Business Partnerships: 2025 Year End Reflection

Dec 18

There’s no sugarcoating it: 2025 was a challenging year for climate action, and one that felt particularly jarring after the major federal climate laws that were passed in just the last few years. In addition to a total about-face in US policy and posturing, we saw a significant pullback of commitments and regulations in the corporate sector.

While it is easy to be discouraged, at C3 we are doubling down on our mission to advance the ball at the community level. Our organization was founded in 2017, amid similar headwinds, on a simple premise: hope isn’t lost, it’s local. When federal and state action stalls, communities are more empowered and needed to step up and lead.

Our commitment to local action has always included a core belief that businesses and non-profits are an essential part of this conversation. So, despite the discouraging national headlines, we are proud to reflect on our 2025 Corporate Sustainability work as a year of continued progress and leadership.

Scaling Commercial Solutions

As certified energy auditors, we pride ourselves on getting our boots on the ground - climbing ladders, poking into crawl spaces, or searching for gas meters and air leaks. Turns out, the more you get out there, the more needs you find!

As much as we love doing energy audits and working one-on-one with partners, we know there’s always going to be a cap on how much we can impact directly. So in 2025, we worked on several projects to help us scale solutions with other experts and community partners.

*Partners happy hour presenting NREL project progress*

*Bridging the Gap sharing MIF project plan with Richmond Sustainability & Resilience Commission*

In Richmond, we are working on two exciting grants to help us better understand the opportunities and scalable solutions in the commercial sector:

In partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), we received funding and technical assistance to better understand the energy context and needs of the Richmond commercial sector. This revealed critical findings about energy usage, HVAC underinvestment, winning strategies for local business partnership, and the vast untapped potential of new roofs for solar. Much more to come as we roll out our findings in early 2026.
Under the Municipal Investment Fund (MIF) program, we are developing a Public-Private Partnership (P3) Plan to help the City of Richmond build a solar and battery project pipeline. This project is all about pooling projects to attract investment and developers into the region. Early returns are promising, with a final plan to come in Q1 next year.

And in Charlottesville, we partnered with our local governments and LEAP to launch the Energy Resource Hub. This one-of-a-kind resource supports both residents and businesses to adopt cost-saving climate solutions and take advantage of financial incentives. C3 serves as the commercial partner, helping local businesses and non-profits turn the confusing web of possibilities into a streamlined, actionable energy plan.

Growing our Leadership Circle

We had another strong year with our circle of commercial climate leaders, the Green Business Alliance.

As a group, we continue to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from community-based operations, with a focus on buildings and vehicles. This year’s accomplishments included new gains on energy efficiency, new Climate Action Plans in place, and three new members going solar! The combined annual GHG reductions of this group are over 7,500 metric tons of CO2 and counting, equal to saving over 1.1M gallons of gasoline. This includes our flagship first cohort achieving a 39% reduction from baseline thru 2024 data, nearing their 45% goal by the end of 2025.

*GBA and community members gather for our Beyond Zero film screening*

The best part about the GBA is always the people, and the opportunity to learn and grow together. We continued our in-person meetings this year by gathering and learning about sustainable housing, clean energy workforce development, and state climate and energy policy. Our culminating event of the year was a screening of Beyond Zero with over 200 community members at the Paramount Theater. This landmark film shares the pioneering journey of the world’s first examples of a sustainability committed, publicly traded company.

At this event, we introduced a new tier of our Alliance, the GBA Champions. Five exemplary organizations made our inaugural class: Apex Clean Energy, CFA Institute, InBio, The Center at Belvedere, and Red Light Management. You’ll be hearing a lot more about these guys and their amazing work as we formally introduce them early next year!

Lastly, our vision for the GBA has always been to help these organizations be part of creating systemic change. We continued this in 2025, with GBA members and employees signing onto several of our policy campaigns, including support for climate funding and a state-leading solar ordinance in Albemarle County.

Serving our Community-Builders

While the largest companies may have the biggest emissions impact, there is much more required for lasting and equitable climate solutions than carbon reduction. Non-profits and small businesses form the backbone of our communities, and are the most trusted by local residents to help shape community change.

In 2025, our support for non-profits grew exponentially, thanks to increased support from both private donors and local governments. Through our Climate Services program, we provided energy audits and climate coaching for over 20 local non-profits in both Richmond and Charlottesville, including direct awards for starter efficiency upgrades like new light bulbs, smart thermostats, and air sealing. They are now off and running, implementing our recommendations and making capital plans for long-term transformation.

*Jacqui Bauer: The fastest thermostat programmer this side of the Mississippi!*

*Christina Martin of bakernobakery with her brand new heat pump water heater!*

And let’s not forget about our small businesses! Our Energy Efficiency Grants program was a smashing success once again, awarding nearly $20,000 to a dozen local businesses for direct upgrades. This included light bulbs, window films, new appliances, and even a heat pump water heater! Not only are our recipients saving a collective $6,000 in annual energy costs, these upgrades bring significant quality-of-life benefits to their spaces and operations.

Using Our Voice

This year was a helpful reminder that, sometimes, you need to get back to the basics. Climate leaders can often get ahead of the public when it comes to jargon and messaging, while the basic challenges we face at the local level remain the same.

*Biz Partnerships Team presenting at Westminster Canterbury BR*

So this year, we really committed to getting out there and using our voice to educate on the simple things:

Launched our bi-monthly commercial newsletter, sharing basic energy and climate tips with our growing network of business and non-profit partners.
Held our first-ever business film screening event, showing Beyond Zero at the Paramount Theater with over 200 community members!
Conducted an energy workshop with businesses from all over the state as part of the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP).
Completed focused, in-person energy and sustainability workshops for non-profits and congregations as part of our Albemarle Community Climate Action Grant.
Held over a dozen presentations on local climate policy and solutions to employees, residents, and business associations.

With so much going on in our busy lives, we know that just getting a moment of someone’s attention can help them better understand their place in climate solutions. This empowers more of our community and turns each of them into climate ambassadors, too!

What’s Next

*Quick selfie after an energy audit at C3 Team favorite Brazos Tacos*

So, how are we going to top all this off in 2026? With more of the same, and more on top of that!

Continuing our successful non-profit and small business support, through both the Albemarle/Charlottesville Energy Resource Hub and direct connections in Richmond.
Re-running our Energy Efficiency Grants for small businesses for a 2026 cycle. Stay tuned for details!
Launching our first business cohort coaching program in Richmond, focused on planning and budgeting for aging HVAC equipment and more cost- and environmentally-friendly replacements. This program will result directly from the research and findings from the NREL CLEAP program.
Finishing our P3 Plan and project pipeline for solar projects in Richmond as part of the Municipal Investment Fund.
Even more education - workshops, lunch-and-learns, and presentations. Contact us if you have a need.
And, as always, growing and diversifying our Green Business Alliance in both RVA and Cville, in both numbers and impact.

It sounds like a lot, and it is! And we could not be more excited for it. This year has shown us once again that when the going gets tough, local action is where it’s at.

See you out there!

Coles Jennings