ServiceMaster – James Siegel – 2011

Goals

James Siegel spent his summer in Memphis evaluating energy efficiency projects for ServiceMaster, a leading provider of home and business services focused on lawn care, pest control and cleaning. Siegel worked very closely with ServiceMaster’s Vice President of Environmental Stewardship to develop strategies to reduce fuel usage of ServiceMaster’s 14,000-vehicle fleet and also cut electricity consumption at its corporate facilities.

Solutions

While ServiceMaster had already evaluated energy efficiency projects with EDF Climate Corps the previous year, Siegel identified new opportunities. He developed business cases to secure hybrid vehicles and also electric-only vehicles, technologies that reduce fuel consumption and emissions. The hybrid vehicles improve fuel economy by up to 40 percent and reduce emissions by up to 30 percent. On facilities, Siegel evaluated projects with compelling savings and realistic implementation and was able to identify lighting upgrades at the corporate headquarters that would reduce lighting consumption by over 90,000 kWh per year.

Potential Impact

The vehicle investments could reduce CO2 emissions by 143 metric tons annually. Siegel’s analysis showed that if the lighting retrofits were implemented at other relevant buildings on the ServiceMaster corporate campus, the company could cut 114,000 kWh of electricity per year, saving $15,500 in electricity costs.