The Home Depot employees are known for their “orange blood” but they will now be known for their green hearts. Yardi Marketplace partner The Home Depot will receive a green facelift at several of its locations across the United States. The updates will help the world’s largest home improvement retailer reach its sustainability goals. Atlanta-based The Home Depot committed to a goal of 135 megawatts of clean power by 2020. As part of this pursuit, The Home Depot has teamed up with General Electric Current and Tesla Inc. The energy duo will install solar systems at 50 Home Depot stores. In turn, The Home Depot will buy the power output generated. The stores receiving solar systems are located in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Connecticut and California. Each solar rooftop will reduce the stores’ utility demand by one third. The precise terms of the agreement have not been disclosed. So far, only six locations will receive Tesla storage batteries along with GE solar panels. The Tesla Powerpack batteries will permit The Home Depot to store excess power generated during peak hours for future use. In addition to solar systems and batteries, The Home Depot has installed a 30,000-acre wind farm in southern Texas. The wind farm hosts 125 turbines and generates enough power to fuel 100 Home Depot stores. The project has provided $150,000 in community benefits while decreasing the company’s carbon emissions. More than 170 Home Depot sites have received Bloom Energy fuel cells that generate 85 percent of the energy that each store needs. Powered by natural gas, the fuel cells efficiently generate electricity with less carbon emissions than other techniques. There are more than 2,200 Home Depot stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Since 2010, Home Depot’s American stores have...

If you’re looking for ways to make procurement for your real estate interests faster, easier and less expensive, read on to find out how Yardi and The Home Depot can help. At the National Apartment Association’s Education Conference (#NAAEduConf) this week, attendees to the Las Vegas event can learn how to take their procurement process to the next level. If you are looking for creative ways to better your business, this is one you don’t want to miss. Yardi Marketplace provides a powerful suite of services for owners and operators. We recently had the opportunity to chat with The Home Depot’s Scott Matthews, Director, Strategic Accounts for the home improvement retailer. Read on to get more insight from Scott into how The Home Depot partners with Yardi on a competitive procurement solution. Last year, The Home Depot and Yardi announced an exciting new partnership. How would you describe The Home Depot’s vital role within Yardi Marketplace? Matthews: One of the many great things about The Home Depot and Yardi Marketplace relationship is that customers have full access to all of the products that The Home Depot offers. All participating customers have the ability to access The Home Depot products by using Yardi Marketplace. Full-service Yardi clients have the ability to access The Home Depot catalog through Yardi Marketplace, while enjoying the full Procure-to-Pay experience. In both cases, customers can still purchase directly at the store if needed or order through Yardi Marketplace for free in-store pickup or free delivery.  The Yardi Marketplace is a free program for all participating customers. How do you find the average property manager or maintenance supervisor uses The Home Depot for procurement, and are they missing any chances to shop smarter? Matthews: Property managers using The Home Depot for...