San Francisco — Consulting and engineering firm Mazzetti & Associates, two-time winner of the Champions for Change Award from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, announced the advent of a climate change consulting practice. The new suite of services provides clients with measurement, strategic advice regarding development of greenhouse gas reduction strategies, and reduction verification services. In combination with the existing firm expertise in the areas of energy performance analysis and energy system design, construction and commissioning will provide potential clients with a one-stop shop for dealing with the changing set of legal requirements in the area of emissions reduction. 

The climate change consulting practice has been added to Mazzetti’s already full range of client services, which includes mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology engineering design and consulting.

Mazzetti & Associates principal Walt Vernon says that clients will benefit from the service by reducing greenhouse gas emissions early, as carbon regulations and carbon trading markets are just beginning to be created.

“There is little doubt that regulations and carbon markets are coming,” Vernon said. “This new world of carbon regulation will create all kinds of issues for building owners. We understand the legal, financial and policy sides of the regulation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and we can help clients turn this from a liability into an opportunity to make investments that pay back over time. Building owners who prepare for a carbon-constrained future will fare much better than those who wait for the regulations to take hold and who have to act with their backs against the wall.”

In California, Assembly Bill 32 — also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act — requires reporting and verification of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as mandating cuts in emissions overall statewide. Since 76 percent of all electricity generated in the U.S. is used to construct and operate buildings, many experts believe that buildings will be among the first to be regulated as regulation at local, state and federal levels increases.

Vernon cited several benefits for those who choose voluntary greenhouse gas reduction, including recognition of environmental stewardship, successful management of the risk of future regulation, the ability to influence policymakers as legislation is being created and gaining advantage over competitors who do not reduce greenhouse gases until mandated to do so.

Mazzetti has already partnered with St. Joseph’s Health System to measure their greenhouse gasses and to report them to the California Climate Action Registry. Stanford University Medical Center recently engaged Mazzetti to perform similar services for their healthcare facilities, and help them develop various plans for responding to the challenge that comes from growing the medical center while shrinking their carbon footprint.

The climate consulting services provided by Mazzetti includes a full range of planning, metrics and evaluation, and recommendations, including:

• Auditing: Measuring the amount of energy used and the greenhouse gasses emitted by a facility’s operations;
• Benchmarking: Comparing a facility’s energy use and greenhouse gasses with other, similar facilities;
• Policy research and consulting: How to leverage regulation and incentives in the future in the client’s best interests;
• Reduction goal formulation: Setting targets for reductions in energy and water use;
• Reduction measures analysis: Determining the most cost effective and feasible ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a particular facility;
• Advanced energy modeling: Computer simulations which provide models of the impacts of reduction measures;
• Financial analysis: Evaluating the financial impacts of reductions over time;
• Rebates and incentives: Helping clients find and apply for ways to reduce the costs of investments in greenhouse gas emissions reductions;
• Systems design: Develop, implement and administer reduction measures;
• Construction; Partnering with construction firms and acting as the owner’s project manager to ensure timely and cost-effective construction solutions;
• Building commissioning: Ensuring that the building’s systems and equipment operate as designed and that building facility staff are capable of operating and maintaining them;
• Emission reduction verification: This provides verification of the emissions reductions to the various available markets so as to allow a building owner to monetize them.