Large NY buildings cut 8% of their GHG emissions in 3 years through benchmarking

A major study on the impact of benchmarking on large residential and office buildings in New York City proves that the practice can benefit energy managers everywhere: Providing people with reports on their energy use tends to promote efficiency.

The study published by New York Business was continued by New York University’s Center for Urban Science Progress (CUSP) and Urban Green, the U.S. Energy Agency’s representative. Green Building Council in the city and examining the impact of Local Law 84 (LL84) enacted in 2009. read LL84 requires that buildings larger than 50 square feet (4.6 m²) must report their water and electricity consumption annually, so that their performance can then be compared.

The study evaluates the results of the Law from 2010 to 2013. They show that the use of water and electricity were optimized:

"The data obtained show that carbon emissions and energy use in the buildings that went through the benchmarking process decreased over time. Between 2010 and 2013, emissions from the 3,000 benchmarked properties decreased by 8%, while energy consumption decreased by 6%"

It is important to mention that in 2007 the Inventory of New York City Greenhouse Gas Emissions projected the increase in 27% by 2030 if existing consumption patterns at the time do not change. benchmarking works :

“Although some of the reduction is tied to retrofits or upgrades, experts say the overall numbers prove the basic idea of the law: that building owners or managers measure energy consumption by finding out how much of the resource other buildings of similar size are using.”

New York City’s 2013 Energy and Water Use Report pointed to four areas that show relatively high potential: increasing heating efficiency, preventing energy losses in window and wall air-conditioning units, and improving and controlling of lighting

The project, however, is not a unique case The advantages of using benchmarking in energy management were illustrated in a study of 550 buildings last year conducted by Energy Scorecard Minnesota benchmarking. The project and the world of energy benchmarking were outlined in the Energy Manager Today podcast with Jonathan Braman, vice president of strategic initiatives at Bright Power. Xcel Energy and the Minnesota Division of Energy Resources also participated in the project. A. Messe Supply, a Chicago-based heating and plumbing company, posted a commentary that showcases a second, even more important potential role for benchmarking: It not only tells an organization how it is doing, but also guides it in making more effective decisions in the future: “Another added benefit of energy benchmarking is that it can create a management plan for commercial building owners to learn where there are the greatest and least opportunities for investment in improving energy efficiency. They will also gain objective lessons that will allow them to replicate good energy performance practices in other buildings and facilities they manage.” CUSP provides an especially clear example of the benefits of energy benchmarking. Perhaps finally, the growing focus on reducing CO2 emissions and improving energy use – combined with the rapid development of tools for collecting and analyzing data – has made benchmarking a special tool in efficiency efforts. energy.

In Brazil, the repercussion of the topic since 2013 led the Brazilian Council for Sustainable Construction (CBCS), in partnership with other organizations, to develop a vision for the development of benchmarks and the implementation of energy labeling in the Brazilian context. The benchmarks already developed by CBCS – bank branches, corporate buildings, and public buildings, still in progress) incorporate important issues such as movement density, local climate, parking area and data center consumption, and are made available on an online platform.

Source: Energy Manager Today