Expert Q&As

Q&A: Jamie Reynolds, President of GSH Group’s U.S. Division By Lindsay Suchow

Jamie Reynolds, president of GSH Group's U.S. division, explains how he and his team of mechanical engineers can cut your building's energy usage at no cost to you.

Can you tell me about the GSH group and your position with the company?
The GSH group goes all the way back to 1895. We originated in England. I've been with the organization for 15 years. I came across to the states three years ago and I'm the president of the U.S. business. I also sit on the executive board for the GSH group. We're mechanical engineers. We maintain all the traditional engineering equipment within a building. We have capital improvement divisions and an energy conservation team.

When and why did GSH start the EnergyPlus program?
We had our first EnergyPlus contract in Europe about 19 years ago, and we came to the U.S. about nine years ago. We were driven by market pressures in Europe – legislation, the cost of utilities, etc. We decided to look at how we could add value to our client proposition. Utilizing our engineering expertise, we identified that we could help our clients save energy by improving energy engineering practices by putting a solution together to go with the risk of the utility bill, providing the funding to our clients, etc.

Why do you think programs like EnergyPlus are important?
There are a number of angles. Self-consciousness about saving carbon and helping to create a more sustainable world has very much come to the fore of people's minds in the last couple of years. Also, the economical and financial pressures of today's marketplaces are putting significant pressures on companies to control and drive down costs. A lack of capital funding is preventing clients from investing in their buildings to create solutions. And, obviously, the legislation coming in from government, the need for LEED certification or Energy Star rating, etc., is bringing another aspect of pressure.

How does the EnergyPlus program work?
We conduct technical surveys of people's buildings to ascertain where we can save consumption of utilities. We have a three-phased approach to how we come about saving energy: One is elimination of waste within a building. Two is optimizing the current mechanical infrastructures through better maintenance regimes. And the third is capital investments – major improvements to the infrastructure. We create a baseline based upon the historical performance of a building. From that baseline, we guarantee a client savings between 5 and 10 percent from day one. Then we take over payments of the utility bill and replace it with a GSH utility bill. So at all times, it never costs the client any money. Our proposition is tied to consumption and not procurement…all of our savings are derived from using less energy rather than purchasing energy. And then we have various forms of contracts to present the savings back to our clients.

If your clients can save energy at no cost to them, why are there still businesses that choose not to save energy?
There's a bit of nervousness in my clients in giving all of their buildings over in one fowl swoop. So it's a case of coming in, delivering, exceeding expectations and then rolling the program out in a controlled manner.

It sounds like you occasionally run into skepticism. How do you plead your case?
I think the skepticism, previously, has been because people haven't been knowledgeable about the spends of utilities within their companies. Now, with the escalating utility costs, the internal strategies of clients wanting to turn their portfolios into greener portfolios, etc., they've got a better understanding. When the clients understand their usage and their trends, they understand their costs. Coupled with that, when GSH comes in and demonstrates their engineering capability, we take away any skepticism that we're going to start to turn off the chillers, or we're not going to put the boilers on, or the building is going to go dark at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Why do you think the concern over energy usage has grown so much recently?
I think it's partly because of the political pressures…the acceptance of the Kyoto Protocol by the U.S. The escalating utility costs and gas prices have also brought it to the public's attention. The blackouts in New York, the demands of the grid and infrastructure all raise awareness. Industries such as the (U.S.) Green Building Council, etc., driving legislation into the real estate world have also brought transparency. I think the drive is demonstrating that they're choosing greener environments, they're supporting the holistic approach to saving the planet and making sure it's around for generations to come.