Beyond the Footprint: Helping Encore Build a Resilient Future
About
Encore Renewable Energy is a clean energy development company specialising in reclaiming undervalued real estate for community-scale solar and energy storage projects. Based in Vermont, they are a certified B Corp, committed to balancing profit with purpose. Sustainability is at the core of their mission, driving them to revitalize communities and create a cleaner, more resilient future by transforming underutilized properties like landfills, brownfields, and rooftops into productive renewable energy assets.
KEY INFO
Services: Carbon Accounting & Net Zero, Climate Risk Assessment
Industry: Renewable Energy, Solar Installations
Company Size & Location: SME, United States
The Challenge
Encore Renewable Energy faced a crucial need driven by a changing market. As a leader in the clean energy sector, they saw a growing demand from investors and stakeholders for transparent, verifiable data on their environmental footprint. While their core business was inherently sustainable, they needed a comprehensive system to accurately measure their operational emissions and quantify the positive climate impact of their projects.
Beyond their immediate footprint, the increasing awareness of climate change led Encore to a new strategic challenge. They recognized the need to understand how a changing climate could impact their project infrastructure and long-term viability, and they wanted to be prepared.
Our Approach
For two consecutive years, Adelie partnered with Encore to provide a tailored and comprehensive suite of sustainability services. Our process was an in-depth collaboration designed to understand and meet their specific needs and evolve with the business.
Year 1: Measuring Impact
Initially, we mapped out Encore’s carbon emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3. Our detailed analysis included everything from fuel consumption and electricity use to business travel, employee commuting, site waste and purchased goods. We identified that 94% of the company’s emissions originated from its value chain, particularly from purchased goods and services relating to solar power installations. This finding allowed us to provide actionable recommendations for targeted carbon reductions.
We then took our analysis a step further, calculating the Potential Avoided Emissions (PAE) from their operational clean energy projects. We found that the carbon their projects prevented from entering the atmosphere was significant enough to surpass their total operational emissions, resulting in a net-negative footprint for the year.
Year 2: Adapting to change through Climate Risk Assessment
For the second year, we repeated the carbon accounting and PAE analysis for Encore. While their emissions had increased due to new projects under development, their PAE was expected to grow significantly as these new sites became operational. This provided a crucial, forward-looking context for their growth.
Beyond the numbers, we helped Encore prepare for a changing climate. We conducted a comprehensive Climate Risk Assessment for each of their project sites. We analysed key geospatial data to identify and categorize major climate risks, including severe storms, cold stress, heat stress, and extreme rainfall. Our research provided detailed insights into how these threats could impact Encore’s physical assets, giving them the foresight needed to build resilience.
The Impact
A Story of Net-Negative Impact: The first year's analysis revealed that avoided emissions from their operational solar sites were so significant that they fully offset their own operational footprint, resulting in a net-negative impact. This was a key insight they could share with investors and partners, showcasing the direct, positive contribution they were making to the climate.
Building Resilience for a Changing Climate: Our climate risk assessment gave Encore a clear roadmap to secure their assets. By pinpointing location-specific threats, we empowered them to take proactive measures, ensuring the long-term viability of their sites. They gained the ability to confidently show investors that their projects were not only profitable and environmentally sound but also positioned towards building resilience against future climate threats.
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