You can help support Nest Renew’s Energy Impact Program partners that are helping to ensure clean, affordable energy, and the jobs that will power our future, are equitably distributed.
The clean energy transition is already happening. It is happening across the globe, in our communities, and in our homes. And now, the action we take in our homes to combat climate change can make an impact far beyond our four walls to ensure it is an equitable and just transition.
Too often, underserved, often Black and Brown communities, face the most severe impacts of climate change, yet they are least able to prepare for and adapt to the effects of severe weather. At the same time, many of these communities do not have adequate access to clean energy solutions.
To close the gap on clean energy access, many community-led organizations are focused on solutions guided by the needs of those groups.
By using the Nest Thermostat you're already taking meaningful steps to help reduce your own energy consumption. Now, with Nest Renew, the Leafs you earn to help track your impact can do so much more.1
As you reach Leaf milestones, you can help direct Nest Renew funds to our Energy Impact Program non-profit partners. These organizations are working to ensure that the transition to a carbon-free energy future delivers meaningful economic and environmental benefits to everyone.
Here’s more about the three Energy Impact Partners that Nest Renew is already supporting:
Expand clean energy access: GRID Alternatives
GRID Alternatives has spent two decades implementing community-led solutions that deliver environmental and economic benefits of solar and other clean energy technologies to justice communities.
- GRID Alternatives brings together volunteers to provide no-cost solar installations to low-income households. GRID estimates this can slash household electricity bills by as much as 90 percent.
- Because Grid Alternatives’ solar installations rely on volunteers, the projects also provide hands-on training to community members interested in clean energy careers.
- Not everyone owns a home or has a roof suitable for solar panels. The organization also develops and manages community solar projects that provide clean electricity to underserved communities.
Support clean energy careers: Dream.org
Decarbonizing the economy - from electricity to transportation to buildings - is a job creation machine. The recently passed federal climate legislation is expected to create millions of clean energy jobs over the next decade.
The jobs must be made available to all Americans, especially those from disadvantaged communities who already contend with the worst health impacts of fossil fuel pollution. Dream.org is working to ensure that everyone has access to jobs in the new energy economy.
- As part of Dream.org’s Green For All program, the Clean Energy Scholarship program offers individuals - especially Black and Brown job seekers - support to get started or accelerate a career in clean energy. The funding can be used for school, training or to secure technical certifications that enhance career prospects.
- The organization also helps clean energy entrepreneurs in communities of color grow their companies through its Green For All Business Council, which puts black and brown entrepreneurs at the forefront of the clean energy transition.
Increasing energy affordability: Elevate
Millions of Americans suffer from energy insecurity. Households with lower incomes spend 8.6 percent of their income on energy, nearly triple what other households spend. The fact that households with lower incomes must devote a disproportionate percentage of their income to energy is both unfair and a hurdle to slashing carbon emissions if they cannot afford clean energy upgrades.
Elevate addresses environmental and economic disparities by working with communities that have historically been underinvested in to incorporate energy efficient technologies into existing properties.
- Elevate focuses on energy efficiency to simultaneously lower energy bills and emissions for residents living in affordable housing. For instance, Elevate recently replaced natural gas powered heating, cooking and laundry appliances with efficient electric alternatives in a 44-unit affordable housing development in Chicago, which will lower energy use by 65 percent, according to Elevate.
- Elevate has also created efficiency hubs for affordable housing building owners who want to improve their buildings to be more energy efficient and healthier, but don’t know where to start. There are already five hubs that help owners navigate opportunities for energy and water efficiency as well as solar.
Learn more about earning Leafs and reaching milestones with our Energy Impact Program by Nest Renew.
- 1Renew Premium $10/month subscription required. Nest Renew available in select locations. Nest Renew requires 3rd generation Nest Learning Thermostat, Nest Thermostat E, or the newest Nest Thermostat (sold separately), connected to a Google account.
