Building energy efficiency is widely recognized as the most cost-effective way to reduce reliance on non-renewable fuel sources and avoid the costly development of more power plants. Two key policy mechanisms available to assist with reducing building energy consumption are energy codes and benchmarking and disclosure policies. While building energy codes have been around since … Continued
Leading utilities are helping building owners, property managers, businesses and governments benchmark the energy performance of their buildings. Utilities benefit by supporting benchmarking in many ways including: improving customer, helping drive peak demand reductions, enabling utility programs to achieve greater energy efficiency results per dollar, and increasing the cost-effectiveness of portfolios. The National Association of … Continued
This case study looks at the energy savings of One Franklin Square, a building in downtown Washington, DC, that resulted from energy benchmarking. The property management company, Hines, has made improvements since they started benchmarking, reducing utility consumption by 6 million kilowatt-hours per year. And those savings continue to grow. Over the last 18 years … Continued
When Transwestern took over management of the Demonet Building in 2009, one of the first things they did was benchmark, or measure and rate, the building’s energy performance. Robert Sloan, the building’s Chief Engineer, said benchmarking helped them see just how much energy the building was consuming. In just three years, with low-cost changes, they … Continued
Finding energy savings in a condominium building poses a challenge. How does a Board of Directors persuade hundreds of individual owners to practice energy efficiency? When Harry Richter, a consultant with High Rise Consulting, began working with the board of the 4600 Connecticut building, he knew there were ways they could save on energy costs … Continued
If interest is high in building energy efficiency in the United States, why aren’t investments in efficiency growing? Experts from local and federal governments, the private sector, and non-government organizations explored that question at a June 2013 Roundtable Dialogue in Washington, D.C., convened by the Johnson Controls Institute for Building Efficiency (IBE) and the Institute … Continued
This paper proposes a classification framework for energy efficiency evaluation tools by comparing 17 building energy performance assessment systems from ten countries. These systems include Energieausweis in Germany; the Ministry of Housing and Urban and Rural Development (MOHURD) rating in China; Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates in the UK; and the Home Energy … Continued
A new policy is taking hold across the U.S. that could help motivate owners of apartment buildings and condo complexes to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings, slashing as much as $9 billion from energy bills for 40 million Americans. This policy – energy benchmarking and disclosure – requires property owners to annually measure … Continued
Transparent energy ratings can help drive investment in energy efficiency by enabling tenants, investors, and lenders to compare building energy performance, creating demand for efficient buildings that have lower utility bills and/or operating costs. This fact sheet gives an introduction to commercial building energy rating and disclosure policies, now in effect in six U.S. cities … Continued
Mirroring recent trends in other real estate sectors, the multifamily housing sector is subject to an increasing number of rules and regulations related to energy-performance benchmarking and disclosure. The goal of these new rules is to enable transparent building energy-performance information to drive energy efficiency improvements in multifamily housing that lower energy bills for residents; … Continued