Energy Strategies That Thrive in a Decarbonized World
Online and self-paced
- 10 hours of recordings and three webinars with the instructor
- Take three+ months to complete the self-placed course
- Receive a GWU Environmental and Energy Management Institute Certificate
- Course counts toward the EEMI Energy Resilience Certificate
Cost $550
Instructional materials and references
- 24 pre-recorded webinars (~20-30 minutes each) and
- 3 synchronous webinars (~ 90 minutes each, dates announced in the class)
- Jia, Jimmy Y, The Corporate Energy Strategist’s Handbook: Frameworks to Achieve Environmental Sustainability and Competitive Advantage. Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
Overview
The realities of climate change are already affecting the corporate bottom lines, forcing C-suite executive to seek ways to de-risk their business operations. However, companies often implement a myriad of well-meaning but ad-hoc green and sustainability initiatives across the organization.
This short course turns random acts of greenness into a metrics driven strategy developed by the instructor, energy strategist Jimmy Jia. He introduces strategies, practices, and tools available to leaders at various levels of management that can reduce energy use, improve carbon footprint, and increase competitive advantage. Through over 20 case studies, we will examine strategies that worked across small businesses to the Fortune500 as well as cities to non-profits
The instructor connects environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that corporate boards face in meeting ISO standards that their operations follow on a daily basis. He provides a framework for corporate contributions to the Paris Agreement, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and other initiatives. By the end of the course, attendees will understand how Energy-as-Strategy can increase company value and productivity by finding competitive advantages in decarbonizing its footprint.
Topics covered include:
- Strategy frameworks, such as the Energy Strategy Maturity Cycle™.
- Energy and carbon frameworks, such as the energy balance and the carbon cycle.
- Risk Management frameworks, such as scenario planning and risk prioritization.
- Innovation frameworks, such as emergent innovations and scaling innovations.
- Productivity frameworks, such as continuous improvement and communications.
Who will benefit?
- Business leaders will be able to operationalize their environmental strategy into leading and lagging indicators, reducing environmental impact, and maximizing profitability.
- Sustainability professionals will increase their knowledge of the multiple stakeholder groups they need to invite and involve.
- Academics will be introduced to the current issues that corporate executives are grappling with to achieve a sustainable future.
- Government Officials will explore policies and regulations that directly or indirectly affect climate resiliency.
Live Webinars: Includes three live webinars with the instructor. Schedule announced in the class.
EEMI Certificate: Issued to students completing a final quiz
Overview
Module 1: Context: The Strategy, Energy, and Carbon Nexus
1. Introduction: Energy-as-Strategy
2. How energy constraints work
3. How carbon constraints work
4. Strategic leadership: Navigating ambiguity
Module 2: Set a Vision: Aligning Corporate and Environmental Strategies
1. Optimizing for business outcomes
2. Optimizing for energy outcomes
3. Optimizing for societal outcomes
4. Decision making to balance priorities
Module 3: Gain Certainty: Tracking Progress
1. Classifying energy assets
2. Categorizing energy initiatives
3. The energy management organization
4. Setting the right metrics
Module 4: Reduce Risk: Growing Value Through Risk Management
1. How energy and corporate risks are coupled
2. Mitigating persistent risks
3. Minimizing catastrophes
4. Identifying risks through scenario planning
Module 5: Initiate Innovations: New Opportunities
1. Creating an environment for innovation
2. Process innovations: Do more with less
3. Emergent innovations: Uncover delightful surprises
4. Scaling innovations: Turn a new idea into a standard practice
Module 6: Increase Productivity: Systematizing Random Acts of Greenness
1. The importance of ESG reporting
2. Communications: The messaging of initiatives
3. Continuous improvement as a culture
4. Persisting behavioral change and course review
Case studies will include
Corporate: Iron Mountain, Patagonia, Scandic
Small Business: Chocmo Chocolate Bistro, RiceFergusMiller Architects
Governments and Municipals: State of Washington, City of Bremerton, Whitefish School District
Non-Profits: Seattle Children’s Theater, Green River College Foundation
Specific Learning Objectives
Business Leaders
- Adopt industry best practices of reducing climate risks for increased sustainability and resiliency.
- Enhance strategic alignment across corporate, environmental and climate outcomes.
- Increase leadership capacity to lead through climate uncertainty.
- Improve investor relations with actionable environmental strategies and targets.
Sustainability professionals
- Aligning sustainability outcomes with corporate strategy.
- Improve stakeholder engagement with practical tools and case studies.
- Develop sustainability insights with risk and innovation management functions.
- Be able to do a cursory evaluation of new energy ideas for technical and economic feasibility.
Academics
- Identify multidisciplinary opportunities to support engagements with industry.
- Apply principles of Energy-as-Strategy to a university setting.
- Examine current boundaries of knowledge in sustainability research and practice.
- Educate students to meet the sustainability needs of businesses and organizations.
Government Officials
- Identify opportunities to develop public-private partnerships.
- Explore policies and regulations that directly or indirectly affect climate targets.
- Analyze case studies of multi-sectoral sustainability practices for development of future policies.
- Apply principles of de-carbonization to governmental operations.