Page 8 - Realcomm13-Final-LR

INTELLIGENT BUILDINGS

More Power to Energy Efficiency

Utility Management Technology Offers New

Opportunities to Cut Consumption and Costs

Matt Eggers
Vice President of Energy
Yardi®

nergy management’s strategic value to commercial build- important than negotiations on taxes, rent and other priori-
ing owners and managers has grown dramatically since ties. Moreover, property energy information beyond high-level
E the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’ market characteristics isn’t commonly
ENERGY STAR® program in the 1990s. Consumers and businesses included in commercial real estate information sources, and
have adopted an array of ENERGY STAR resources to generate stakeholders often regard what is included as supplementary,
$430 billion of savings on utility bills and 2.7 billion fewer metric not fundamental. However, a new collaboration sponsored by
tons of greenhouse gas emissions. the U.S. Department of Energy to
With the brand imprinted on make information about commer-
everything from homes and busi- cial and industrial buildings’ energy
nesses to more than 70 product efficiency more easily accessible
categories, ENERGY STAR has represents an encouraging step
succeeded by any standard. Four toward greater transparency.
hundred fifty thousand commer- In the absence of a coherent en-
cial buildings have evaluated their ergy management plan and energy
energy consumption with ENERGY system automation, the mechanics
STAR® Portfolio Manager®, the program’s benchmarking tool, involved in gathering energy consumption statistics offer further
with more than 27,000 of them receiving top-quartile certifica- disincentive for seeking meaningful consumption metrics.
tion. Many local, city and state governments set ENERGY STAR Without including benchmarking in negotiations and eventually
certification and energy performance reporting as prerequisites the lease, obtaining and aggregating that data into a meaningful
for doing business with them. illustration of a building’s energy consumption can be a difficult,
time-consuming and discouraging endeavor. Even when such
Going Beyond ENERGY STAR data is available, it’s usually only a snapshot that offers little or no
But is ENERGY STAR, impressive as its standards are, the last word insight for implementing lasting improvement or comparing one
for energy performance measurement and improvement? After property to the rest of the portfolio.
all, ENERGY STAR does have limitations as a means for measuring
and improving a commercial property’s energy performance. For New Incentives for Efficiency
example, Portfolio Manager offers only a snapshot of a building’s With utility costs accounting for roughly 30% of commercial
energy performance, not an extended view of day-to-day pat- property operating expenses, clearly more is needed. Many
terns or insight into potential improvements. Relying exclusively building owners are looking to the latest in energy efficiency
on ENERGY STAR—valuable as it is—preempts other opportuni- technology as the backbone of a strategy that that can help
ties to measure, understand and improve utility consumption. them dissolve the roadblocks hampering efficient energy man-
Despite sustainability’s increased prominence in the public agement, capture a share of the estimated $7 billion in potential
consciousness and within the business community, energy annual energy cost savings, and pursue sustainability initiatives.
management benchmarking still isn’t as widespread as it could Energy experts say that adopting a comprehensive technology
be, for a variety of reasons. For one thing, a mash of competing strategy for energy management that accommodates all aspects
players including property managers, facilities engineers, tenants, of a building’s energy consumption, including procurement,
banks, utilities and energy consultants have to reconcile multiple automation, measurement and billing, is a smart approach.
factors including investor profiles, financing, tenancy and market “Software designed for commercial buildings can make property
dynamics, making benchmarking a complex undertaking. Also, managers more actively involved in energy management,” said
owners and tenants sometimes view energy performance as less Adam Sledd, director of commercial real estate engagement for

6 Realcomm