Industry Resources
In an effort to better inform our clients regarding specific areas of interest to them, we have compiled the following list of on-line resources. These links lead to external sites that will open in a new browser tab or window.*
In reviewing the additional material, you may find yourself thinking about your organization’s “green” qualifications and energy management practices. Sieben Energy Associates is happy to help answer your questions. Please contact us for information about how we can help your organization achieve its specific efficiency and sustainability goals.
The U.S. Green Building Council is a non-profit organization that facilitates the construction and (retro)commissioning of “green” buildings for all varieties of structures through its Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design. Its website deals primarily with a “how to” process for certification of “green” buildings, registration of new LEED projects, education in “green” building and home improvement, and relevant news and events in the industry.
The Chicago Climate Exchange is the only voluntary cap-and-trade system for North American companies and organizations, and provides a system for creating financial incentive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a carbon market. The website provides investor information for companies’ greenhouse gas emissions, current valuations of carbon and other pollutants, trading information, offset information for interested companies, member lists, affiliated exchanges, and market information.
Carbon Nation is a 90-minute documentary which manifests solutions to climate change-related issues. It demonstrates current efforts to mitigating climate change, identifies current “green” leaders in the business world, and seeks to inspire everyone to work towards eliminating further climate change.
The EPA is committed to protecting, preserving, and restoring the environment around us, including air, water, and land. The link above provides all relevant law pertaining to EPA’s spheres of regulation and all additional environmental legislation. It provides resources related to obtaining grant funding for environmental and “green” construction, current research conducted, information regarding environmental science as well as water, air, and land issues, and links to relevant organizations and partners involved in efforts to restore and preserve the environment.
The Energy Information Administration is charged with providing current and future energy commodity pricing, including oil, natural gas, and coal, and includes a variety of information about other forms of energy (nuclear, solar, etc.) Quarterly and annual reports about overall and industry-specific energy usage are also available, and new reports are published weekly.
The Department of Energy is involved in a variety of categories, ranging from types of energy used in the US, to how to improve energy efficiency, resources for monitoring and incentivizing reductions in energy consumption (including EnergyStar), to its research in biological, chemical, and climate change arenas, as well as any opportunities for funding for third parties and links to bureaus, laboratories, and other affiliated agencies.
The CDP is a non-profit organization that provides the world’s largest database on carbon emission information with the intention of providing this information to investors, corporations, and governments to use to mitigate the effects of climate change. The website contains relevant greenhouse gas information (reports on corporations, their supply chains, regions, and cities) and industry news. Crucially, it contains a register for rating and quantity of greenhouse gases emitted by large corporations.
The Climate Registry is a non-profit collaboration among North American states, territories, etc. to standardize the measurement, verification, and reporting processes of greenhouse gas emissions. The site explains the workings of the greenhouse gas emissions documentation, member resources including reporting protocol and verification, and relevant GHG reporting news.
Similar to the Climate Registry, the California Climate Action Registry is a non-profit organization formed by the State of California that serves as a voluntary greenhouse gas registry for other organizations, and provides a credible, standardized measurement, verification, and reporting process for involved entities. The website explains how to join, tools for measurement, verification, and reporting (including protocols and RFP templates for verifiers), and events.
ASHRAE’s commitment is to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration to serve humanity and to promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, and publishing and continuing education. The website includes membership information, relevant publications and information, committees and protocols, research, education, events and advocacy information relating to furthering sustainable engineering evaluations in public policy, and certification information for engineers, companies, and relevant news, and sister organization links.
The PECI is a conservation group that promotes the benefits of responsible energy use, and provides consulting to clients in their efforts to reduce their energy consumption. It also provides a wide variety of energy efficiency and low-emissions energy procurement rebates and incentive programs for residential, commercial retail, and large commercial users.
The AEE is an association charged with promoting and working on enhancing sustainable development and aids its members in furthering education in energy and management through seminars, journals, conferences, books, and other publications. The website includes information with regards to publications (reports, journals), committees, engineering news, education, certification programs, and links to relevant organizations.
The GHPC works to promulgate information with regards to the benefit and installation all HVAC geothermal projects. The website provides for finding geothermal heating professionals, contact information for residential and commercial customers for numerous facets of installation and financing geothermal systems, relevant news, incentive programs, as well as event information and sister organization links.
The WRI works to reverse rapid degradation of ecosystems and assure their capacity to provide humans with goods and services, support people and institutions in sound environmentally-friendly decision-making, mitigate climate change effects, and utilize markets to economically benefit environmental actions. It contains information about news, recent publications, and links to sister organizations.
The IPCC is the world’s foremost organization for assessment of climate change and for providing a view of the current state of climate change and its impact on the environment and socio-economic consequences. As a governmental scientific body, it provides governments around the world with verifiable scientific information about climate change. The website provides IPCC reports, current research, speeches and conference meeting information, events, amongst other documentation.
*Industry resource descriptions on this page are sourced from their respective third party websites.