in your shop.
Most green investment performance programs require shops to demonstrate sustainable environmental improvements in order to keep their certification status. Unless your shop monitors the ongoing conservation efforts for water, gas and electric usage, you may not qualify for recertification.
The U.S. EPA Performance Track Initiative process recognizes facilities that have a sustained record of compliance and have implemented performance monitoring procedures. Performance monitoring encourages shops to continuously improve their environmental performance and energy savings while working closely with their community and employees.
Visit www.epa.gov/perftrac/program/index.htm for more information on performance tracking.
