Breaking Down the Barriers to the Success of your Green Program: A new report ( Breaking Down Barriers to Energy Efficiency: Findings from EDF Climate Corps 2011, Jake Hiller, Victoria Mills, Emily Reyna) analyzes organizational barriers that keep energy efficiency programs from being fully successful, and offers solutions for overcoming these barriers. The solutions can be applied to other aspects of green programs besides energy efficiency, too.

According to an article introducing the report, it, "offers effective ways to motivate employees, create accountability for success... ensure funding for financially attractive projects," and more.

I copied some of the reports' conclusions, below. While these conclusions seem obvious, I know that many hotels would benefit by incorporating them.

"Some common barriers cited by participating companies, along with best practices for overcoming them include: 

Barrier #1: Lack of clear accountability

One of the most common challenges cited by companies was lack of clear accountability for energy performance. Without that function written into a senior manager's job description, many companies are unable to perform critical functions like setting energy strategy, identifying and prioritizing energy-saving investments, leveraging internal capital, and tracking actual energy savings.

Success Story: Distributed accountability at AT&T

AT&T hired John Schinter in 2009 to serve as the company's Executive Director of Energy. Schinter quickly realized the need to engage facility managers to meet the company's carbon and energy goals, and designed a system of distributed accountability for energy performance across the company, setting clear metrics and targets, establishing reporting mechanisms, and rewarding success. The results have been impressive, with AT&T realizing $44 million in annualized energy savings in 2010. 

Barrier #2: Lack of comprehensive energy data 

Many companies struggle to collect and aggregate the energy data needed to build a strong business case for energy investments. Key challenges include ensuring that data is collected with sufficient frequency, specificity, and consistency to effectively identify opportunities and verify savings after projects are completed. 

Success Story: Centralized data collection at Shorenstein 

Shorenstein has deployed electrical meters in all of the buildings it manages. Shorenstein's energy management team utilizes real-time metering and 15-minute historical data to perform daily evaluations of energy use from its entire building portfolio. The  data are centrally collected and reviewed by Shorenstein's chief engineers and its engineering managers.."

New England Energy Efficiency Conference & Expo: This annual conference, hosted by NSTAR & National Grid, will be held on June 1 at the Intercontinental Boston Hotel. I highly recommend it. It presents an opportunity to learn about the latest technology and techniques for reducing energy use, and to meet recommended vendors. Look here for more information and to register. The cost is $125 per participant.