Earlier this year, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Wells Fargo launched the latest addition to its IN² Program to encourage wide scale adoption of clean technologies in the real estate industry. IN² has identified, funded and tested new technologies at NREL’s labs for efficacy and impact since 2014. However, in 2024, the program aimed to address a critical gap: industry adoption. In May 2024, Galvanize Real Estate (GRE) joined as one of 10 inaugural participants in the Adopters Program. The goal of this program is to connect real estate owners and operators with proven, ready-to-deploy clean technologies that can drive decarbonization while maintaining profitability.
We sat down with Nicolette Jaze, Head of ESG and Sustainability for Galvanize Real Estate, and Dr. Howard Branz, consulting member of Galvanize’s Impact team and its Director of Science & Impact, to learn more about their experience in the program.
Q: Why did GRE apply to participate in this program?
Nicolette: GRE sees a compelling opportunity to outperform our peers by profitably decarbonizing the built environment. With the country’s Net Zero goals looming and buildings accounting for 20% of operational emissions in the U.S., we think there is both an urgency and commercial opportunity to accelerate this transition. We believe so strongly in this vision that we target decarbonization across our portfolio within three years of ownership. The IN² program is an excellent fit, offering us access to proven, de-risked technologies that can contribute to this mission. Over six months, we worked closely with NREL scientists, vetted technologies, and explored practical use cases for deployment within our portfolio.
Q: What barriers to adoption have you observed in the real estate sector?
Nicolette: The main hurdles include lack of buy-in and incentivization that, despite even the best of efforts, are entrenched in the sector’s decision-making processes and manifest in resistance at every step of the investment lifecycle. Many industry stakeholders believe decarbonization efforts are expensive, unprofitable, or reliant on emerging, untested technologies. However, about 75% of decarbonization can be achieved using existing, proven, and profitable technologies. The challenge lies in aligning and incentivizing diverse stakeholders, from property managers to investors, around the feasibility and profitability of these efforts.
Q: What technologies have you identified through the IN² program for potential deployment?
Dr. Branz: There have been many, but three standouts that come to mind were:
- Advanced cooling: Large desiccant-cooling systems to defer air-conditioning energy usage and reduce costs in buildings having time-of-use electricity pricing or with solar arrays in place.
- Monitoring Systems: Integrated hardware-software systems that detect energy inefficiencies and equipment failures, enabling proactive maintenance.
- Window Retrofits: Solutions in this category include installation of a secondary thin-glass pane that improves window insulating abilities, giving older windows a second life and reducing energy loss without expensive window replacements.
Q: How does GRE assess which technologies are a good fit for its portfolio?
Nicolette: Our approach combines technology expertise with deep knowledge of our portfolio’s needs. Dr. Howard Branz, a former NREL research leader with decades of experience in advanced building science, evaluates technologies’ viability for our properties. Working with the GRE team, he identifies solutions that align with our decarbonization and profitability goals, acting as a matchmaker between innovation and our real estate assets.
Q: How do you plan to use the IN² program funds if selected?
Nicolette: The funds will support three key projects at One Gateway, an industrial warehouse property we acquired in 2024:
- Covering 55,000 square feet of old rooftop with a temperature-moderating coating that should extend the roof’s life. This enables installation of solar panels on that roof. The durable white coating should also enable profitability of more efficient bifacial solar panels that can convert light reflected from underneath into electricity.
- Installing smart monitoring devices to optimize HVAC performance and energy use in the building.
- Retrofitting older windows to enhance insulation and energy efficiency.
These upgrades align with our business plan and with the IN² program’s requirement to complete implementations by mid-2025.
Q: What role has Galvanize’s Impact team played in this effort?
Dr. Branz: Our Impact team laid the groundwork by developing a quantitative decarbonization evaluation methodology that ensures investment decisions are tied to measurable climate outcomes. GRE has a framework to ensure that all stakeholders across the investment lifecycle are aligned from property selection to retrofitting, and that the business plan for each asset includes decarbonization as a critical component to measuring success. This integration has been pivotal in enabling us to participate effectively in the IN² program.
Q: How has Howard’s background shaped GRE’s clean tech strategy?
Nicolette: Howard brings a wealth of experience from his 28-year career at NREL and at the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), where he led groundbreaking research programs on both solar and building technologies. Howard has also consulted to energy technology startups and investors for a decade. His ability to rapidly understand and evaluate clean tech have enabled GRE to make informed decisions about deploying the solutions that best fit our goals. His ability to bridge the gap between science and business has been critical in accelerating our decarbonization efforts.
Q: Any closing thoughts on the impact of this collaboration with IN2 Program?
Dr. Branz: GRE’s partnership with IN2 demonstrates the potential for collaboration between the private and public sectors to tackle pressing climate challenges. By leveraging NREL’s expertise and the IN² program’s resources, GRE is making meaningful strides toward decarbonizing the built environment and proving that clean tech adoption can be both impactful and profitable.
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We look forward to sharing more about Galvanize Real Estate’s participation in the program and the projected impact across its portfolio in 2025. In the meantime, learn more about the NREL and Wells Fargo IN² Program here.