|
Understanding current and past energy use is how many organizations identify opportunities to improve energy performance and gain financial benefits.
Assessing performance is the periodic process of evaluating energy use for all major facilities and functions in the organization and establishing a baseline for measuring future results of efficiency efforts.
Key aspects include:
Data Collection and Management
Baselining and Benchmarking
- Establish baselines - Determine the starting point from which to measure progress.
- Benchmark - Compare the energy performance of your facilities to each other, peers and competitors, and over time to prioritize which facilities to focus on for improvements.
Analysis and Evaluation
- Analyze - Understand your energy use patterns and trends.
- Technical assessments and audits - Evaluate the operating performance of facility systems and equipment to determine improvement potential.
Assessing your energy performance helps you to:
- Categorize current energy use by fuel type, operating division, facility, product line, etc.
- Identify high performing facilities for recognition and replicable practices.
- Prioritize poor performing facilities for immediate improvement.
- Understand the contribution of energy expenditures to operating costs.
- Develop a historical perspective and context for future actions and decisions.
- Establish reference points for measuring and rewarding good performance.
In Practice
USAA Real Estate Company - Uncovering new opportunities
USAA Real Estate Company (USAA) already had an active energy management program when it joined ENERGY STAR in 2000. As USAA's energy director noted "At the time, we thought we ran efficient buildings." But after assessing and benchmarking its building portfolio's energy performance, USAA realized there were more opportunities to be gained.
As part of its involvement in ENERGY STAR, USAA baselined and benchmarked all of its buildings using Portfolio Manager. This process enabled USAA to compare the performance of its entire portfolio and target facilities for further assessment. USAA then conducted energy audits, billing reviews, procurement analyses, and physical assessments to further understand variation in performance and gauge energy efficiency opportunities.
Based on these assessment findings, USAA developed a new plan for increasing the energy performance of its portfolio, starting with the least efficient buildings with the highest energy costs.
By 2002, USAA reduced its portfolio wide energy consumption by 5% and 45% of its office buildings had either received the ENERGY STAR Label or qualified for the label. One of these buildings, USAA estimates, increased in asset value by $1.5 million as a result of energy efficiency upgrades.
Back to Top
|
