IGS Energy – Robert Ddamulira – 2019

Goals 

IGS Energy is an energy supply company based in Dublin, Ohio. Over the past 5 years, IGS has undertaken major efforts to aggressively increase the share of renewable, sustainability products and services within its energy portfolio. To help create a systematic approach to sustainability, IGS enlisted EDF Climate Corps fellow Robert Ddamulira to develop an energy and greenhouse gas baseline for IGS and provide recommendations for early interventions.

Solutions

To develop IGS’ baseline, Ddamulira analyzed all energy and greenhouse gas emissions. Working with portfolio managers, they created a benchmark with established standards and best practices. Working with the IGS Social Impact Team, Ddamulira evaluated three unique action items:

1. On-site Solar Generation

A 500-kilowatt solar carport project would generate enough renewable energy for IGS’ Dublin Headquarters to meet its daily needs and reduce its annual electricity costs by more than 50%.

1. Energy Efficiency

Benchmarked IGS’ Dublin Headquarters office buildings in the EPA Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool and recommended in-depth energy audits of the building to identify opportunities to improve energy savings.

1. Smart Employee Commute

Analyzed employee commuter data, which results in 6.5 million miles traveled per year. Ddamulira worked with partners at Smart Columbus, Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) and Princeton University to identify new opportunities for smart commute options including a work from home policy, co-working offices in key hubs near employee home locations and a private carpool web-application.

Potential Impact

If IGS implements the solar and energy efficiency projects, it has the potential to reduce usage by 2 million kilowatt hours, reduce CO2e emission by 2,600 metric tons and save $3.4 million in total annual costs.

IGS indicated that plans were already underway to initiate a work from home policy and is operating a co-working office in downtown Columbus as a pilot smart commute option. Negotiations were initiated with MORPC on a carpooling web-app to support IGS employees. There are strong indications that this is only the beginning of an ongoing transition within IGS towards a more sustainable business portfolio.