Conservation Should Share Equal Footing with Innovation

In this column, David Allen and Ash Awad of McKinstry discuss how, by making conservation and energy efficiency equal to innovation, we can create a greener, more sustainable future.

As we work toward a "greener," more sustainable future, we must ensure that our desire for what could be does not diminish our commitment to develop what can be. Right now we are experiencing what is best called an experimental period with regards to clean technology. Our “throw it at the wall and see what sticks” pursuit of investing in renewable energy and clean tech ideas is not unlike the dot-com era when entrepreneurs, eager to attract investors, spend money on every possible tech concept, only to discover that few of those concepts proved worthy of investment. All the exciting developments coming–large-scale wind and solar energy, electric cars and all their promised benefits–are a generation away at most.  We need to focus on what we can do now.

McKinstry estimates that buildings consume 71 percent of all the power in America and that half of that energy is wasted. Through simple, cost-effective investments in homes, office buildings and factories, this wasted energy could be recovered, and the savings gained funneled into new industries to create living-wage jobs. This will not happen without recognition by our legislators that conservation is equal to innovation and that both are equally beneficial in reducing the nation’s carbon footprint.

Unfortunately, many barriers exist to energy efficient investment.  Building owners face cost barriers that deter them from borrowing money to improve efficiency.  Market practices in real estate valuation, lending and cost-benefit allocation often do not recognize the true economic value of energy efficiency investments.  Businesses and consumers that seek to increase their facilities’ value through the financial markets are forced to choose inefficiency against their own best self-interests. Many states now require utilities to generate certain percentages of renewable energy, but often do not realize the dearth of options available to utilities for meeting these requirements. 

To overcome inherent barriers to conservation efforts for businesses and consumers, energy efficiency should be added to the list of technologies eligible for the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC). Utilities, for example, must be allowed to make a profit from reducing their kilowatt hours rather than being required to invest in new technology. This would make conservation initiatives eligible for all the grants and funding currently available for renewables.

McKinstry strongly advocates energy efficiency as a viable generation resource, but we are careful not to discourage spending on clean-energy development. Like many businesses, we have a vested interest in staying ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainable technologies and energy efficiency. After all, we created an Innovation Center to accelerate the commercialization of clean tech and renewable energy technologies with a focus on what we call “now” technologies: inventions and products that are ready to be carried out immediately. Even as we pursue future cleantech breakthroughs, we remain committed to energy efficiency and conservation. Striking a balance between investing in renewables and commitment to conservation efforts is needed, and our continued support of both is crucial.

We believe that the opportunity for energy-savings with conservation is so vast that it would take hundreds of McKinstrys to meet the demand. This is excellent news for us, our economy and our planet. By making conservation and energy efficiency equal to innovation, we can create a "greener," more sustainable future.

David Allen is Executive Vice-President of McKinstry, a Seattle-based construction, energy and facility services firm. David is widely respected for his contributions to the positioning strategy that established McKinstry’s reputation as a national leader in the clean technology sector.

Ash Awad is McKinstry’s Vice-President of Energy and Facility Services, as well as a registered professional engineer.  With over 14 years of energy efficiency experience, Ash has broad expertise in systems engineering, evaluation of sustainable ideas, securing and optimizing utility incentives and grants, and developing alternative financing solutions.  

The Pivotal Leaders business network aims to grow the Northwest cleantech industry by cultivating leadership in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. Through this twice-monthly column, members of the Pivotal Leaders network take turns discussing some of the most pressing issues and trends facing cleantech entrepreneurs in the Northwest and beyond.