why and how to benchmark building energy use in office
TRANSCRIPT
Presented by Felix Flechas, P.E. Environmental Compliance and Sustainability Engineering, LLC
March 2015
Why and How to Benchmark
Building Energy Use in Office
Buildings
Making the case for energy
efficiency
Energy efficiency improvements of 30% are both achievable and cost-effective.
Enhancing the energy performance of properties can:
• –Reduce operating costs and therefore increase affordability for
operators and tenants
• –Increase asset value
• –Help meet the demands of tenants for environmentally responsible
space options
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Benefits of Benchmarking
• In a recent study of 3 years of data, EPA found
that buildings that were benchmarked
consistently reduced energy use by an average
of 2.4 percent per year, for a total savings of
7 percent over 3 years.
• Buildings that started out as poor performers
saved even more
• Reductions in Green House Gasses follow
commensurate energy reductions
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Consistency is key
Benchmarking works best when it’s done
consistently over time.
– You can’t manage what you are not
measuring
– Energy trends are seen over time
– You can measure and quantify the energy
savings achieved by improvements made to
your buildings
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What is Benchmarking
• A metric for measuring the efficiency of energy
use
• Efficiency is not measured as Cost
• Efficiency is not measured as Energy at the
Building Energy Meter
• Efficiency is Measured as the Building’s
Energy/Square Foot/Year
• This Metric is Transferable When Compared to
Buildings with Similar Use
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The biggest little label in energy
efficiency
• ENERGY STAR is a symbol of
trust, quality, and responsible
stewardship of our
environment
• More than 85 percent of
Americans recognize the
ENERGY STAR label
• Tied with the Good
Housekeeping® seal as the
most influential consumer
emblem in the nation
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ENERGY STAR provides financial
value
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ENERGY STAR provides financial
value
Why Benchmark/Certify with Energy
Star
• Since 1999, tens of thousands of buildings and plants
across America -- such as schools, hospitals,
skyscrapers, retails stores, and manufacturing plants --
have earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR for superior energy
performance.
• On average, ENERGY STAR certified buildings use 35
percent less energy and cause 35 percent fewer
greenhouse gas emissions than similar buildings.
Energy Star Website.
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Industry giant Fannie Mae rewards
multifamily properties that earn the
ENERGY STAR
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Fannie Mae launched a new pricing reduction that rewards multifamily property borrowers with a lower
interest rate rewards multifamily property borrowers with a lower interest rate for properties that have
achieved a green building certification, such as EPA’s ENERGY STAR. Other recognized certifications
include the U.S. Green Building’s LEED certification and Enterprise’s Green Communities Criteria.
For these certified properties, Fannie Mae is granting a 10 basis point reduction in the interest rate of a
multifamily refinance, acquisition, or supplemental mortgage loan. For example, if the market interest rate
is 4% on the multifamily loan, the new rate is 3.9% with this pricing break. On a $10M dollar loan
amortizing over 30 years, the owner would save $95K in interest payments over 10 years.
Fannie Mae Multifamily is the leading provider of multifamily financing in the U.S. with a portfolio of over
$200B. Interested in learning more? Chrissa Pagitsas, Fannie Mae Director of the Green Initiative,
[email protected], is available to discuss the Fannie Mae Green Initiative and the Green
Building Pricing Break.
Porfolio Manager
• EPA created ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager®, an online tool you can use to
measure and track energy and water
consumption, as well as greenhouse gas
emissions.
• Use it to benchmark the performance of
one building or a whole portfolio of
buildings, all in a secure online
environment.11
18 Building Types Eligible for ENERGY STAR
Certification (includes Multi-Family, Distribution
Centers and Wholesale Clubs)
Medical Offices Office
Buildings
Hospitals
Warehouses
Dormitories
Supermarkets
Courthouses
K-12 Schools
Bank/Financial
Institutions
Hotels
Retail Stores
Houses of
Worship
Data Centers
Senior Care
Communities
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Building Types Eligible for
ENERGY STAR Certification
• Portfolio Manager provides tools for Benchmarking the
energy performance of ratable and non-ratable buildings
• Buildings that do not fit within the descriptions of
these 18 categories are not eligible for ENERGY STAR
certification.
• Buildings that do not meet the building type definition
cannot receive the ENERGY STAR but can be
Benchmarked.
• To receive an accurate certification score, a building’s use
must be correctly designated.
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The most energy-efficient, i.e., top 25% of U.S.
buildings, earn the ENERGY STAR
Energy Star Base Requirements
for Building CertificationsTo be eligible for ENERGY STAR certification
Building must have ES Score >75
– Energy Star Rating Must include whole
building
– Primary function must meet the definition of
one of the building types that can receive an
ENERGY STAR Score
– Building attribute data must be correct
– Must include complete actual energy use
data15
Energy Star Base Requirements
for Building Certifications
• To be eligible for certification
– Energy Star Rating Must include whole
building
– Primary function must meet the definition of
one of the building types that can receive an
ENERGY STAR Score
– Building attribute data must be correct
– Must include complete actual energy data
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Building Types Eligible for
ENERGY STAR Certification
• Buildings that do not fit within the descriptions of ratable building
types are not eligible for ENERGY STAR certification.
• It’s important that applications meet one of these building type
definitions.
• To receive an accurate score, a building must be correctly
designated.
• Buildings that are more than 25% "Other" space types are not
eligible to receive a score.
• Portfolio Manager provides tools for Benchmarking the energy
performance of ratable and non-ratable buildings
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Office - Attributes
Number of PCs
Indicates the total number of personal computers and servers in this office space. It
includes desktop computers, laptops, and servers. It does not include display monitors,
flat screen TVs, tablets, fax machines, etc.
Workers on Main Shift
Indicates the number of employees who are present during the main shift. This is not the
total number of employees or visitors who are in a building during an entire 24 hour
period.
- Visitors to the building should not be included in the count of workers.
- A call center with multiple shifts should only count the employees there on the
main or peak shift.
Weekly Operating Hours
The total number of hours per week that this Office is in operation, excluding hours when
the facility is occupied only by maintenance, security, or other support personnel.
– “Weekly operating hours” should only include hours when the building is
occupied by a majority of the workers. Don’t count hours just because the
building systems are running. 18
Office – Floor Area Attribute
• Vacant Space
– If an Office has an annual occupancy less than 90%,
then Portfolio Manager must include a “vacant space”
Space Type. This space is designated as Office and
must report:
– 0 workers
– 0 PCs
– 0 operating
• Gross Floor Area– GFA vs. Leasable Space
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Vacancy/Occupancy
Occupancy requirements for Office building type:
– Office, Medical Office, Bank, and Court Space use
requires 50% occupancy
– Vacant space that comprises more than 10% of the
building’s gross square foot should be separately
designated and profiled as: “zero” for workers,
PCs, and operating hours.
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Data Center Space Type
• Data Center applies to spaces specifically designed and equipped to
meet the needs of high density computing equipment, such as
server racks used for data storage and processing.
• Data center functions may include traditional enterprise services, on-
demand enterprise services, high performance computing, internet
facilities, and/or hosting facilities. Often Data Centers are free
standing, mission critical computing centers. When a data center is
located within a larger building, it will usually have its own power
and cooling systems.
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Data Center Space Attribute
• The total gross floor area is measured between the principal exterior
surfaces of the enclosing fixed walls and includes all supporting
functions for the data center.
– This is not the same as the “raised floor area” which is a term used to
refer to the area of the data center where the servers and IT equipment
are located. This equipment is on a raised floor to facilitate coolings
(cold air pushed up from below).
– The total floor area of the data center for Portfolio Manager includes not
only the raised floor area, but also ALL supporting space that is part of
the entire data center.
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Energy for all non‐IT equipment use,
including HVAC, lighting, and plug
loads
Energy
into
building,
Data Center Non‐IT equipment for the
data center, such as cooling systems and lighting.
A B from all fuel
sources
UPS output meter
Sub‐meter
C PDU
input meters
Building master
meter(s)
UPS PDUs Server Racks &
Storage Devices
Figure 1 – Measuring IT Energy Consumption
IT Rooms are Not a Data Center
The Data Center space is intended for sophisticated computing and
server functions; it should not be used to represent a server closet or
computer training area.
• Server rooms that do not meet the definition of a "Data Center" but have
separate cooling systems and operating hours that differ from the rest of the
building should be entered as a separate space in Portfolio Manager using
the Office space type. In this space, enter the weekly operating hours
(typically 168 hours), zero workers, and a number of PCs that includes the
count of servers in the space.
• All other spaces mentioned here (including server rooms without separate
cooling systems, computer training areas, telecom closets, print/copy
rooms, and other areas that may have formerly been classified as Computer
Data Center but do not meet the current definition of "Data Center") should
be included in the total gross floor area input for the building's main space
type (e.g., Office).
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Single Structure
• Definition: A structure in which the exterior walls are not
substantially and indivisibly connected to any other structure.
• A series of buildings situated closely together as a plaza or campus,
even if sharing a common heating or cooling source, is NOT
considered a single structure, it is considered a campus of buildings.
– In this type of arrangement it is necessary to separately meter the energy consumption for
each building, and pursue separate energy performance ratings and ENERGY STAR
certifications.
• Buildings that have multiple towers connected by common
concourse levels and/or hallways may present a different situation.
In these types of buildings, if there are common areas that cannot
truly be divided or separated among the towers, then EPA will
consider this to be a single structure.
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What to do with Retail
• Retail Store applies to facility space used to conduct the retail
sale of consumer product goods. Stores must be at least
5,000 square feet and have an exterior entrance to the public.
• Retail segments typically included under this definition are:
Department Stores, Discount Stores, Supercenters,
Warehouse Clubs, Drug Stores, Dollar Stores, Home
Center/Hardware Stores, and Apparel/Hard Line Specialty
Stores (e.g. books, clothing, office products, toys, home
goods, electronics).
• The total gross floor area should include all supporting
functions such as kitchens and break rooms used by staff,
storage areas, administrative areas, elevators, stairwells, etc.
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“Other” Space
• It is best practice to include all of a
property’s floor area in its ENERGY STAR
application. All property uses that do not
qualify as one of the 18 types eligible to
earn an ENERGY STAR score can be
benchmarked as “Other.” Up to 25
percent of the building’s floor area may be
benchmarked as “Other.” “Other” space is
included in the Benchmarking Score
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Exclusion Policies
1. Allowable exclusion of actual energy
consumption of things exterior to and not
related to the operation of the building
2. Parking structures
3. Allowable 10% exclusion of a space type
that cannot receive an ENERGY STAR
score and “Other” space.
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Parking Exclusion
• The ENERGY STAR score is intended to assess the
efficiency of the building, not its parking lot.
• How the score treats Parking:
When space is entered as Parking, basic engineered assumptions
are used to approximate the lighting and ventilation loads
associated with parking lots and garages. These calculated
amounts are actually excluded from the building’s energy.
• When Parking energy is run through a building meter,
Parking is added as a Building Space Use
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How to get your benchmark score
• Set up a free and secure Portfolio
Manager account
• Enter basic property information (name,
address, etc.)
• Enter property use details
• Enter 12 months of utility data
• Time required –approximately 20 minutes!
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Information/Help Links
• www.energystar.gov/buildings/training
• www.energystar.gov/buildingshelp
• Portfolio Manager “Help” link
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Energy Star Support
Building Benchmarking and Certifications
• Felix Flechas, P.E.,
• Environmental Compliance and
Sustainability Engineering, LLC
• 720-310-0693
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