{"557701":{"#nid":"557701","#data":{"type":"news","title":"New GA Tech Study Concludes that Clean Power Plan Could Deliver Significant Energy Bill Savings to Cities and Businesses Nationwide","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECITY, STATE \u2013 City skylines have long been a symbol of innovation and prosperity. What you can\u2019t see is that these same buildings are some of the United States\u2019 largest energy consumers and are therefore responsible for significant amounts of the nation\u2019s carbon pollution. However, a new study by Dr. Marilyn Brown and the Georgia Institute of Technology has found that by implementing the Obama Administration\u2019s Clean Power Plan, which was finalized one year ago today, commercial building owners and occupants in the United States could realize an average annual electricity savings of $11.3 billion (6.7%) in 2030, compared to doing nothing at all.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat this study reveals is that cities, and the commercial buildings that comprise them, hold a key to both lower carbon pollution as well as lower bills for commercial electricity consumers if states embrace energy efficiency and clean energy investments associated with state implementation of the Clean Power Plan,\u201d said Dr. Marilyn Brown, the study\u2019s author. Sustainability Officers across the country can attest to these claims. Stephanie Benfield, Director of Atlanta\u2019s Sustainability Office has learned from experience that \u201cEnergy efficiency is the key to low cost integration of cleaner energy that significantly benefits the bottom line of businesses \u2013 large and small, while reducing dirty energy sources that cause climate change.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThese same investments would also have the ancillary benefit of reducing natural gas bills by $3.6 billion (10.1%) in 2030. These savings are triggered in part by a new generation of air source heat pumps that replace less efficient units commonly seen on the rooftops of office buildings, schools, restaurants and big-box stores. These new technologies tackle one of the most rapidly growing energy uses in the United States \u2013 air conditioning. If these benefits weren\u0027t enough, there are huge negative consequences to doing nothing. Without any changes in the way we produce electricity, the electricity bills of commercial building owners and occupants in the United States would rise by about 21.4% over the next 15 years under business as usual.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech study energy bill savings are expected to be greatest for retail and office buildings. In the United States it is estimated that these building space owners would cut their electricity costs by $2.9 billion and $2 billion respectively in 2030, while at the same time cutting CO2 emissions significantly.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOccupants and owners of other building types, ranging from education to food and lodging, would also save significantly on their energy bills as states meet their Clean Power Plan goals,\u201d said Dr. Brown. \u201cEnergy efficiency offers multiple benefits and these results illustrate how commercial building owners and occupants can gain from more efficient and more affordable air conditioning, lighting,\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Eelectronics and other equipment, and from improved building shells as well as rooftop solar systems.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study examined the finalized August 2015 Clean Power Plan developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Obama Administration. The plan proposed an historic step aimed at reducing carbon pollution by implementing first ever federal limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. The Clean Power Plan establishes carbon pollution goals for each state, and is projected to achieve a 32 percent cut in U.S. carbon pollution from power plants by 2030 compared with 2005.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEPA projects that the Clean Power Plan will help avoid up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work and school days annually by 2030. The reduction of carbon pollution in our air will also prevent thousands of heart attacks and hospital admissions every year.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe full report details information on 13 different states, including CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, MA, MI, MO, NY, PA, TN, TX, and VA, which can be downloaded on the sidebar of the page.\u0026nbsp;This is the second study that Dr. Brown has released this year on clean energy. The first report can be read \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/stories\/2016\/6\/clean-power-cut-electricity-bills\/548441\u0022\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Public Policy Professor releases study that reveals significant energy bill savings."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Marilyn Brown reveals in her newest study how clean power could severely diminish power usage. By using clean power, the U.S. could be saving $11.3 billion in 2030.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Professor Marilyn Brown reveals in her newest study how clean power could severely diminish power usage."}],"uid":"32716","created_gmt":"2016-08-01 17:09:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:12","author":"Hayden Russell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/brown","title":"Marilyn Brown, Ph.D."},{"url":"http:\/\/www.spp.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Public Policy"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/news-events\/stories\/2016\/6\/report-clean-energy-plan-cut-electric-bills\/548471","title":"Report: Clean Energy Plan Will Cut Electric Bills"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"169200","name":"clean power plan"},{"id":"330","name":"Marilyn Brown"},{"id":"167078","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebeccca Keane\u003Cbr \/\u003EDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}