2021 was a year full of growth, innovation, and change at Foresight. In our 2020 recap newsletter, published last January, we wrote the following, “Over the last few years, our clients have steadily increased their focus on sustainable business practices. Several factors contributed to this trend, some of which include: the changing climate, an increased demand for transparency from financial markets, the shift from a shareholder economy to a stakeholder economy, and the increased value consumers have placed on how products are made. Since 2018, we’ve responded to this growing trend by adding services and expertise to support our clients’ sustainability goals and needs.” As we look back on 2021, these sentiments continue to ring true 12 months later, and in almost every respect they ring more emphatically than ever before.

If your organization has already begun accounting for its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, it might be time to brave the next step: inventorying your Scope 3. In a recent report released last month, investment research firm MSCI listed the top ten ESG trends to consider in 2022. What was #1 on the list? “Corporates Pushing Corporates for Net-Zero Supply Chains.” That’s right–supply chain decarbonization.

While I'm not an expert in lighting controls, I interact with them frequently as a part of our commissioning work. Throughout my many years of designing and troubleshooting buildings' functionality, I have repeatedly inquired about the commissioning of lighting controls. Way back, the “only” lighting system was daylighting; candles didn't work all that well for many activities. The only “controls” were drapes and shades.

Did you ever get yelled at by your parents to "Turn the lights OFF!" when you were a kid? I did. As an energy engineer as an adult, I wish I could have shown my kid-self the calculations on how much it really costs to leave the lights on.

We are excited to officially announce our recent acquisition of VIKRON Energy Solutions. For over ten years, VIKRON has provided natural gas consulting and brokerage services to large energy users throughout the United States.

To be at the forefront of climate and sustainability work is to envision an entire economic system that does not exist. Currently, CEOs are tasked with continual growth, keeping the lights on, and avoiding risks that upset operations. There isn't much room for envisioning or influencing an entire system, so sustainability solutions have traditionally been incremental and limited to existing frameworks.

Have you ever noticed that the IRS seems to love using three numbers and sometimes a letter to describe funds, policies, or codes? Many of us immediately think 401k, 503b, or 529 plan. However, there is a lesser-known IRS tax code that can save you significantly when you invest in energy efficiency for your commercial building…

Autumn is here. As the weather cools off and the days get shorter, the first thing I think of is our culture’s obsession with pumpkin spice. These days it seems like everything is pumpkin spice flavored – whiskey, cheerios, and even English muffins (I’m not joking). If there is one thing I wish more people thought of in the fall, it’s energy. Who are we kidding - if you read enough of these blogs, you’ll find all I think about is energy.

Mike and Matt host Season 4 of the MicroVlogCast and discuss the ins and outs of solar energy. Shot in front of the rooftop array on the Foresight headquarters in Grand Rapids, MI, they cover everything from additionality to net-metering to biomimicry - all in episodes under three minutes.

Much ink has been spilled on the topic of leadership development. Undoubtedly, you’ve read a book, been recommended a podcast or TedTalk, sat through a seminar, or attended a semester-long class on the topic at some point over the last 10 – 15 years. At Foresight, we have shelves full of books by authors who have spent most of their careers examining how to best implement leadership development in organizations of all sizes, types, and disciplines.

If 2020 was the year of hearing people talk about COVID19 constantly, 2021 is the year people are talking about inflation and the supply chain. It is hard to go through a day without hearing someone talk about supply chain issues or inflation. Unfortunately, the natural gas and electricity markets are suffering from price inflation as well.

After 45+ years of professional engineering practice, everything comes out perfect the first time, just like I expect... That's a lie (and you knew it as soon as you read it). We all know that NOTHING comes out perfect the first time, so why do we often act as though it were true?

I coached boys high school basketball at the Varsity level for 11 years. If you’ve coached youth sports at a competitive level, then you’ll almost certainly resonate with the frustration that comes with kids who want to win the game, but don’t engage or compete during practice.

On the MicroVlogCast this summer, our energy engineers are unpacking the ideal Energy Management Pathway. The first step to managing energy wisely is to simply Use Less.

I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and our electricity provider rolled out a different way to bill residential customers this year. I kept hearing friends gripe about how Consumers Energy is increasing rates by 50%. As a professional who nerds out about energy, I was excited to hear others digging into electricity rates.

First thing I remind anyone trying to understand LEVEL Certification is that it is a sustainable product certification. By LEVEL’s definition, a product certification is not a sustainable building certification like LEED or sustainable company certification like B Corp; the scope of a product certification includes a product, building and a company.

Sustainability is a business model that has taken more prominence in the business world recently. Investors like Larry Fink at BlackRock have identified sustainability as a "new standard for investing" to manage and minimize business risk. There has been a lot of buzz around defining, structuring, and organizing this new business model. At Foresight, we have been asked by many CEO, CFOs, and Vice Presidents of Sales, "Where do we start?"

What you aim for… matters. Even if you aim at nothing, you still get what you aim for! Better to aim carefully. Energy use in a facility is “modeled” in a computational environment (i.e., software). It is a prediction of facility energy use and, just as importantly, energy cost.

I’ve been providing sustainable building design consulting services for almost two decades. Most of this time has been directly collaborating with designers, engineers, contractors, and building owners. Over the years, I’ve noticed two dominant yet elusive opportunities for meaningful, amplified impact within the life cycle of any given building…

In my recent conversations with businesses leaders and manufacturers, one question has been repeated: What is the difference between Sustainability and ESG? While both terms have been around for a decade-plus, their infiltration into the marketplace is just now hitting a tipping point for companies of all sizes.