Thursday, August 27, 2009

BLUE Climate Change Consulting to Help Clients Thrive in the Low Carbon Economy

Consulting and engineering firm Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch (M+NLB) and Elysium - Carbon Trade & Investment Ltd. announced today that they have entered into a joint-venture agreement to offer climate change consulting services to U.S. and international clients under M+NLB’s BLUE Climate Change Consulting division. BLUE will provide assessment, accounting, reduction, reporting, and monetization of greenhouse gases (GHGs); emissions reduction project development and registration (otherwise known as offsets); and assistance with trading in various regional, national, and international carbon markets.

“Carbon regulation is clearly on the horizon for the U.S., and with it, probable increases in energy prices. Combined with national security concerns and an increasing ‘green’ awareness amongst their stakeholders, our clients recognize the need to develop strategies to properly position themselves,” said Walt Vernon, M+NLB CEO. “Our new partnership with Elysium allows us to offer our clients a unique, total energy and greenhouse gas management suite of services. We can help them understand the emerging regulations; measure their emissions and exposure; develop financially responsive strategies; implement energy and emissions reduction strategies; monetize their reductions through offset revenues; and promote their efforts through effective PR campaigns.”

Based in Israel, Elysium brings to North America its expertise in developing and monetizing GHG reduction strategies, projects, and programs, gained in the global carbon market for both certified (under the Kyoto Protocol) and voluntary emissions reduction credits. Clients are led through the maze of carbon accounting and management schemes under the various carbon market regulations to maximize their financial benefits through the minimization of emissions.

“North American clients who invest in renewable energy, energy conservation, and other clean technologies and infrastructure need tools that will allow them to gain significant economic rewards for their efforts,” said Ofer Ben-Dov, Elysium’s CTO. “The combined capabilities of M+NLB and Elysium, and our international carbon market experience, provide a ‘one-stop shop’, and uniquely position BLUE as a leading full-service provider of climate change mitigation action, from planning and financing to successful implementation.”

M+NLB has been helping U.S.-based clients save water and energy in the built environment for nearly 50 years. In the last several years, as the U.S. has moved toward new regulations aimed at a reduced-carbon world, M+NLB has extended and evolved its services to include climate change consulting. BLUE will take these services one step further, giving clients a unique, total GHG management suite of services, including education on emerging regulations; measurement of emissions; financial projections and analysis of options; strategy and project development; design, management, commissioning, and verification; guidance on offsets; and assistance marketing their GHG efforts to their own customers. BLUE will continue to also provide climate action planning for businesses, municipalities, and universities.

Founded in 2005, Elysium is the leading Israeli expert in a broad range of carbon policy and accounting fields, with projects that include both voluntary and regulatory offset programs, carbon footprints for products and processes, and corporate carbon inventories and strategies. Elysium’s founders led Israel’s efforts in the 1990s to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and develop a national GHG policy. They also consulted for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which regulates the international carbon market. Elysium serves clients from heavy industries, such as power, cement, mining, and food, as well as renewable energy, transportation, cleantech, municipalities, and agricultural and waste management clients. Among its most substantial clients is AES Corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Va.

Founded in 1962, M+NLB is a full-service mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology engineering consulting and design firm, also providing value-added commissioning and medical/laboratory equipment planning and procurement services. It has offices in San Francisco, Irvine, and Sacramento, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Nashville, Tenn.; Denver, Colo.; Baton Rouge, La., and Houston, Tex. The firm serves the healthcare, mission critical, laboratory, and higher education sectors. M+NLB was one of the first engineering firms in the U.S. to add a climate consulting practice to their list of client services. The firm is a three-time Practice Greenhealth, Champion for Change Award winner, and recently became the first Portland business to receive the BEST Business Center’s new Portland Climate Champion recognition.

Current clients include:

M+NLB – Stanford University Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph Health System, Humboldt State University

Elysium Carbon Trade & Investment – AES Corporation, Better Place PLC, AES-IC, Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd, Strauss Group, Green Wind Energy, National Roads Company of Israel, Egged Public transport Company, Dan Public transport Company.

For more information please visit:

www.mazzetti.com and www.elysiumcarbon.com.

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