RPM in the Media
Integrating Comprehensive Sustainability Planning Into Annual Budget Planning
The Schochet Companies, together with Rethinking Power Management (RPM), launched a comprehensive Sustainability Initiative with the goal of continuously reducing Schochet’s environmental footprint across its housing portfolio. The team transformed the company’s approach to energy and water retrofit planning, providing sustainability training to property and facility managers and involving them in every step of the retrofit planning process. Schochet developed a Sustainability Roadmap – a portfolio-wide, property-level list of energy and water projects based on input from staff – to guide the budgeting and refinancing processes. The team sets portfolio-wide sustainability targets in energy, water, and CO2 reduction in 4-year phases. Schochet estimates its energy cost avoidance at approximately $1.67 million per year; water reductions at over 3.1 million gallons per year; and greenhouse gas reductions at approximately 16,900 tons per year, equivalent to 3,754 cars off the road.
Winner of the NEDED Back to work challenge: Greenhouse gas reduction & public health mitigation
The Back to Work Challenge Awards recognizes companies who developed new best practices, innovations and partnerships during the COVID-19 global pandemic, and Embue - in partnership with MassHousing, Fenway Community Development Corporation, and Rethinking Power Management - was recognized for our work on the Newcastle Saranac Apartments, a 97-unit affordable housing community located in Boston owned and being renovated by The Schochet Companies, a real estate and development company based in Braintree, MA.
rpm assist to save rhode island $176K per year
In June 2020, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER), Department of Administration (DOA), Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) and Department of Corrections (DOC) completed a collaborative project to upgrade the exterior lighting at the John O. Pastore Complex to current LED technology. The project will help reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 811 tons, equivalent to removing 159 vehicles from the road for one year, on average.
rpm client achieves SPI-HUG green organizational accreditation
SPI-HUD Green Organizational Accreditation is part of the Affordable Green Initiative launched by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2012. The Sustainable Performance Institute (SPI) recognizes those HUD grantees and affordable housing organizations in achieving portfolio-wide improvements. The vision of this initiative is to enable organizations to institutionalize sustainability and achieve higher levels of performance of the management of their housing portfolios. Accreditation differentiates organizations that seek to implement green building and operational best practices, build capacity of staff, track and measure building performance effectively over time, realize significant improvements in health and energy efficiency, and achieve exemplary cost savings. Only 24 organizations from across the U.S. were accredited through the pilot. Of those, 17 achieved full accreditation, meaning they have already implemented most or all of the best practices contained in the Accreditation criteria and can document their actions accordingly, while an additional 7 organizations received Provisional Accreditation, meaning they have made commitments to the best practices with the intention of implementing them sometime during the accreditation term.
rpm client honored with boston 2013 greenovate award
Mayor Thomas M. Menino honored The Schochet Companies with the 2013 Greenovate Boston Residential Award for the company's leadership in environmental sustainability. The annual award is given to businesses, residents and sustainable food sectors throughout Boston that are committed to exemplary sustainable practices in their communities and is part of the Mayor's ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. "We are thrilled to be recognized for championing efforts to make Boston the greenest city in the country," said Richard Henken, President of the Schochet Companies. “Sustainability is a top priority for this company and we look forward to continuing to lead the way in building upon our good practices." To develop and implement their formal commitment to environmental sustainability, the company teamed up with an outside consulting firm, Rethinking Power Management (RPM) to develop unique and comprehensive strategies to reduce energy and water consumption.