Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/479431
attention to environmental health, employee wellness, societal benefits, and public perception, the bottom-line analysis of whether a sustainable measure reduces costs or adds revenue typically is the main reason companies choose to undertake such initiatives. "The business case for engaging in sustainable efforts continues to grow," Brown said. "More and more compa- nies are taking a hard look at things like what is waste for them might be useful for someone else." To help businesses make the bottom-line analysis more desirable, the Connecticut government has undertaken a number of initiatives to make sustainabil- ity more affordable. The state's Recycling Working Group recommended ways businesses could sell their waste as raw materials rather than throwing it away. Connecticut also created the Clean Energy Finance & Investment Authority to use public dollars to leverage private financing for commercial sustainability products, most notably in its Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program where business property own- ers can make energy upgrades at no upfront costs. CEFIA is considered a national model for green financing. Economic Energy ENERGY CoNSUmED PER REAL DoLLAR oF NATIoNAL GRoSS DomESTIC PRoDUCT RANK STATE (in thousand Btus) 1 New York 3.4 2 Connecticut 3.7 3 Massachusetts 3.9 4 Rhode Island 4.1 5 California 4.4 6 Hawaii 4.5 7 Delaware 4.9 8 New Hampshire 5 9 Maryland 5 10 New Jersey 5.2 U.S. Average 7 SoURCE: U.S. ENERGY INFoRmATIoN ADmINISTRATIoN CT Carbon Emissions here is the total amount of carbon emissions by Connecticut's residential, commercial, industrial, transportation, and electric generation sectors from 1980 to 2011, the most recent data. sourCe: u.s. enerGy inFormaTion ADmINISTRATIoN Green Fact: Connecticut has 269 electric vehicle charging stations, fewer than 19 states, but that is considered adequate for Evs to move around the state confidently because of the stations' close proximity to each other. SoURCES: Ev CoNNECTICUT, U.S. DEPARTmENT oF ENERGY In the last five years, Connecticut has seen the launch of four electric vehicle charging station companies, including Connecticut Electric Car in Newington. PhoTo | hbJ File 20 CoNNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE • WinTer 2014 www.CTGreenGuide.com