ENERGY STAR launches New Finance Training Course

Every organization makes decisions that affect the environment. From everyday purchases to long-range planning decisions, these choices can build an organization’s reputation as an environmental leader. When the choice involves energy efficiency, the environmental option can also be the best financial decision. EPA’s ENERGY STAR offers a suite of Internet-based training sessions at no cost that show how to incorporate energy efficiency into an organization’s planning process. Whether a local government is establishing procurement specs, a school district is designing new buildings, or a college is looking to finance new HVAC equipment, ENERGY STAR offers solutions. Participants in these live sessions exchange ideas on a toll-free conference call while logged into a presentation on the Internet. They interact with experienced energy or financial consultants during a 30 to 60 minute session. Full descriptions of each presentation, online registration and the schedule through September are available at: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_internet_presentations.

This month, ENERGY STAR launches a new presentation entitled "Introduction to the Cash Flow Opportunity Calculator Spreadsheet." This 60-minute interactive session focuses on using operating budgets as a potential "source of revenue" to pay for energy efficiency projects. The Cash Flow Opportunity (CFO) Calculator, recently developed by EPA for public sector managers, is an interactive model built on a Microsoft Excel® platform. The calculator helps quantify the cost of delaying investment in upgrades by addressing three critical questions:

How much new energy efficiency equipment can be purchased from the anticipated savings?
Should this equipment purchase be financed now, or is it better to wait and use cash from a future budget?
Is money being lost by waiting for a lower interest rate?

The CFO Calculator is designed so that managers who are not financial specialists can use it to make informed decisions, yet it is sophisticated enough to satisfy financial decisionmakers. Specific information on this Internet Presentation is available at www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=business.bus_internet_presentations#cfo.

Michael Segal
Associate
The Cadmus Group.
1901 North Fort Myer Drive
Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22209
Tel: 703-247-6113
Fax: 703-247-6004