Green Partners: GreenGen — Enriching Sustainability

Welcome to our Green Partners series, highlighting our partners in the community that help make Montgomery County Green Bank a success.

We talked with Brad Dockser, CEO and Founder of GreenGen, to learn about its latest successes and why they are proud to partner with the Montgomery County Green Bank.

Tell us about GreenGen and your work there.

Brad Dockser [BD]: We are a true end-to-end energy solutions provider for the built environment – we engineer, implement and invest in cutting-edge energy efficiency solutions. We help our clients ‘operate in the green’ and improve their double bottom lines by lowering operating costs, increasing asset value, and improving sustainability. We have offices worldwide in DC, London, Tokyo and Shanghai, and we have five main business arms: Solutions, Ventures, Analytics, Trading and Property.

What are the key decisions your clients make when moving a project forward?

BD: The biggest competitor to us is inertia. Until people do their first project, they don’t fully understand how powerful it can be. There’s always something else to do: sign a lease, buy a building, or hire someone. The biggest challenge is to get people to pay attention to move the project forward. But once it’s started, it accelerates. Our biggest clients are increasingly doing more and and doing it faster.

What’s something exciting you’re working on now?

BD: Everything! What we’re enjoying right now is that firms we’ve worked with in the past are coming back to us wanting to do more, and firms that didn’t want to do much before are now “getting it” and are ready to act. Capital markets are demanding a double bottom line, and companies are reducing risk and volatility when they pursue efficiency and sustainability. Everyone is laser-focused on this, and we are often a first call to help.

What are the top reasons your clients seek energy efficiency and/or renewable energy improvements?

BD: Energy efficiency and clean energy improvements improve the bottom line. Our clients see these projects as opportunities to lower operating costs, drive cash flow and improve performance as an investor. Secondly, energy efficiency and sustainability strategies are differentiators: They give our clients greater access to capital markets. Without these improvements, their capital market options may be limited.

Why do you choose to partner with the Montgomery County Green Bank as an Authorized Contractor with the CLEER program?

BD: What our clients love about us is that we understand both energy and capital markets. When a client brings us an energy need, we will find a comprehensive approach that takes into consideration their tax structure, leasing structure, balance sheet, cash flow and broader investment profile in order to customize a solution for them. Green Bank and CLEER give us another tool for clients in the County. We will use PACE, energy service agreements (ESAs), operating leases, equipment leases, shared savings agreements, capital reserves and even our own balance sheet to make the financing fit. The more tools we have, the better we can structure the financing. We’re excited to include the Green Bank in our toolbox.

How is CLEER a resource for your clients?

BD: When working on a project in the County, we identify CLEER and Montgomery County Green Bank as one part of a possible financing strategy. Using CLEER to optimize the financing package for our projects is valuable to us and to our clients. It’s tremendous to be working globally while also partnering locally to do more in our home County—whether supporting the Green Bank, partnering with Bethesda Green, or engaging as a member in the local business community—it’s all a win-win for us.

February 2020