News

DOE Publishes Protocols to Determine Energy Efficiency Savings

The Department of Energy has published a new series of protocols for determining savings from energy efficiency upgrades in homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities. more

Energy Optimization Is Key in Today’s Market

With the economy still uncertain as the post-recession recovery continues, there has never been a more-urgent time for commercial property owners to make energy management a priority. more

Smart Money Is in Energy Efficiency

The winds of change are blowing through our energy economy, and it won’t be long before they’re at gale force. The simple fact is that we can’t maintain our prosperity and growth without energy, and we can’t continue to produce energy the way we’ve been doing it all along. more

Boston Mandates Energy Benchmarking

Mayor Menino’s Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance was approved yesterday by the Boston City Council in a 9-4 vote. The ordinance requires large commercial and residential buildings to report and disclose their energy and water usage and greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage investment in energy efficiency. more

2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition

Registration is now open for the 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. Sign up by May 31 to compete!  more

Energy-efficiency bill clears Senate panel

A bill viewed as a bellwether of the Senate’s appetite for passing energy-efficiency legislation breezed through the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee May 8. more

Energy efficiency helps local business grow

RACINE — It’s been a good year for Tower Energy International. Not only has the Racine-based company, which designs and installs systems that help businesses reduce their energy consumption, hired staff, it’s grown so much that it is moving to a new facility. more

Avoid These Costly CSR Mistakes

Corporate sustainability reporting — when done right — increases share price and bolsters stakeholder confidence. When done incorrectly, however, CSR reporting does more harm than good. more

Extending current energy policies would reduce U.S. energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions

Extending current energy and efficiency laws past their sunset dates could reduce U.S. carbon emissions by an additional 5 billion metric tons by 2040. more

ENERGY STAR Security Notice

On April 29, 2013, ENERGY STAR experienced a cyber-attack on thier computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some data from their servers. ENERGY STAR anticipates applications that require a login will be unavailable until the end of this week (5/3/13). more

12 Keys to Energy Management Success

The success of a company’s energy management program depends on more than just the energy manager, according to a new white paper, which outlines these 12 steps to success. more

The $40 billion hiding in US buildings

A pretty big wad of money – $40 billion – is hiding somewhere inside the lights, AC, thermostats, furnaces and fans of our offices, stores, hospitals and schools. That’s the amount of money the federal government estimates we can save annually by reducing energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020. more

Senate Bill Advances Energy Efficiency

Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman(R-OH) reintroduced their Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, an energy efficiency bill that is supported by the National Association of Manufacturers, the Alliance to Save Energy and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association among others. more

Procurian Research Shows How Big Business Can Save on Energy Consumption

Earth Day traditionally focuses on individuals and the collective efforts they can take at home and at work to cut down on their carbon footprint. However, according to new research from Procurian, it’s big business that has the most significant opportunity to make a major environmental impact. more

Energy Management Market ‘to Almost Double’ by 2020

Worldwide spending on industrial energy management systems and services, including software components, will grow from $11.3 billion in 2013 to $22.4 billion in 2020, according to a study from Navigant Research. more

EIA Predicts Declines in Energy Use Per Person Through 2040

The U.S. Energy Information Administration began releasing its 2013 Annual Energy Outlook on Monday and among its first reports is the prediction that, in spite of population growth, the energy use per capital will decrease from 2011 to 2040. more

Daylight Provides Energy Savings At The New York Times

The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) has finished an exhaustive study of energy savings that the New York Times Building achieved in its first five years. The building passed. more

Corporate Sustainability Drives Public Confidence, Survey Finds

A primary driver of public confidence in a company is its efforts to communicate and deliver on corporate sustainability goals, according to a survey conducted by Hill+Knowlton Strategies. more

Water Utilities Need Holistic View of Energy Consumption, says Report

The Water Research Foundation’s Toolbox for Water Utility Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Management aims to develop a global framework for energy use and greenhouse gas emission (GHG) assessment for the water industry. more

ecoInsight, TIP Capita Offer Energy Efficient Financing Program

TIP Capital and ecoInsight have aligned their resources to present building owners with a competitive financing alternative to upgrade their properties to the latest energy efficient lighting technology while reducing their monthly utility costs. more

Energy Management’s Role in Commercial HVAC Projects

Energy management. Everyone in HVACR circles is talking about it, thinking about how to apply new methods to their service and installation offerings, or practicing it, to the mutual benefit of contractor and building owners. Energy management strategies have become impossible to ignore. more

Businesses saving green with energy

After adding insulation and replacing light fixtures and HVAC systems, the owners of a Colorado Springs business are saving almost 60 percent on utility bills — about $11,000 a year. more

Mandatory energy-efficiency motivation

Today, we have a label for just about everything — EnergyStar appliances; Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Index scores for newly constructed homes; green home labels; and energy scores for commercial buildings. Driving these labels are the numerous buildings that have undergone energy use benchmarking. more

Energy Efficiency Financing Takes a Giant Leap Forward

The month of March marked an important milestone in efforts to advance financing of energy efficiency. The Pennsylvania Treasury sold nearly 4,700 loans from the KEYSTONE Help program for a projected total of $31.3 million. more

ANSI Calls for Energy Efficiency Standards Input

Nonprofit the American National Standards Institute’s Energy Efficiency Standardization Coordination Collaborative is seeking input on current or forthcoming standards, codes, guidelines, and conformance programs related to energy efficiency standardization in the built environment, as well as perceived gaps in the current energy efficiency standardization landscape. more

How Energy Efficiency’s story is changing

Not so long ago, news about energy efficiency focused on what the US could or should do, but wasn’t to save energy. It was a tale of woe. That’s no longer the case. Now, report after report tells the story of a burgeoning energy efficiency market that is achieving a surprising level of  savings. more

Stable Electricity Prices are Good News for Energy Managers

Three speakers at an Energy Manager Today webinar this week offered help for energy managers, including predictions about electricity prices, tips on energy audits and information about using thermal storage to manage energy loads. more

Why We Need Building Science

Building science, like any other variety of science, is largely about comparing one set of performance numbers to another. more

Set Realistic Timelines for Energy Goals, Says Rocky Mountain Institute

The Rocky Mountain Institute has already learned some lessons from its ongoing RetroFit initiative, which is developing best practices in energy management across large building portfolios. more

How To Design a Benchmarking Plan

The US Department of Energy Technical Assistance Program (TAP) has published a resource with tools and tips for public sector organizations to use in developing a benchmarking plan. more

EPA Announces Cities with the Most Energy Star Buildings in the US

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the most Energy Star certified buildings in 2012, highlighting how owners and managers of commercial buildings across the country are taking action on climate change while delivering real financial savings to the bottom line. more

Is Energy Management Synonymous with Time Management?

Of five low- or no-cost measures that energy managers can use to reduce energy at industrial and manufacturing companies, four of the measures involve time and load management. more

4 Steps to Accomplish a Successful Energy Overhaul

Accomplishing an energy overhaul for any business may initially seem daunting. Nonetheless, for large commercial, industrial, or institutional entities, the potential for lowering expenses, achieving sustainability objectives, and optimizing energy benefits warrants a methodical approach to link planned actions with the energy transformation goals. more

7 Key Energy Management Strategies for Stores

Multi-site retailers are under tremendous pressure to increase sales, cut costs, and provide shareholders with consistent annual revenue and earnings growth. In turn, the refrigeration contractors who service those store sites must do all they can to help their store customers conserve energy. more

The real power behind today’s energy efficiency industry

President Barack Obama recently pushed for increased energy efficiency in his State of the Union address. His endorsement is a plus, no argument. But it may not be the federal government that drives the industry’s next growth spurt. more

Energy Management – America at a Crossroads

The need for deriving financial value from under-utilized resources, for cost savings in energy consumption, and the necessity of fulfilling each organizations bottom line objectives are driving American companies to take action. more

Measuring & Verifying Your Energy Performance

For different reasons, we are reaching a “perfect storm” of the need for companies to implement a robust program to measure and verify environmental performance. more

Boston Mayor Wants Building Energy Reporting

Following the trend of several large cities, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced the filing of the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance with the Boston City Council. more

A New Kind of Competition

Now in its second year, the EBie Awards™ are a nationwide juried competition for people working in Existing Buildings who have made great strides in improving environmental performance, but whose accomplishments may otherwise go unheralded. more

Cities push for energy data on commercial buildings

EnergyPrint’s hometown will lead by example and begin publicly sharing energy and water use in commercial buildings. As a way to incentivize landlords to compete for lower operational costs, Minneapolis is the latest U.S. city — and the first in the Midwest — to adopt an energy benchmarking and disclosure rule for commercial buildings. more

Report: Efficiency Is a More Important Economic Driver Than Energy Supply

The debate around energy in the U.S. is focused on building out more production to encourage greater economic growth. Efficiency, given a courteous nod, is often seen as something extra that we deploy on top of new production. more

The Growth of Efficient Buildings

The area of building efficiency affords tremendous opportunities for both economic growth and reduced environmental impacts. more

Minneapolis Commercial Buildings to Report Energy Use in 2014

Minneapolis, Minn. officials have approved a city ordinance intended to increase energy awareness that requires large commercial buildings to report energy and water use annually, beginning in 2014. This makes Minneapolis the first Midwest city to adopt an energy benchmarking and disclosure rule for commercial buildings. more

Energy Efficiency Prospects: What to Watch

This interesting blog connects the dots on things happening in the Northeast that will lead to increased energy efficiency opportunities….more

ACEEE Recommends Increasing Energy Efficiency Tax Incentive for Commercial Buildings

According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), policymakers should consider increasing the federal tax incentive for energy efficiency of commercial buildings….more

Berkeley Lab Predicts More Energy Efficiency Incentives in South, Midwest

Spending on energy efficiency programs funded by electric and natural gas utility customers will double by 2025 to about $9.5 billion per year, according to projections published by researchers at Berkeley Lab…more

US Government is Seeing Big Savings with Energy Efficiency and Green Building

Buildings like the 1836 US Treasury Building have been retrofitted and achieved LEED Gold certification, and new buildings are being designed with sustainability as a goal….more

Energy Benchmarking – A $9 Billion Saving Plan

Energy benchmarking can unlock $9 billion in energy savings by 2020, suggests a recent report by the Institute of Market Transformation….more

Utilities Can Save Big with Next-Gen Energy Efficiency Programs, ACEEE Says

Next-generation energy-efficiency technologies and programs can help utilities save 27 percent of forecasted electricity use and 19 percent of forecasted natural gas use by 2030, according to a report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) … more

Variable Speed Fans, EMS Reduce Data Center Cooling 66%

A study has found that upgrading fans and adding fan speed controls in a data center reduces the facility’s electrical energy usage and reduces average and peak electric power demand…..more

Panel: 2013 a Breakthrough Year for Company Sustainability

Companies will continue to make breakthroughs in sustainability in 2013, including collaborating on environmental goals, finding new ways to bring innovation into operations and developing net positive plans, according to predictions by World Wildlife Fund UK’s Dax Lovegrove and the Guardian Sustainable Business advisory panel. As companies increasingly understand the need for a green economy, ambitions in the private sector will become bolder…more

How Small Operational Changes Can Save Energy and Money in Your Building

Commercial buildings account for more than 40 percent of all energy used in the US. Of this, somewhere between 15 and 30 percent is wasted. Cost and energy savings do not have to equate with large capital investments; they can come from better operation of building systems.Using utility interval data with high frequency weather and climate data, we’ve conducted remote building energy assessments of hundreds of buildings….more

LEED Hotels Raise $75 Million

Adoba Eco Hotel & Suites, a chain of fully LEED-certified hotels, has raised $75 million for national expansion through M1T Partners. Independent investment firm M1T finalized a preliminary round of funding, the first in a five-year strategy to accelerate Adoba’s expansion plan…more

Energy Efficiency Tops Data Center Managers’ Concerns

Data center energy costs and equipment efficiency are the top-of-mind issues for data center managers, according to a fall survey of data center users from Emerson Network Power. The new installment of the biannual survey polled members of the Data Center Users’ Group (DCUG), an association of data center, IT and facility managers sponsored by Emerson Network Power, and captured input from more than 160 respondents across North America….more

Energy Use a ‘Major Factor’ in Investment Decisions for 63% of Building Sector

Energy usage plays an important role in most building-sector companies’ investment decisions, and is a major factor for 63 percent of survey respondents, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit report…more

McGraw-Hill: Education Sector Does Green Building for Money, Student Health

Both K-12 and universities plan to continue investments in green schools, citing financial and social benefits, according to a new study by McGraw-Hill Construction. The “New & Retrofit Green Schools” study shows social benefits, such as improved health and productivity, are critical drivers for the education sector and equally as important as financial drivers… more

Building Owners ‘Slow Energy Retrofits’

US building owners are scaling back the pace of energy-efficiency upgrades, according to the latest Global Sustainability Perspective report from Jones Lang LaSalle. Seventy-eight percent of building owners plan to perform sustainability improvements over the next two years…more

Why Are Certain Countries Stronger in Energy Management?

In June, 2011, the ISO 50001 standard for energy management systems was released by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The ISO 50001 standard is widely recognized as an excellent systematic management framework for all energy and CSR activities. Many countries worldwide are implementing the standard but a few are already standing out from amongst the crowd for their efforts. Why?…… more

Sustainability Leaders’ Revealed – But Most Firms Fall Short

While most large companies fall short of sustainability leadership, 10 including Ford, GE and Panasonic present best practices for other businesses to emulate, according to sustainability advisor Two Tomorrows. Less than a third of the largest companies scored over 70 percent, the threshold for “sustainability leadership” in the 2012…. more

Sustainability Reports Check More Boxes But Miss Big Picture

Our study — 2012 Tomorrow’s Value Research — shows that companies today are increasingly aware of sustainability issues and opportunities and actively integrate sustainability into core business strategies and decision-making. But as companies become more responsive to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines and other reporting frameworks in an effort to drive comparability, they are beginning to lose sight of the why….. more

San Francisco Publishes Energy Consumption Data for 305 City Buildings

In San Francisco, owners of commercial buildings 25,000 square feet and larger are required to annually measure the energy performance of their buildings – a process known as benchmarking – and report energy use information to the city. Owners of buildings between 10,000-25,000 square feet will begin benchmarking in 2013….more

Energy and Cost Saving Tips, Part III

This is part of a continuing series on simple, inexpensive energy saving tips to do now that will produce real energy cost savings and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, suggestions that will not put out your staff, and make you look like a hero….more

Restaurants Waste Energy Differently Than Other Businesses, Says E Source

A new E Source report reveals that US businesses waste more than $60 billion annually on energy, but each industry has unique ways to save or waste energy.In contrast with typical commercial buildings, where lighting and HVAC account for the majority of energy consumption, almost two-thirds of the energy used in restaurants is allocated to kitchen activities…. more

MIT Study Shows That Sustainability is Profitable

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued its third annual Sustainability and Innovation Global Executive Study. In a partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, the survey gathered more than 4000 responses from executives and managers across all industries and regions. The overall results show that more companies are taking sustainability seriously and are even benefiting financially from sustainable business practices…. more

US Smart-Meter Concerns Waste Energy, Money

Negative perceptions about smart meters in the US is causing the country to fall behind Europe — and pay more for mismanaged energy — according to a Forbes.com guest post by Varun Nagaraj, senior vice president of product management and marketing at energy networking technology company Echelon Corporation. Smart meters can also help reduce outages…..more 

Mandatory Commissioning For All Buildings Proposed

Commissioning for all buildings designed and built under a green building standard from ASHRAE, the US Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) would become mandatory under a new proposal open for public input….more

Sustainability is Key, 42% of Companies Say

Some 42 percent of companies in 2012 – more than twice as many as in 2006 – say sustainability plays a key role in their business operations, according to a study by Siemens and McGraw-Hill Construction… more

4 Steps to Successful Energy Efficiency Benchmarking

It is not uncommon for organisations to set broad company-wide energy efficiency objectives. In many cases, clear and broad goals provide impetus and much needed top management support to push forward specific micro or facility level initiatives  …  more

Massachusetts Leads the States on Energy Efficiency

Massachusetts beat out California again as the leading state on energy efficiency programs, according to the sixth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard compiled by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) … more

New York Brings Energy Efficient Technologies to Market

New York announced on September 17 the launch of a $30 million initiative to accelerate the commercialization of emerging, cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies. The new initiative will fund research, market development activities, and demonstration projects to help leverage investments and promote business development opportunities for emerging energy efficiency technologies … more

US Emissions Fell 9% Since 2005, Rate Unlikely to Continue

The nearly 9 percent reduction in annual carbon emissions in the US between 2005 and 2011 is unlikely to continue without major changes in how energy is currently produced and used, according to a study by Climate Central, which conducts scientific research on climate change … more

Green Building Benefits ‘Need Better Documentation’

Study reveals better documentation of financial returns on green building investments is needed to maintain growth. It found that the most important factor driving green building is return on investment … more

Water Wake-up Call: It Starts with Infrastructure

Don’t forget water is becoming a resource that needs to be managed efficiently as well. Probably the most significant way America can start using water more efficiently is by upgrading the infrastructure that delivers it to us … more

Energy Management Solutions and Outsourced Services Growing in Demand

The automated, or smart, building energy management systems market is to almost quadruple in size and be worth over $1 billion by 2020, according to a report by Pike Research.

Worldwide spending on these services – which include data acquisition and analytics, as well as building maintenance contracts – will grow from $291 million in 2012 to $1.1 billion by 2020, the report, titled Smart Building Managed Services, says … more

World’s Most Energy-Efficient Building Becomes Leader in Green Building

The world’s most energy-efficient building—Kungsbrohuset in Stockholm—is a blueprint for modern green buildings. The building shows how energy-efficiency can be achieved through innovative design and engineering … more

New York and San Francisco Receive World Green Building Council’s Government Leadership Awards

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is pleased to announce New York and San Francisco as the recipients of the World Green Building Council’s Government Leadership Awards for Excellence in City Policy for Green Building. San Francisco was chosen for its efforts to its green building policy, and New York City received the award in recognition of its energy benchmarking policy … more

Efficiency of Individual Buildings Critical to Reducing U.S. Energy Consumption

Addressing the U.S.’s energy consumption continues to be an existing priority for the country. As discussed at the Democrat National Convention, the efficiency of individual buildings can be critical in reducing the U.S.’s energy consumption as a whole… more

Obama Sets New Energy-Efficiency Goal for Manufacturing Facilities

With comprehensive energy-efficiency legislation cooling on the congressional back burner, President Obama issued an executive order Thursday to spur energy-efficiency upgrades at manufacturing facilities… more

Changing the Language of Sustainability

In this video, Dan Atkins from The Shaper Group, discusses how businesses can look at sustainability as a way of increasing sales and profitability instead of costly compliance measures…more

New York City Could Save $1B a Year and Other Insights from Energy Star Benchmarking

New York City requires all large buildings to calculate an Energy Star Score to get an energy benchmark for privately owned buildings.  PlanNYC put out a great report ”New York City Local Law 84 Benchmarking Report” analyzing the first years data … more

City Energy Benchmarking Updates

Local energy benchmarking ordinances are beginning to report results and be updated. Key happenings include:

• Washington D.C. is placing penalties ($100/day) on non-compliance with this requirement
• New York City released its first energy benchmarking report this month–Learn More
• And Seattle is looking to change its parameters and deadlines for compliance–Learn More

Contact us to learn more and find out how we can help you comply with these requirements while also helping you to reduce your energy expense.

EPA launches annual Energy Star National Building Competition

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program launched the 2012 National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings with a record 3,200 buildings across the country going head to head to improve energy efficiency, lower utility costs and protect health and the environment… more

10 Reasons Why Sustainable/Energy Retrofits of Commercial Buildings Will Be the Next Big Thing

According to the US Department of Energy, commercial buildings account for 35 percent of US (and 40 percent of global) electricity consumption … more

The Market for Energy Efficiency Retrofits in Commercial Buildings Will Nearly Double by 2020

Efforts to retrofit commercial and public buildings to make them more energy-efficient have many different drivers, including a sense of social responsibility to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and carbon footprints … more

Energy management SaaS aims to leave its print on the Minnesota Cup

“You can’t measure something you don’t monitor, and you can’t understand where your opportunities are unless you can see them.” … more

EnergyPrint lets building owners manage energy use more effectively

For building owners and property managers, staying on top of energy costs can be challenging, especially since statistics can be tough to find. But a St. Paul-based firm is removing the roadblocks … more

Policy for energy-efficient buildings promises big economic boost

Building owners have many reasons to invest in energy efficiency — it reduces expenses, makes for a more comfortable and productive space, improves property values, and reduces toxic pollution — all at once … more

Philadelphia to Force Large Property Owners to Post Energy Use

Philadel­phia City Coun­cil fol­lowed in the foot­steps of cities like Wash­ing­ton D.C., New York City and San Fran­cisco on Thurs­day when it passed “energy bench­mark­ing” leg­is­la­tion … more

New Resources to Help NYC Buildings Convert to Clean Heating Fuels

Mayor Bloomberg today announced more than $100 million in financing and other new resources to help city buildings convert to cleaner fuels … more

Benchmarking: How Does Your Building Stack Up?

Energy benchmarking can help you better understand your commercial property’s energy use and monitor performance over time. It allows for comparisons among similar building types and helps identify which ones could operate more efficiently … more

The Heat is On: U.S. Temperature Trends

Our state-by-state analysis of warming over the past 100 years shows where it warmed the most and where it warmed the least … more

How Chicago plans to lead in commercial building energy efficiency

Today Mayor Rahm Emmanuel announced plans to tackle one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases in Chicago (or any city), and a key part of the city’s economy at the same time — the energy we use in commercial buildings … more

How well does LEED work in certified buildings?

The Minnesota chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council and the energy management software provider EnergyPrint Inc. are collaborating on a new program to study energy- efficient buildings … more

How a holistic view of buildings can cut energy use and costs

Not only are energy-efficient buildings cheaper to run, but they also can be healthier — and can even help companies attract employees and shareholders … more

Six Surprising Sustainability Facts

A staggering two-thirds of the energy from coal, gas and nuclear power generation in North America is wasted in the form of heat that’s vented up smoke stacks and cooling towers … more

Companies Get a Boost in Stock from Reporting Greenhouse Gas Info

Shareholder groups that pressure companies to release greenhouse gas emission data could have more strength behind their arguments … more

Five Reasons Businesses Should Reduce Energy Consumption

Businesses will consume large quantities of energy throughout the year, using electricity and gas supplies to power various devices within their offices and workplaces … more

We Can’t Wait: President Obama Announces Nearly $4 Billion Investment in Energy Upgrades to Public and Private Buildings

President Obama today announced nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings over the next 2 years … more

Four Sustainability Trends to Watch in 2012

The worldwide movement toward sustainability has made significant progress over the past half-dozen years as companies and cities have pursued strategies that balance future and current societal needs … more

10 Ways to Boost Your Building’s Energy Efficiency in 2012

Faced with a promising new year, we have an opportunity to start fresh and get fit — and that includes our buildings … more

Minnesota Retrofits to Save $3m a Year

Energy efficiency improvements across 36 facilities in Minnesota will generate more than $3 million in permanent, ongoing energy savings every year for the foreseeable future, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce … more

US cities try ‘benchmarking’ to make buildings save more energy

Many cities are trying to limit carbon emissions by monitoring energy use to keep it at sustainable levels. A new monitoring approach, called “benchmarking,” counts on a combination of raising awareness … more

Minnesota accepts the better buildings challenge

“Minnesota is excited to contribute to this nationwide effort, helping lead the country in achieving aggressive and achievable energy savings goals,” said Commissioner Rothman, … more

Seattle – City Program Expands, More Buildings to Improve Energy Efficiency

The City of Seattle is sending letters to the owners of 8,000 buildings this week informing them of its new building energy-efficiency program. The program aims to help building owners and managers reduce their energy costs through benchmarking … more

The CDP’s Water Report Offers a New Paradigm for Water Management

The ability to measure and report water accounting metrics is essential for better management of water resources … more

3 Reasons Why Water Must Be a Part of Your Energy Strategy

While the availability of energy and water for future generations largely depends on the relationship between the two, this relationship often remains missing from policy and industry conversations around both resources … more

Greenhouse gas: The more we talk of, the more it grows

Our beautiful planet Earth is threatened by looming dark clouds. The global output of heat-trapping carbon dioxide jumped by the biggest amount on record … more

Efficiency Could Cut Electricity Use 15%, Report Says

Energy efficiency is likely to bring down U.S. electricity consumption by five to 15 percent by 2020, relative to forecast trends, according to a report by The Brattle Group … more

Cloud is The World’s Economic Opportunity

It was readily apparent at the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards (NIST) Cloud Computing Forum in November that cloud computing is a global IT phenomenon with global business benefits … more

Greener, Greater Buildings Plan

Buildings dominate New York City’s carbon footprint. Approximately 75 percent of New York City’s carbon emissions stem from energy used in buildings, and today’s existing buildings will make up 85 percent of all real estate in 2030 … more

Looking to the Cloud Toward the Future of Building Design

Over the last several years, many companies have turned to cloud computing to help them further their sustainability goals … more

6 Ways to Fund Energy Efficiency Retrofits

Energy efficiency is one of the most popular first steps to take when addressing corporate energy footprints, for the simple reason that small investments can produce big results … more

US Firms Barely Rank in Global Climate Change Disclosure Lists

When it comes to comprehensive climate change disclosure, it’s safe to say that European companies blow their North American counterparts out of the water … more

Energy Efficiency Financing ‘Has $150bn Potential’; Report Compares Commercial Opt-Out Programs

Such investment would be one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing energy costs for businesses … more

Seattle To Track Energy Performance of Commercial Buildings, But Will It Spur Legal Issues?

Last year, the City of Seattle passed a new ordinance, amending the Municipal Code to require large commercial buildings to benchmark their performance and disclose it to the City… more

California’s Cap-and-Trade Program Gets Green Light

The program, which will begin in mid-2012 with auctions of the emissions allowances, will be the nation’s most stringent cap-and-trade mandate but not the first … more

Commercial buildings the focus of new climate initiative

Many cities, as well as private citizens, are making small leaps to reduce energy consumption. What many overlook, or are too under-funded to take on, are large commercial buildings- arguably the largest drainer of resources in urban areas … more

$20 Trillion Worth of Investors Call for GHG Targets

A group of 285 investors worth $20 trillion, including ABN Amro, Swiss Re, BNP Paribas, HSBC and CalPERS, have called on governments to create short-, medium- and long-term greenhouse gas targets, and enforceable legal mechanisms and timelines for delivering those reductions … more

How Companies Gain Strategic Advantage by Managing Carbon

To remain competitive in today’s marketplace, businesses strive for differentiation. One of the most promising ways for gaining that competitive advantage in recent years has been through a dedicated, company-level focus on sustainability … more

Benchmarking Buildings for Energy Efficiency

Under a new city ordinance that takes effect this month, all buildings over 10,000 square feet–both commercial and multifamily residential–must report their annual energy usage to the city … more

How to Engage and Convince the C-Suite about Corporate Sustainability

Corporate sustainability makes a lot of sense. Reduce your costs and risk, increase profit, strengthen reputation, protect and conserve natural resources and social value while enhancing share value…what’s not to love? … more

Seattle Energy Use Benchmarking

Your Quick Guide to Compliance (and how to get something out of it) …more

Case Study: Verifying if Green-Rated Buildings Perform As Expected

Surprisingly, recent studies have shown that a majority of LEED-rated buildings don’t know how they are performing, and don’t perform at the level expected. In 2007, a national building ownership company built a smart office building that achieved a LEED Silver rating. But was the energy efficient structure proving its worth? …  more

The Three Factors Behind a ‘Moon Shot’ for Building Energy Efficiency

There’s nothing like an audacious challenge to inspire innovation — and one is certainly being set out by asking building owners, facility managers, designers and contractors to drastically reduce the energy consumption in their buildings … more

Cloud Computing May be a Shot in the Arm our Economy Needs

Yes, cloud computing enables cost savings — as companies can access technology and applications on-demand on an as-needed basis and pay for only what they use … more

Retro Grades

Going into effect in some of America’s largest and most progressive cities point toward a new industry in retrofitting existing buildings for compliance—an industry that some entrepreneurial firms intend to corner … more

San Francisco’s Energy Disclosure / Audit Ordinance

In February of this year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance with the intent to increase the energy and resource efficiency of existing buildings to meet the City’s aggressive greenhouse gas reduction targets … more

Sustainability from the CEO Perspective

In 1987, the term ‘sustainability’ officially shifted from financial to environmental when Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in a key United Nations report coined the original definition, “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs.” … more

Benchmarking: Understanding Building Performance

As energy prices increase and building operating costs climb, property managers and owners are seeking out sustainable options—not only to lower their environmental impact, but also to improve their bottom line and gain a competitive edge over their peers .. more

Standard 90.1-2007 Established as National Reference Standard for Federal, Commercial Buildings by DOE

Commercial buildings, including federal and high-rise residential buildings, must now meet requirements inASHRAE/IESNA’s 2007 energy efficiency standard, under recent rulings issued by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) that finds the standard saves more energy than the 2004 version … more

Tracking Building Energy Performance

The need to measure, track and benchmark energy performance for LEED Projects … more

Energy Disclosure Laws – A Nationwide Trend in Transparency

With more information we make better decisions, right?  Well, that’s the idea behind energy disclosure requirements … more

Why You Should Think About Sustainability Like an Engineer

If you know anything about engineers, you know we measure everything. Engineers are meticulous, calculated and apply logical thinking to most tasks … more

UN’s Method for Measuring Building Emissions May Become ISO Standard

The world’s built environment consumes as much as 40 percent of global energy use. That makes for a massive carbon footprint, but until recently, the building sector didn’t have a universal framework to measure carbon emissions produced during a building’s operations … more

How to Get the Most Out of Your High Performance Building

Improving building systems performance has the attention of the corner office and the Oval Office with good reason. Energy prices continue to rise. … more

U.S. cities, states require large buildings cite energy use

Wonder how high the utility bills will be at that apartment you like? To help consumers and spur efficiency, U.S. states and cities are beginning this year to require that commercial buildings measure and disclose their energy use … more

The CFO is Important to Sustainability

In a 2009 CDP report of investors, 77% of respondents factor climate change information into investment decisions, citing “carbon risk” and “potential regulation” as motivation … more

4 Reasons Why Cloud Computing is Also a Green Solution

Businesses are increasingly substituting cloud-based for internal resources to capture benefits like faster scale-up/scale-down of capacity, pay-as-you-go pricing, and access to cloud-based applications and services without buying and managing on-premises infrastructure … more

Benchmarking Environmental Sustainability Goals

Goals signal intent and drive behavior. Some companies announce sustainability goals to signal their commitment to become sustainability leaders and to compete for superior positioning with their rivals … more

Bringing retailers and landlords together on sustainability

What did we learn? Most importantly, landlords and retailers both want to accelerate their building sustainability efforts. And both recognize that more collaboration is the path towards creating not only more sustainable retail buildings, but more sustainable business models in general … more

Measuring and valuing environmental impacts

This report is designed to help senior executives and decision-makers new to sustainability navigate the strategic decision-making process for managing their firms’s environmental impacts … more

Frequently Asked Energy Management, Benchmarking and Energy Star Questions

Over several years of working with building owners, managers and solution providers, EnergyPrint has gained some great insights about the energy monitoring and benchmarking arena … more

Cloud Computing Can Save Big Firms Billions in Energy Costs

Want to save money while shrinking your company’s carbon footprint? Look no further than cloud computing, experts say … more

Collaboration is the way to reduce carbon in commercial buildings

Owners and occupiers need to work together to achieve energy and carbon savings … more

6 Ways Companies Can Address Their Water Scarcity Risks

As the world starts to wake up to the reality of looming water shortages, companies, investors and other stakeholders care about the risks posed to business from water scarcity …more

Companies and Cities Take on Better Buildings Challenge

The challenge is part of the president’s Better Buildings Initiative launched in February as a way to “catalyze” private sector investment in commercial building upgrades, and make commercial buildings in the nation 20 percent more efficient in the next ten years … more

Energy Management and Efficiency Incentives, 2010 vs. 2011

70% of respondents think energy management is “extremely” or “very important”… more

Five Reasons To Be Optimistic About Corporate Social Responsibility

The big guys themselves are producing these reports that show social and environmental responsibility are good for businesses … more

Top 20 Greenest US and Canadian Cities

San Francisco grabbed the mantle of “greenest” major city in the U.S. and Canada Green City Index, with New York, Seattle,Denver and Boston rounding out the top five U.S. cities … more

Annual Energy Outlook 2011 with Projections to 2035

The projections in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO2011) focus on the factors that shape the U.S. energy system over the long term … more

Win the energy challenge with ISO 50001

Energy is critical to organizational operations and can be a major cost to organizations, whatever their activies … more

Energy Mandates – Friend or Foe?

Energy mandates can appear in many forms; a city or state ordinance to require ENERGY STAR benchmarking or certified products; a corporate decree that sets energy reduction targets; or even voluntary certification and contests aimed at tracking energy consumption and reduction … more

Sustainability and the Importance of the CFO

It is typical in organizations for the CFO to be ultimately responsible for investor relations, facilities, purchasing, human resources and IT. Moreover, CFOs have a unique vantage of operations, by seeing it from a purely financial paradigm … more

Climate Action in Megacities: C40 Cities Baseline and Opportunities

Five years ago, 40 of the world’s leading mayors came together and made a commitment to work collaboratively to address one of the greatest economic, social and environmental challenges of our time … more

Managing the Push and Pull of Energy Modeling Demand

“How many LEED points can I get? Do I quality for a specific incentive?” To energy modelers, questions like these sound like a broken record. Yet properly used, energy modeling can provide information that optimizes a building’s energy consumption, reduces life cycle costs and even reduces first cost … more

Better Buildings Initiative Sets New Energy Information Reporting Standards

Announced during the State of the Union address, the Better Buildings Initiative seeks to make commercial buildings 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020 through energy upgrades … more

DOE and The Appraisal Foundation Announce New Partnership to Focus on Energy Performance and Building Appraisals

As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve commercial building efficiency 20% by 2020, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that will help expand access to energy efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings and help American businesses to reduce energy waste … more

Building Owners Expect Energy Price Spike, Target 12% Energy Reduction

Eighty percent of building owners expect double-digit energy price increases over the next year, which has prompted an average energy reduction target of 12 percent … more

DOE Announces Guide for 50 % More Energy Efficient Office Buildings

The 50 % AEDG series will provide a practical approach to commercial buildings designed to achieve 50 % energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country … more

ISO 50001: New Energy Management Standard

ISO 50001 will establish a framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities or entire organizations to manage energy,
and could influence 60% of the world’s energy use, says the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) … more

Energy Benchmarking Picks Up Steam in the US You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Seattle is just one of a handful of large U.S. cities and states to enact energy efficiency benchmarking legislation in large buildings, and many of the programs go into effect this year … more

How’s your Bucket?

Last year alone energy costs increased more than 5% for commercial buildings – while property management fees, security costs, janitorial expenses and other property related fees either decreased or remained almost flat … more

The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 (Shaheen-Portman)

The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act of 2011 is a national strategy to increasethe use of energy efficiency technologies in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of our economy, while also fostering job creation … more

Smarter Energy Solutions Make Wellington Management’s Buildings Work Better

As energy costs continue to rise, the need for efficient building operations becomes increasingly important … more

CEOs Embrace Sustainability

Corporate sustainability is coming of age. An overwhelming majority of FTSE 500 companies now voluntarily measure, manage, and publicly disclose their carbon emissions; and a collection of hi-tech solutions, clean technologies, and market tools have evolved in recent years to meet these demands … more

Why Sustainability Reporting Is Revolutionary

We stand teetering between the old and the new. This next decade, we predict, will be the test of all of us. Not because of what might be, but because of what is  … more

Real Estate Portfolio Managers Seeing the Green

If there is a bright spot for the real estate sector since the rough times brought on by the economic crisis, then perhaps it is the realizations of financial rewards that stemmed from their sustainable initiatives … more

Carbon Footprint Gaining A Place On The FM Agenda

If a building pulls electricity from the grid, burns oil or natural gas, or uses products and services, the building has a carbon footprint … more

Backed by $7.6 Trillion Worth of Investors, CDP Urges Companies to Cut Emissions

Institutional investors managing $7.6 trillion yesterday called on companies in the FTSE Global 500 to institute cost-effective programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions … more

Ten Easy Steps to More Energy-Efficient Buildings

The U.S. is awash in commercial building space—enough to account for 18% of the country’s energy consumption, including 36% of electricity usage. And much of that energy is wasted. more

Investors of $1.6 Trillion Urge Environmental Reporting

A group of institutional investors managing more than $1.6 trillion in assets have urged the world’s 30 biggest stock exchanges to force corporate sustainability reporting. more

Energy Efficiency a Moral Imperative, Companies Say

Nearly nine out of ten Fortune 1000 senior executives feel a moral responsibility to make their companies more energy efficient, and 13 percent say environmental concerns are their main motivator to save energy. more

When emissions go up, stock goes down

A new study says markets respond almost immediately when a company reports an event that could affect global climate change, with stock values responding the same day as the disclosure. more

Why Benchmarking Your Building is Crucial to Saving Energy Costs

Benchmarking gives owners a better understanding of how their buildings use energy how their performance compares to similar structures and what are the most cost-effective steps owners can take to stop energy waste More

Primer – Climate Change

Businesses and climate change. reducing greenhouse gases and helping organizations prepare for a changing climate More

Study: Cloud Computing Saves Energy and Reduces Carbon Emissions

Businesses turn to the cloud for a variety of reasons. For some, the decision is financial. For others, it’s a matter of capacity, agility or simple practicality more

US Adopts 30% Energy-Efficiency Savings for Buildings

More than 500 U.S. state and local code officials voted to adopt new building codes that will achieve 30 percent in energy savings more

Market Innovation in Financing Energy-Efficiency Retrofits of Commercial Real Estate Explored in New ULI Report, New Tools. New Rules.

Retrofitting the nation’s existing commercial building stock is moving to the forefront of efforts to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S more

DOE, PNNL Release Report on Cutting Energy Use in Half in Commercial Buildings

The U.S. Department of Energy and its Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have released a technical report that provides recommendations on how to achieve up to 50% energy savings in quick-service restaurants. more

How to Benchmark Success in Green Living

A recent Gallup shows that 94% of Americans are aware of Climate Change issues, and of that segment 75% feel that action needs to be taken.  So what percentage of Americans is transferring this awareness into action?    more

Learning the Lessons of Energy Efficiency

Where does all this money go? Typically, the heating, cooling and lighting of a school take up about 70% of all its energy. more

Doing More While Using Less Power

Buildings could use nearly 60 percent less electricity by 2030 by installing existing technologies More

Behind the EPA’s New Sustainable Design and Green Building Toolkit

ENERGY STAR awareness made easy

Commercial real estate professionals may think of ENERGY STAR as an energy performance benchmarking for buildings, but most people still think of it as a seal of approval for appliances and electronics. More

Benchmarking Ensures Energy Management Programs Remain a Priority

To implement an effective corporate energy management system, businesses need a combination of senior management support, good data, clear targets and technical, managerial and economic resources. More

Building Energy Performance

Residential and commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and total energy consumption… More

DOE Awards Up to $122M for Making Fuel from Sunlight

Revolutionary — that’s how the Department of Energy describes the methods for generating fuels directly from sunlight that the agency hopes will emerge from a new project in California.  More

Five Benefits of Data Center Energy Management

When you consider that a data center can consume 10 to 100 times more energy per square foot than the average office building it is clear that managing energy in the data center is of paramount importance… More

Green Business Forecast Shows Strong Growth Ahead

Reducing energy use through efficiency measures continues to be the primary environmental initiative for companies of all sizes. More

U.S. Utilities Need to Deliver Low-Carbon Electricity to Remain Competitive

U.S. utilities, which are responsible for 40 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, will need to provide cleaner, low-carbon electricity… more

Linking Green Buildings, Productivity and the Bottom Line

Can promoting green initiatives and certifying the workplace as green increase productivity? More

Energy Benchmarking and Monitoring

Many professionals implement energy improvements for the right reasons but without the right information More

Green Building Market To Hit $173.5 Billion by 2015

The goals of building green include the efficient use of energy, water, and other resources, the protection of occupant health and improvement of employee productivity, and the… More

A Nobelist’s Energy Pitch for Obama

President Obama is preparing to take another stab at seeking consensus in the Senate on energy legislation with components that could rein in emissions of greenhouse gases. More

CEOs Say Sustainability Crucial to Success

A new survey of CEOs by the United Nations Global Compact and Accenture found that 93 percent see sustainability as crucial to their future success. More

5 ‘Green’ Retrofits Electricians Should Pitch to Drive Business

A fast growing segment of this green construction market is building retrofits, or energy efficient renovations. Numerous reports forecast retrofitting… More

10 Tips for Operating Buildings More Efficiently

Here are 10 ways to make your buildings operate more efficiently and more cost effectively.
The tips are part of… More

Energy Savings Tips for Commercial Buildings

Trimming energy consumption in commercial buildings is an objective in the campaign to curb fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that is attainable… More

Can your data center earn an EPA Energy Star?

The EPA this week said that any stand alone data centers in the top 25 % of their peers in energy efficiency according to EPA’s energy performance scale can now earn such an accolade. More

Utility Bills, Submeters And BAS Offer Options For Monitoring Energy Consumption

When trying to identify cost-saving measures, many facility managers face the same issue… More

EPA Swings Open Doors of Energy Star for Data Centers

The EPA announced that stand-alone data centers as well as buildings that house large numbers of data centers can qualify for the label.  More

DOE Proposes New Green Standards for Federal Buildings

The U.S. Department of Energy proposed standards that would require new and renovated federal buildings to include sustainable building design elements… More

Empire State Building Now With Energy Star

In 2009, the Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) started an Energy Star pilot program for commercial buildings to help them strive for higher energy efficiency… More

Sustainable Solutions Conference: Get Ready For Changes In The Building Systems Industry!

The building systems industry is in the early stages of a dramatic shift. New codes, standards, mandates, and requirements for energy efficiency and sustainability are pushing the limits of system designers, owners and operators. As changes in the industry accelerate towards a “zero net energy” performance level, new opportunities arise for industry leaders in systems, solutions, design and operations. In tandem, corresponding advances in technology systems, practices and processes expand the possibilities for building owners, developers, architects and engineers, and facility and energy managers to pursue higher levels of performance in buildings. For more information, check out Sustainable Solutions Conference Get Ready For Changes In The Building Systems Industry!

Businesses Could Face Rising Costs from Carbon-Intensive Utilities

About 79 power generators could face carbon costs totaling $56 billion, which equals to almost 12 percent of revenues on average. More

Hospitals Can Cut Energy Use 60% by Redesigning their Energy Systems

Hospitals, which account for four percent of all energy consumed in the U.S., can achieve a 60 percent reduction in energy utility use by redesigning the way they use energy, which will translate into savings of about $730,000 annually… More

The Commercial Realities of Sustainable Business

In a global economy bouncing back from recession, sustainability is a mega-trend offering businesses multiple benefits… More

EPA Finalizes GHG Emissions Rule, Targets Largest Emitters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized its rulings to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the largest stationary sources at facilities such… More

16 Tips for Small Businesses to Save Energy

From occupancy sensors for lighting to HVAC improvements, there are a multitude of ways for small businesses to reduce their energy use. More

Push Begins for ‘Building Star’ Incentives for Commercial Properties

The Senate has introduced a bill that would establish a Building Star program to provide incentives to commercial buildings related… More

Four Strategies to Achieve World-Class Carbon Management

World-class carbon management requires a chief sustainability officer, a cross-functional strategy for reductions with a 2020 target, coordinated business process changes and an integrated carbon management… More

Why Energy Efficiency is Worth the Investment

The results of the report indicate that companies who fail to factor energy efficiency into their real estate investment decisions might be assuming significant risk in the future and… More

2010: The Year for a Surge in Energy Efficiency

In 2009, awareness about the positive impacts of energy efficiency was raised to new heights. More

CO2 Pact Leaves Businesses Feeling Up in the Air

The agreement achieved at the Copenhagen climate summit leaves business leaders around the world close to where they began, facing uncertainty about how environmental policy will affect their costs and decisions about investments. More

Copenhagen Deal Comes with Cost

The incomplete climate agreement hammered out in Copenhagen by President Barack Obama likely means U.S. businesses will soon pay a price… More

PUC to Review Expenses for State’s Utilities

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is planning its own review of corporate travel and entertainment expenses at all utilities… more

Xcel Energy Seeks 35% Energy Efficiency Increase

Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. customers soon could be able to save even more energy and money. The utility announced a program Monday designed to increase energy efficiency 35 percent…more

Pending Federal Climate Change & Energy Legislation

First, a general primer on the relationship between Federal and state laws. Federal laws set baseline standards that must be met nationwide. States can set standards that are higher than Federal standards, but cannot set lower standards. More

8 Energy Benchmarking Hurdles (and How to Get Over Them)

Don’t let these common obstacles slow you down when it comes to tracking energy use – learn how to benchmark efficiently and effectively. More

Tips: Top 10 Ways for Commercial Buildings to Save Energy

These no or low-cost strategies offer commercial real estate professionals strategies to reduce energy consumption. More