Innovative heating and cooling service technologies expected to reduce

   bank's energy costs and carbon footprint by 50% more than traditional

                              service methods



    CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 30 /EMWNews/ -- Bank of America today

announced a strategic investment in Philadelphia-based technology and

services company Field Diagnostic Services, Inc. (FDSI), and plans to

deploy the firm's energy management system in thousands of banking centers

nationwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy costs.



    



    The investment is part of Bank of America's $20 billion, ten-year

environmental commitment to promote sustainability in its operations and

through its lending, investing and new products and services, said Richard

Cohen, who leads environmental investments for Bank of America's Strategic

Investments Group.



    "Bank of America is actively making strategic investments that reduce

greenhouse gas emissions while helping spark the new environmentally

sustainable economy, and our partnership with FDSI is an excellent example

of this strategy," Cohen said. "Our collaboration with the Bank's Corporate

Workplace group to make the investment in FDSI takes this new energy-saving

technology out of the laboratory and to a level that can truly impact the

environment as well as our bottom line."



    FDSI offers advanced enterprise software, handheld energy efficiency

diagnostic tools, and project management services that enable more rapid

and accurate servicing of heating, ventilation and air conditioning

equipment, decreasing energy and operational costs. It is currently

developing an upgraded enterprise software solution that uses data captured

from networked heating and cooling units to automatically detect energy

waste, optimizing energy costs and reducing onsite servicing.



    Bank of America, which recently began installation of a new centralized

energy management control system, plans to utilize FDSI's unique products

and services in 3,300 banking centers nationwide. This will result in up to

50 percent cost savings for Bank of America when compared with using

standard building control technologies. The FDSI software platform is also

forecast to reduce annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the banking

centers by an estimated 14,000 CO2 tons annually.



    "There are nine million commercial heating and cooling units in the

U.S. that can benefit from our technology, enabling businesses to save

money and meet their sustainability goals," said Todd Rossi, President,

Field Diagnostic Services, Inc. "Aided by the support from Bank of America,

we are pleased to bring our clean technology solutions to the broader

marketplace."



    FDSI is a technology and services company based in Fairless Hills, PA,

30 miles north of Philadelphia. During the past 14 years, FDSI's engineers

have produced technology that has been used to assess and improve the

performance of more than 300,000 heating and cooling units across the U.S.

FDSI was the 2003 AHR Innovation Award Winner for its HVAC Service

Assistant Tool. Their customers include many Fortune 500 facilities,

mechanical service companies, heating and cooling equipment manufacturers

and electric utilities.



    Bank of America has a legacy of environmental leadership dating back

two decades, when it began implementing and applying environmental

considerations to its own operations and internal business practices. For

example, the bank reduced paper usage per associate by 40 percent and set

aggressive, voluntary goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the

company by nine percent through the reduction of its energy consumption.

Bank of America also reimburses its associates $3,000 when they buy a

hybrid vehicle - a benefit that nearly 2,000 individuals have taken

advantage of to-date.



    Bank of America's environmental initiatives emphasize business

opportunities, created by green economic growth, by providing critical

financing to encourage the development of environmentally sustainable

products and technologies; accelerate the deployment of existing

technologies; and increase energy efficiency. Results under these

initiatives include investments in solar and other renewable energy efforts

at schools, municipalities and businesses, and financing the preservation

of redwood forests, among other efforts. At the same time, the company has

policies in place against financing projects that would destroy primary

moist tropical rainforests, certain endangered forests or companies

involved in illegal logging.



    For more information about Bank of America's environmental efforts,

visit http://www.bankofamerica.com/environment.



    Bank of America



    Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions,

serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large

corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and

other financial and risk-management products and services. The company

provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59

million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100

retail banking offices, more than 18,500 ATMs and award-winning online

banking with more than 25 million active users. Bank of America offers

industry leading support to more than 4 million small business owners

through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services.

The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships

with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the

Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a

component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York

Stock Exchange.