Deloitte US has launched an initiative within
its federal government practice to help agencies implement energy
management strategies.

The initiative should help the departments to
meet targets under the Obama Administration’s greenhouse gas
reduction rules.

Deloitte’s services will include energy
management strategy, organisation capability building and
compliance reporting, focusing on executive orders and mandates
federal agencies must meet under the targets.

Deloitte consulting principle David Fornari
will lead a team of 200 professionals, with at least half focused
on sustainability services.

Fornari predicts the number of staff could
increase to about 800 over the next 4 years, highlighting the
growing demand for energy management in the US.

“The new Deloitte federal energy management
and sustainability initiative will leverage our deep energy
experience and broad, firm-wide sustainability capabilities to
support our federal client’s efforts to address this important
area,” Fornari said.

“Currently, our federal sustainability
activities have been fragmented. Our new initiative will bring them
together as part of one team working across all of the federal
departments and agencies.”

Fornari, who has been at the forefront of
Deloitte’s work in the federal energy sector for several years, is
a frequent speaker and author on topics including, energy strategy,
efficiency and smart grid, and renewable energy technologies.

He said a longer-term strategy is to align the
US firm’s sustainability offerings with its global practice, which
offers services in:

  • Climate change;
  • Sustainability strategies;
  • Energy and natural resource management;
  • Information technology for
    sustainability;
  • Governance and risk intelligence;
  • Human capital and stakeholder engagement;
    and,
  • Sustainable operations and supply chain.
     

US firms traditionally lag behind their
European counterparts in providing sustainability services due to
minimal domestic demand.

The energy management consulting market
received a major shot in the arm when President Barack Obama
recently announced the government will reduce its greenhouse gas
pollution by 28 percent by 2020, introducing a raft of targets.

Legislation and consumer pressure are widely
regarded as important levers to fertilise interest in
sustainability services.