Renewable energy benefits both people (property owners, tenants, and consumers alike) and the planet, and Commercial and Industrial (C&I) buildings are the ideal spot for bringing clean energy into your community.
Understanding how to quantify the sustainability and cost-saving benefits of a solar program can give you a significant competitive edge. The right data can showcase your property’s green initiatives, satisfy investors, and retain tenants, all of which positively impact your operations and bottom line.
We’ll simplify how a solar program works and highlight its sustainable benefits, as well as how to effectively communicate and leverage these benefits to different audiences.
Let’s dig in!
Locally-Generated Energy Benefits the Environment
We might be biased, but we think it’s strategic to have solar carports or a system on your rooftop. It creates clean, green energy and, if you have a King Energy system, provides your tenants and community with discounted energy. However, having a C&I solar system offers even more benefits that you might not have considered. Let’s discuss three additional benefits specific to locally generated power right from your rooftop or parking lot.
Preserves Green Space
Installing solar panels on already urbanized areas, such as rooftops and parking lots, means that existing natural landscapes, forests, and agricultural lands remain untouched and undisturbed. Instead of dedicating new land for energy production, rooftop and carport solar utilizes spaces that are already developed. This approach helps to prevent habitat loss, protect agricultural lands, reduce urban sprawl, and promote sustainable urban development.
Reduces Energy Loss And Decreases Electrical Grid Stress
Energy often travels long distances, sometimes up to hundreds of miles, from power plants to end users. During this journey, energy is lost in the form of heat from resistance in transmission lines, resulting in reduced efficiency and increased demand for additional power generation. However, with a solar system on your roof or parking lot, energy is generated right where it’s needed, minimizing transmission losses and maximizing efficiency.
Improves Air Quality
Solar energy systems reduce the need for electricity from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas, which release harmful pollutants and contribute to smog and respiratory problems. By generating clean electricity, solar systems decrease these emissions.
Bonus Benefit: Energy Discounts with King Energy
One of the standout benefits of installing a C&I solar system with King Energy is the financial savings. Not only does it provide your tenants and community with discounted energy rates, but it also reduces your overall operational costs by supplying discounted energy to your common area meter. These savings can be reinvested into your property or business for additional green initiatives, enhancing your financial stability, promoting sustainability, and providing a competitive edge in the market.
Communicate the Sustainability Benefits of Your Solar Program
Investors
Effectively communicating the sustainability benefits of your solar program can attract and satisfy investors, especially those focused on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria. Investors today are increasingly interested in sustainable and socially responsible investments. Highlighting your solar program’s contributions to reducing carbon footprints, lowering operational costs through added rent roll and solar savings on your energy bill, and enhancing long-term financial performance can make your property more appealing.
Aligning your solar initiatives with ESG criteria and improving your Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) scores can also enhance your property’s reputation. Demonstrate how your solar program improves your GRESB scores by reducing energy consumption, lowering emissions, and promoting sustainable practices.
Some of these metrics, particularly Scope 3 emissions, can be difficult to obtain without a partner or specialized help. They require precise measurements down to a tenant-use level, which can be complex at scale.
Tenants
Tenants increasingly seek properties that implement significant sustainable practices. With a King Energy solar program, tenants benefit from discounted energy rates, leading to lower utility bills and a smaller carbon footprint. These sustainable features make properties more appealing, enhancing tenant retention and attraction. Offering renewable energy at a lower cost makes your property a desirable choice for environmentally and budget-conscious businesses.
Community
An increasing number of consumers care about shopping at locations that are committed to clean energy practices. You can share all about how your property is now a hub of clean, renewable energy and all the ways it positively impacts the environment, your community, and your tenants!
King Energy will provide you with assistance in marketing the benefits of your solar program, if this is of interest to you.
Using the EPAs Greenhouse Gas Equivalency Calculator is a simple way to talk in terms that the general public understands. For example, a typical King Energy project at a local shopping center generates 500,000 kWh of clean energy per year. This is equivalent to avoiding:
- 384,950 pounds of coal burned
- 39,304 gallons of gasoline consumed
- 16,046 propane cylinders used
- 5,776 tree seedlings grown for 10 years
Manage Sustainability Reporting with King Energy
When working with a solar partner like King Energy, all your sustainability metrics are at your fingertips and easy to communicate. We make it simple and turnkey to see your system’s benefits, both financial and environmental, and share them with your investors, tenants, and local community.
We offer flexible, custom reporting to meet your specific needs, ensuring you have all the data necessary to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability. During scheduled quarterly meetings, you’ll receive detailed insights into usage, savings, and impact.
For more casual audiences, we provide simplified usage statements and equivalency metrics to make your impact approachable and visual. If needed, our team can work alongside you on strategies to best communicate those tangible examples to the public.
No matter the audience, understanding and communicating the benefits of your solar program is essential to its success. With King Energy as your partner, you’ll have all the tangible data and support needed to realize and share the benefits of your environmental impact.