Battery energy storage is examined in part five of our series on sustainability strategies of the future. “Most of us in the industry have had a lot of questions about batteries,” says IMEG Director of Sustainability Adam McMillen. “When does it make sense? When will they be cost competitive? How do they fit into the big picture? These are all good questions because the last thing you want to do is put some expensive, embodied-carbon heavy, lithium-ion batteries on your campus and then have them not really do much for you.” Co-host Mike Lawless, IMEG Direction of Innovation, joins Adam in delving into these questions. They also discuss the many future opportunities of this strategy, such as pairing batteries with renewables such as wind and solar to provide facilities with both reliable and sustainable backup power when the grid goes down as well as a method to eliminate expensive peak demand charges from utilities.

Also in this series:

• “Embodied Carbon in the Crosshairs of Desginers, Bill Gates, and Girl Scouts”
• “The Chiller Reality: Your MEP Equipment is Full of Embodied Carbon”
• “Cold Climate Electrification: A Path Toward ‘Clean’ Heating”
• “Call in the Reserves: Thermal Energy Storage to the Rescue”
• “Five Steps to Begin the Process of Decarbonizing Your Building”