The 2024 Environments for Aging Conference + Expo, held April 13-16 in Atlanta, will feature a variety of keynote and breakout sessions.
Environments for Aging is previewing some of the upcoming educational sessions in a series of Q+As with speakers, sharing what they plan to discuss and key takeaways they’ll offer attendees.
Session: “Eliminating Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions—and Liking It!”
Speakers: Christina Vernon Sanborn, associate principal, senior decarbonization specialist, Mazzetti; Jesse Avery, principal, electrical engineer, Mazzetti
Senior living is seeing a growing demand from residents for sustainable communities and building design. In this session, speakers will discuss the basics of greenhouse gas emissions, including Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions; new construction and renovation strategies to reduce Scope 2 emissions; and the benefits of reducing a community’s environmental footprint.
Environments for Aging: What’s driving demand for senior living communities to reduce their environmental footprint?
Christina Vernon Sanborn (Image credit: Mazzetti)
Christina Vernon Sanborn: Organizations of all sizes and types throughout the United States and beyond are experiencing increasing impacts of climate change. From wildfires to flooding, supply chain disruptions to power outages, extreme heat events to migrating disease vectors, the impacts on businesses, communities, and health are increasingly worrisome.
Energy costs continue to rise as reliability continues to falter. Addressing an organization’s greenhouse gas emissions, especially Scope 2 emissions, can reduce its contribution to climate change while increasing energy independence, improving resiliency, and controlling energy costs.
Additionally, community, state, and federal agencies are beginning to pass legislation that requires organizations to transparently report their greenhouse gas emissions inventories going forward; notably U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission just passed final rules that will require for-profit organizations to report Scopes 1 and 2 emissions.
What are Scope 2 emissions?
Jesse Avery (Image credit: Mazzetti)
Jesse Avery: Globally, greenhouse gas emissions are accounted for in three categories (or Scopes). Scope 1 are an organization’s direct emissions from the use of fossil fuels such as natural gas for heating, diesel for generators, gasoline for vehicles, and other direct emissions sources like refrigerant and anesthetic gases.
Scope 2 are the emissions associated with purchased energy, which is primarily electricity. The primary drivers behind an organization’s Scope 2 emissions are energy consumption (how much is consumed) and energy sourcing (what type of electricity is purchased). Organizations have control over both.
Scope 3 are indirect emissions associated with doing business, including supply chain, capital goods, and employee commutes. Scope 3 emissions are by definition someone else’s Scope 1 or 2 emissions.
How can addressing Scope 2 emissions help senior living communities achieve their sustainability goals?
Vernon Sanborn: As mentioned above, addressing an organization’s greenhouse gas emissions, especially Scope 2 emissions, can reduce the organization’s contribution to climate change while increasing energy independence, improving resilience, and controlling energy costs.
The two primary levers for driving Scope 2 reduction are to reduce consumption via energy-efficiency measures and to procure and store cleaner, renewable energy.
Organizations that are tackling Scope 2 emissions are also beginning to take advantage of new financial incentives that are available via the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to both not-for-profit and for-profit entities.
What are some common challenges to reducing Scope 2 emissions with an existing building?
Avery: The energy landscape is complex. Organizations that want to tackle Scope 2 emissions may need to find partners to help them identify their best opportunities to improve performance or navigate energy procurement contracting.
Energy efficiency and clean energy resources often require an up-front investment to make a dent in the energy performance of a facility and its ability to stay on and active during a utility outage, but these investments often save enough energy and operational cost to pay for themselves in a few years.
Some strategies require space, such as solar installations or battery electric storage systems (BESS). Connecting these systems may also require electrical equipment upgrades and/or new electrical equipment.
New technologies and energy procurement strategies require new skills, such as training in battery, solar, etc. operations and maintenance or energy contract management on the part of administrators and facilities managers, which can be daunting but can be overcome.
For more on the 2024 EFA Conference schedule and registration, visit environmentsforaging.com.
