by Brianna Crandall — October 12, 2016 — Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced this past week a strategic vision to work together to develop, deliver and promote the EDF’s Investor Confidence Project (ICP) as the premier global underwriting standard for energy efficiency projects. ICP will join GBCI’s portfolio of credentials and certifications, and the organizations will work together to accelerate investment in energy efficiency.
The announcement follows the rapid rise in the adoption of the ICP system, including its certification for Investor-Ready Energy Efficiency (IREE) projects in the buildings sector, with successful programs and pilots in the United States and Europe. GBCI says the move is “another big step in engaging the financial community in driving smart, energy-saving decisions that will deliver higher performance in existing buildings worldwide.”
The Investor Confidence Project (ICP) works to transform the energy efficiency market by increasing confidence in the financial and environmental performance of building retrofits. It offers investors and developers a standardized roadmap to assess risk and deliver on project results by optimizing performance and monitoring the outcome of energy efficiency investments to generate financial savings. By streamlining transactions and increasing the reliability of projected energy savings through its IREE certification, ICP reduces overhead costs to bring energy efficiency projects to market.
Andy Darrell, chief of strategy, Global Energy and Finance at Environmental Defense Fund, explains:
The world’s buildings account for about 40 percent of all energy use, and, in major cities like New York and London, that figure as much as doubles. What’s more, up to half of this energy is wasted. ICP offers a system for investors and developers to access the trillion-dollar energy efficiency market, which remains largely untapped and is key to curbing climate change. Our partnership with GBCI builds on ICP’s momentum, mobilizing capital to finance efficiency and cutting harmful pollution around the world.
GBCI will work to scale the Investor Confidence Project from a project conceived, incubated and developed at EDF in the United States and Europe to a market-based standard, housed at GBCI and capable of global growth and alignment with other GBCI programs.
The ICP system includes more than 70 credentialed project developers, and its projects are deemed ICP-compliant and IREE-certified by independent quality assurance providers. These include leading energy efficiency firms in the United States and Europe, as well as other firms that directly interact with energy efficiency customers.
ICP is running a pilot through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and is working with Pacific Gas and Electric in California to provide interest-free loans to contractors who develop ICP investor-ready projects.
Backed by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program, and with philanthropic support, ICP has developed Europe-wide protocols and a certification based on national and international standards. It is also working with more than 200 leaders in finance, engineering and real estate in the continent through its Investor Network, Ally Network and Technical Working Group, including a portfolio of hospital renovations led by the Carbon and Energy Fund.
