Local governments and building owners can improve the performance of their existing buildings through a variety of mechanisms, from building tune-up requirements and retrocommissioning to building performance standards. To learn more about IMT’s work with local governments and building owners to address performance in existing buildings, check out our collection of resources below.

The Latest

Putting Data to Work: Emerging Uses for Building Energy Data for Utilities

Emerging Uses for Building Energy Data for Utilities Across the U.S., an increasing number of cities, counties, and states are examining building performance benchmarking and transparency as a critical step in addressing building energy and water use. These energy benchmarking and transparency requirements generate new and robust building-level datasets. This report describes the opportunities that … Continued

Alabama Residential Energy Code Field Study: Baseline Report

The Alabama Residential Energy Code Field Study: Baseline Report identifies opportunities to reduce homeowner utility bills in residential single-family new construction in Alabama by increasing compliance with the state energy code.

Putting Data to Work: ACEEE Summer Study Paper

Orignially published in August 2016, this paper was the precursor to the Putting Data to Work toolkit that was released in February 2018. Putting Data to Work: Using Building Energy Performance Data to Expand the Market for Energy Efficiency in Buildings An increasing number of state and local jurisdictions are implementing building performance reporting laws, which generate … Continued

The Benefits of Benchmarking Building Performance

It is relatively easy to make the connection that tracking and disclosing a building’s energy usage will promote energy savings, but in fact, there are many other benefits that go far beyond simply kilowatt hours. While benchmarking brings building owners’ attention to energy efficiency, resulting in behavioral and operational changes that spur immediate and low-cost … Continued

Case Study: Preserving Astoria’s Historic Buildings Through Energy Code Compliance

Astoria, Oregon’s Building Department hired Building Official and Code Enforcement Officer Jack Applegate in 2008, tasking him with dispersing the myth that older buildings cannot be upgraded or remodeled without incurring hefty costs. Local stakeholders needed to learn how preservation and energy efficiency could not only be accomplished while meeting modern energy code requirements, but … Continued

Energy Benchmarking and Transparency Benefits

What is energy benchmarking and why is it important? The core energy efficiency policy that IMT supports is the benchmarking and transparency of buildings’ energy use. Benchmarking means measuring a building’s energy use and then comparing it to the average for similar buildings. It allows owners and occupants to understand their building’s relative energy performance, … Continued

Valuing Energy Efficiency Retrofits

New case study series showcases widepread opportunities to strengthen balance sheets through energy efficiency retrofits.