Blog

The future is here—fossil fuels are slowly phasing out while hydro, nuclear, wind and solar power sources continue to grow in popularity. The evolving energy market will continue down this path as more and more governing bodies adopt new rules and standards to limit emissions. But is it happening fast enough? In this blog, we’re examining two recent energy outlook reports from the International Energy Agency and explaining how our various solutions can help you adapt to these trends while also saving money and reducing emissions.

Big changes are on the horizon to emphasize the bright future of solar power. In an effort to accelerate the deployment of this valuable energy-generation resource, the U.S Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has revised previous goals to now cut the cost of solar energy by about two-thirds by 2030. In this blog, we’re explaining the potential impacts of the new SunShot 2030 plan, and how your facility can benefit.

When it comes to the energy efficiency of modern lighting technology, the light-emitting diode (LED) is in a league of its own. But LEDs provide more than energy savings; these lights usually last far longer than other lighting types and can even emit light in specific directions. The safety benefits of LED lighting, however, are often overlooked. In this blog, we’ll discuss how LED lighting technology helps to improve safety in industrial and commercial facilities, as well as how we can help you make the switch to this cost-effective lighting system today—so you’re not left in the dark tomorrow.

From the large sails that pushed ships across the ocean to the tall mills that ground grain, wind energy has been harnessed by humans for thousands of years. But while the modern age has seen fossil fuels such as coal dominate electrical energy generation, renewable resources such as wind are making a comeback. Over the past few years, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has issued findings that ultimately explored the impacts of a scenario in which 35 percent of the nation’s electricity is supplied by wind energy by 2050. In this blog, we’re looking at what these reports say about the future of wind energy and explaining how we can help your business achieve its green energy goals.

Climate change can disrupt all aspects of human life, contributing to rising sea levels, hotter days and severe weather that can negatively impact food production, among other consequences. While it may feel like this global crisis is only getting worse, businesses are in a unique position to lead the charge in mitigating the effects. That’s why it’s important for your business to consider forward-thinking sustainability initiatives that will help reduce your company’s carbon footprint. But you don’t have to do it alone—Dalkia Energy Solutions can be your partner in implementing projects at your facility that help the environment and make your facility more energy efficient.

Climate change is an urgent and ever-growing concern that can disrupt human life through an array of effects including rising sea levels, hotter days and destructive, severe weather. Despite the increased frequency of extreme climate events, skepticism over the issue has continued to grow. In response, our parent company, EDF Group, recently published a climate change study based upon opinion responses from people in 30 different countries across five continents. In this blog, we’re reviewing this new groundbreaking data and explaining how Dalkia Energy Solutions can help your facility lower the impact of your carbon emissions while also saving you money.

It’s a brand new year, and with that comes the opportunity to carefully assess the full energy landscape across the globe. Without a doubt, renewable energy has become much more popular over the past decade—between 2011 and 2020, the amount of electricity produced in the U.S. from solar and wind sources increased almost four-fold. And according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, geothermic and hydroelectric generated about 21 percent of all of the country’s electricity in 2020, beating nuclear and coal. With these figures in mind, it’s fair to say that green energy is already in the spotlight, but what is in store for the clean energy of the future? In this blog, we’ll be looking at some of the most critical energy trends to watch in the coming years.

Is your facility struggling with the rising price of natural gas? Shockingly, it’s already doubled this year and, unfortunately, the issue is only expected to worsen this winter—resulting in higher heating bills and higher electric utility costs. But we can help you fight back against rising energy prices with our array of on-site energy solutions.

In December, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker released his “Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap” with several measures to lower greenhouse gas emissions. One of the major aspects of this plan requires all new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035. As an energy efficiency company with our U.S. headquarters in Beverly, Massachusetts, we applaud this effort to lower the state’s carbon footprint and we can help your facility stay ahead of the curve in the adoption of electric vehicles (EV).

It may sound cliché, but it’s amazing what we can accomplish when the whole world works together. That’s the basic concept behind Zero Emissions Day—a time to reflect on the choices we can all make to reduce emissions and find more sustainable solutions. For one day, on September 21, the goal is to remove our reliance on fossil fuels while raising awareness for climate-friendly choices. This year, we invite you to discover the efforts we put forth each and every day as well as the ways our energy solutions can help set you on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050.

Hospitals never close shop for the day—doctors and nurses don’t get to punch out early. These facilities operate 24/7 for patients who need it, and the energy bills from all that necessary, life-saving machinery can add up. If you’re looking for a way to lower your energy bills while continuing to provide your patients with the best possible treatment, Dalkia Energy Solutions is just what the doctor ordered.

At Dalkia Energy Solutions, we have long specialized in optimizing HVAC units, which are frequently the largest energy consuming systems in a facility. With such a major share of the energy portfolio, there is always room to increase efficiency and deliver our customers a better return on their investment (ROI). Enhanced controls, now accessible at your fingertips, are the future of HVAC systems; you no longer have to invest in an expensive building management system (BMS) to achieve savings and maintain compliance. We can install, optimize and customize the system with other projects to drive the ROI of any facility

Energy efficiency is a constantly changing landscape; your systems become inevitably outdated with the passage of time. When that happens, you need to decide whether you want to retrofit or replace. Dalkia can act as your energy partner to help you make the most informed and financially responsible decision, put a plan into action and realize cost savings.

Lighting is one of the most important and energy-consuming systems in your building, so why not use the best for your entire operation? By taking advantage of all the LED opportunities for your facility, you will realize savings in a number of ways—offsetting installation costs with longer-lasting, more durable and higher-quality technology.

This May, it’s time to stand up for cleaner air. According to the American Lung Association, more than 45% of Americans are living in conditions with unhealthy air. We want you to join us in being part of the change during Clean Air Month—in this blog we’ll explain how we can help your facility chart a course for a greener future while improving your energy and cost-efficiency.

Big changes are coming for energy efficiency in both the short term and the distant future. In this blog, we’re taking a look at recent advances in the industry as well as the energy efficiency outlook for 2021 and beyond.

If you’ve watched any network news programming in recent months, you may have caught a segment on ESG Investing, an emerging acronym (and trend!) as corporate social responsibility becomes more readily embraced. In this blog, we’ll go over the ABCs of ESG Investing, explaining what it entails, why you should consider adopting some of greening strategies and how we can help implement them.

Energy efficiency. It’s probably a term you’ve heard tossed around as an idea to improve your facility’s bottom line and CSR, but what does energy efficiency mean? Essentially, it means using less energy to perform the same task. In this case, that means reducing fossil fuels and reducing your business’ carbon footprint by making current energy sources more effective.

A Grocer Achieves A New Level of Freshness.
Lidl US knows a thing or two about fresh produce. Operating over 11,000 stores across 32 countries, freshness is at the core of their business model. Now, by integrating some new technology, customers will experience a new level of freshness: air purity. And given the implications of COVID-19, the MERV 13 filtration solution will allow all involved (customers, vendors, employees) to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Take a deep breath. Now, take another, but this time, pretend you’re on an airplane in coach. And again, but this time, you’re walking through a casino. Last one: imagine you’re in a meadow having a picnic. If we did a good job of sparking your imagination, you can surmise the central theme of this blog: air quality. A concern of many workers emerging from home offices making the return to their places of employment is the air quality of their offices and how ventilation could affect the spread of COVID-19. Here, we’ll dive into ways to create healthy buildings that will make them—your workforce, customers and visitors—breathe easier.

Reach Your Goals During COVID-19 and Beyond.
How is your facility’s energy efficiency?

Are You Doing Your Part? We Can Help.
Earlier this summer, we learned of The Climate Pledge after reading this blog from Amazon discussing the internet giant’s intent to reach net zero carbon by 2040, a full decade ahead of the Paris Agreement. An ambitious goal for sure, but after we stopped to consider how swiftly the company rose from being an online bookstore to the megastore and distribution center it is today, we realized that the timeframe and goal may not be too lofty of a feat after all.

Are bottom-line concerns holding you back from making energy efficiency upgrades to your facility? Knowing and understanding all of the available federal and local incentives for sustainable upgrades is a crucial factor in that decision-making process. One such incentive, the 179D tax deduction program, has now been extended through 2020.

For the first official time, here it comes… Happy New Year from Dalkia Energy Solutions! We are extremely proud to ring in 2020 with a greeting that, well, has a pretty great ring to it. October 2019 marked our formal introduction as the U.S. division of Dalkia, a subsidiary of France-based energy giant EDF Group, defining the excitement and historic evolution we experienced over the course of 2019—a year that reenergized us for more to come.

Whether you’re in the business of making or distributing widgets, raw materials, food or consumer goods, there inevitably is some heavy lifting involved. We understand the considerable planning that goes into your operational efficiency. That’s why when it comes time to evaluate ways to save energy in your warehouse or distribution center, we’d like you to leave the heavy lifting to us.

Cutting the energy consumption of a facility while increasing energy savings is the new standard of building management, rather than the exception. Over the last several years, n technologies have emerged to meet those goals, such as LED lighting and controls, which can cut energy bills by more than half while improving the quality and safety of the facility. But there’s so much more. Additional ROI-boosting features in LED lighting and other technologies prove that connectivity is the future of building management.

Ask anyone how they’ve selected their go-to grocery store or stores, and they’ll likely list off a menu of reasons: proximity to their home or place of work, product selection, available discounts, store aesthetics, overall comfort or experience. As a consumer yourself, you choose where to do business based on these same factors. But as a facilities professional, you know what stores need to add to their recipe to make it a good one for employees and shoppers alike. Here, we offer four energy challenges facing grocery managers and considerations to overcome them:

Impact investing is a rapidly growing investment strategy and is forcing REITs and private equity firms to increase their efforts on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs. Broadly speaking, impact investing focuses on investing in companies whose services or products generate measurable, positive social or environmental impact along with financial return.

Facing ever-fluctuating energy prices, aging electrical grids and increasing concern for the environment, more businesses and facilities are turning to distributed generation as a key component of a successful overall energy strategy.

In June I was excited to use Turo’s novel car sharing app to rent a Tesla Model 3 while on a trip to San Fransisco. After pickup at Turo’s SFO airport location, I headed to Target in San Mateo, where the store hosts several Tesla superchargers. Unlike Tesla’s Model S and X, the Model 3 doesn’t come with free charging – so I pulled in knowing there would be a cost.

The energy efficiency community has fallen in love with Intelligent Buildings.