Making the Case for Decarbonization Projects

Organizations are setting progressive decarbonization goals to meet regulatory requirements and achieve strategic objectives, but not all decarbonization projects are created equal.

How do you know which projects to invest in? How can you balance capital planning, financial, and decarbonization objectives? Can decarbonization also achieve non-energy benefits and how do you deal with uncertainties like rising carbon taxes?

Understanding how to balance competing objectives and navigate your most cost-effective path to achieving carbon reductions is key to a successful decarbonization program.

This one-day course is designed to provide participants with hands-on experience analyzing decarbonization projects. The course will cover the basics of incremental cost, pricing carbon, net present value, the total cost of building ownership, and how to determine what needs to be included in a decision matrix. Throughout the day, participants will work through each step of creating a business case for a decarbonization project. At completion, participants will be asked to present their decarbonization recommendations.

This course will provide participants with the tools and expertise needed to conduct a total cost of ownership analysis and develop a business case for decarbonization projects so they can make informed decisions on which decarbonization projects to pursue and ultimately achieve their organization's carbon reduction targets.

Key learning objectives

Upon taking this course, participants will:

• Understand decarbonization opportunities and why they are being pursued
• Understand financial analysis metrics terms – incremental cost, the total cost of ownership or life-cycle cost analysis, NPV, IRR, $/GHG
• Be able to compare various decarbonization opportunities and select the best opportunities
• Understand and consider the effect of the varying carbon prices on projects
• Develop and present a one-page proposal to pitch a decarbonization opportunity  

Audience

This course is relevant to anyone involved in facilities management or sustainability planning and specifically those tasked with identifying and implementing decarbonization projects in commercial, industrial, residential, and institutional buildings.