Buildings in Chicago, New York, Toyko, Mexico City, Berlin, and eleven other cities will be retrofitted to reduce their carbon emissions under an initiative of the Clinton Foundation. The energy makeover will reduce energy use in these buildings 20%-50% by replacing heating and cooling equipment, sealing windows and doors, and using sensors on lighting systems.
A project of this scale is possible because of a partnership between five of the world’s largest banks and four of the world’s largest energy service companies. ABN Amro , Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and UBS AG have agreed to each make $1 billion available. Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Inc., Siemens and Trane will perform energy audits, retrofit buildings, and guarantee the energy savings of the retrofits.
The potential of this initiative is tremendous; the initiative reduces the operating expenses of buildings and creates jobs while helping the environment. The world market for energy retrofits can double because of the increased financing available. This can have a significant effect on global carbon emissions because buildings are responsible for 50% of a cities' emissions. Environmental protection and a healthy economy can both be achieved simultaneously.
