MBA Journal: Internship November 15, 2010, 12:00PM EST

Making a Sustainable Difference

"Businesses can play a major part in solving the climate crisis in a manner that actually earns them money"

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At the end of my 10-week fellowship with PHH Arval (PHH), as part of the Environmental Defense Fund's Climate Corps Fellowship program, I delivered a presentation to a roomful of the company's leadership team making recommendations on how the organization can capture business value by making investments in energy efficiency.While you would think I would be nervous making a pitch to high-level executives, as opposed to when I'm in my comfort zone presenting to my peers in the MBA program at George Washington University (GW Full-Time MBA Profile), I was surprisingly relaxed. The reason? I knew the numbers in my presentation speak for themselves.

The EDF Climate Corps program places trained MBA fellows into companies to capture unrealized financial and environmental gains through the identification and implementation of cost-effective energy-efficiency improvements. It's a program that combines consulting, organizational change, project management, sustainability, and finance into a 10-week package. I walked away with quantifiable results and the knowledge that I helped make a real difference for a company by directly helping it increase profits, while actively making a difference by combating climate change. I learned and developed my own skills and joined a network of other like-minded business students. In all honesty, I could not have asked for a better opportunity.

As an environmentalist, I'm proud that the projects I identified for PHH Arval will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and take action to fight global warming. The aggregate total of the 20 energy-efficiency projects in lighting, heating and air-conditioning, office equipment, and data centers that I analyzed would reduce energy consumption by more than 3 million kilowatt-hours per year, the equivalent of the electricity used by 1,500 homes annually. It would also avoid nearly 1,600 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, which is the same as removing 1,300 SUVs from the road. I knew explaining the environmental benefits of my recommendations would not get them approved by a bottom-line-oriented CFO. Instead, I relied on my business acumen and presented the financial analysis in terms of net present value, rate of return, and payback period. The fact is that energy efficiency is not just responsible business; it's good business, period. The projects that I analyzed would reduce annual energy costs by about $374,000 per year. At a total cost of about $284,000, these investments would be paid back in only nine months and provide a return on investment of 131 percent. I knew investment opportunities like this would earn the approval of even the most conservative financial officer, particularly given these tough economic times.

Climate Corps Training

How was I prepared? First, I was well-trained and had access to great resources. I began the EDF Climate Corps program with a weeklong crash course in energy efficiency at EDF's headquarters in New York City, where I heard from a variety of experts in the field, toured the efficiency measures being implemented at the Empire State Building, and was briefed on the methodology and tools developed by the diligent Climate Corps program coordinators after successfully organizing the program the past two years. Throughout the summer, I had frequent expert calls, access to case studies and white papers, and regular check-ins with Climate Corps project managers. But perhaps the best resource I had throughout the summer was my contact with, and the help of, 50 other Climate Corps fellows who were simultaneously working with other major companies to identify, analyze, and recommend energy-efficiency projects that make sense to them.