MBA Students Gain Practical Experience and Share Frontline Academic Insights
Swords, Ireland, June 13, 2011 – Ingersoll-Rand plc (NYSE:IR), a world leader in creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments, will participate for the second consecutive year in the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Climate Corps, a program aimed at helping companies reduce carbon emissions. The EDF Climate Corps puts top energy-focused MBA students to work at Fortune 1000 companies throughout the United States. This collaborative program gives students practical experience, enables companies to connect with and learn from universities on the forefront of research and technology, and helps EDF build a bridge between business and environmental interests.
“It is through working with influential companies like Ingersoll Rand that we can build a movement for energy efficiency in corporate America,” said Rachel Hinchliffe, project manager with the Corporate Partnerships Program at EDF. “The goal of EDF Climate Corps is to capture cost savings and efficiencies today, while putting companies on a path to lasting and systemic reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.”
Students are methodically matched with companies and work on projects that address energy efficiency, sustainability and business challenges. Hosted by the Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (CEES) at Ingersoll Rand, students from the Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management and Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management will spend this summer working on in-depth projects such as energy audits, developing energy standards and generating business cases for energy-efficiency investments.
In 2010, fellows successfully worked with a team of Ingersoll Rand experts to help identify significant cost savings opportunities, as well as ways to reduce energy usage and minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Their work provided analysis that is helping to shape Ingersoll Rand’s ongoing enterprise-wide energy strategy.
“Last year, the level of effort and knowledge provided by the fellows far exceeded our expectations,” said W. Scott Tew, executive director, CEES. “This initiative also allows us to look inward as we continually strive to improve our own operations in environmentally meaningful ways. In addition to the extensive knowledge-sharing opportunities that Climate Corps affords our business, we are pleased to support EDF on the global issue of helping businesses manage energy more effectively.”
To date, the Climate Corps program has helped participating companies to identify opportunities to:
- Save $439 million in net operational costs over the project lifetimes
- Cut the equivalent of 958 million kilowatt hours of energy use annually -- enough to power 85,000 homes per year
- Avoid the emission of more than 557,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually -- equivalent to taking more than 86,000 SUVs off the road per year
Ingersoll Rand operates more than 80 manufacturing sites worldwide and has a goal to reduce energy use by 25 percent by 2019 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Save Energy Now Leader program
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About Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) is a world leader in creating and sustaining safe, comfortable and efficient environments in commercial, residential and industrial markets. Our people and our family of brands - including Club Car®, Ingersoll Rand®, Schlage®, Thermo King® and Trane® - work together to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings, transport and protect food and perishables, secure homes and commercial properties, and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. The Center for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability at Ingersoll Rand is a global group of experts dedicated to integrating best practices for the long-term use of energy and other resources. Ingersoll Rand is a $14 billion global business committed to sustainable business practices within our company and for our customers. For more information, visit www.ingersollrand.com.
Reporters may contact:
Christopher Tessier, (704) 877-7216, Christopher.tessier@irco.com.