Innovative Investment Models for Campus Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Joyce Ferris, Blue Hill Partners LLC
In response to the financial, business, and technical challenges that schools face in greening their campuses, Blue Hill Partners has created an investment program called the Campus Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF). The CEEF invests in "best in class" energy efficiency and sustainability project developers who provide energy efficiency as a service with no out of pocket expenses incurred by the property owner.
By working actively with its portfolio companies, Blue Hill Partners has learned about the many challenges that property owners and schools face in meeting their energy efficiency and sustainability objectives, especially in retrofitting their buildings and campuses. The firm has also learned about the obstacles that emerging technology companies must overcome in getting their products to market, even when those technologies are proven and fully commercial and have demonstrated many years of solid performance.
In this presentation, the speaker will identify the challenges that campuses face and give examples of funded solutions that are well suited to laboratory buildings. The speaker will also discuss the new, innovative business models for providing ongoing services to property owners to continuously manage and optimize their energy performance.
Biography:
Joyce Ferris is a founder and managing partner of Blue Hill Partners, an investment firm that is focused on energy efficiency technology and service businesses in the green technology sector. Ms. Ferris has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and investor in the energy industry and has a passion for building businesses and projects. Ms. Ferris currently leads an initiative, the Campus Energy Efficiency Fund, to invest in businesses that provide energy efficiency and sustainability as a service to property owners, with a specific focus in higher education. Ms. Ferris has held numerous director positions and is currently on the boards of Aircuity, Inc., and Performance Systems Development LLC. Ms. Ferris holds a Bachelor of Arts from Reed College (1981) and a Masters of Science from the University of
Pennsylvania's Wharton School (1985) in energy management and policy, with a concentration in finance. Ms. Ferris is on the board of Outward Bound Philadelphia and is a lifelong sailor.