Report from Deutsche Bank and The Rockefeller Foundation highlights benefits of equipment retrofits

by Shane Henson — March 19, 2012—Building owners, managers and financiers involved in the potential of energy efficiency measures and investments will be interested in a new research study from DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA) and The Rockefeller Foundation that examines the potential size and investment opportunity of upgrading and replacing energy-consuming equipment in U.S. real estate.

The paper, entitled “United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and Financing Models,” highlights this investment opportunity in depth, with the potential for significant economic, climate, and employment impact. DBCCA is the climate change investment and research business of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management business.

Judith Rodin, president of The Rockefeller Foundation, noted that buildings consume approximately 40 percent of the world’s energy and are responsible for 40 percent of global carbon emissions. However, proven technologies to retrofit buildings can both conserve energy and—even more important in these difficult economic times—have the potential to create a large number of jobs.

In the report, DBCCA and The Rockefeller Foundation highlight that:

• $279 billion could be invested in retrofitting the residential, commercial, and institutional market segments in the United States.
  
• This investment could yield more than $1 trillion of energy savings over 10 years, equivalent to savings of approximately 30 percent of the annual electricity spend in the United States.
  
• If all of these retrofits were undertaken, more than 3.3 million job years could be created.
  
• These jobs would include a range of skill qualifications, and would be geographically diverse across the United States.
  
• Additionally, if all of these retrofits were successfully undertaken, it would reduce U.S. emissions by nearly 10 percent.