Sustainable Energy Assessment of IDB Country Offices

For more than a decade, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been committed to reaching carbon neutrality in its corporate activities and, as part of its Corporate Sustainability Program (CSP), is working on reducing its corporate carbon footprint. The IDB plans to set specific goals for reducing the carbon emissions from its buildings and fleets.   Econoler and Hatch (lead firm) were hired by the IDB to analyze the feasibility of energy efficiency measures in 11 of IDB’s freestanding offices and evaluate the technical and financial aspects of proposed measures.

Under this mandate, Econoler carried out the following tasks:

• Collected background information on the size, construction type, operations, energy use, energy cost and major energy using equipment for each of the 11 offices selected for this assessment;
• Performed a short energy efficiency (EE) review of each location to identify which EE measures should be considered initially, including building envelope upgrades, HVAC equipment and operation improvements, lighting upgrades to light-emitting diodes, automated controls and other electrical plug loads;
• Carried out more detailed EE analyses of five locations, using the RETScreen Expert software and focusing on opportunities for improving cooling and heating systems, as well as building envelopes to reduce solar heat gain and air infiltration;
• Appraised and prioritized the EE measures that could be implemented for each office, based on installation costs, energy cost savings, payback periods and potential GHG emission reductions.

  The results of the analysis informed IDB on suitable EE measures to be implemented in IDB offices.