Better Buildings, U.S. Department of Energy
Better Buildings,'s Posts
What is Efficiency-as-a-Service?
As-a-service business models are growing in popularity - and one of the most impactful may be Efficiency-as-a-Service. This column from Better Buildings discusses this pay-for-performance, off-balance sheet financing solution that allows customers to implement efficiency projects with no upfront capital expenditure, including how it works, alternative approaches, and advantages and disadvantages.
Read More
Installing Rooftop Solar on a 1960s Multifamily High-Rise Building
The challenge facing the Tower Company was to determine how to install cost-effective rooftop solar on a 1960s high-rise apartment building with an existing structure and near full occupancy. Read this column from Better Buildings to explore the solution and outcome (including a one-year after-tax payback).
Read More
Chesapeake College: On-Campus Solar Energy and Storage
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Better Buildings Challenge partner Chesapeake College for energy efficiency advances made throughout its Wye Mills, Maryland campus. Most recently, the college completed a 1.8-megawatt solar array with 1-megawatt battery backup. Here's how they did it.
Read More
DWS: Site-Level Climate Risk and Resiliency Checklist Pilot
DWS' real estate business has been investing in assets for more than 40 years and includes $55.6 billion in assets under management across the globe. This column from Better Buildings explores the company's implementation of a Climate Risk and Resiliency Pilot to assess properties at risk from the impacts of climate change and identify strategies and improvements that would protect occupants, interior systems and equipment, and the physical asset.
Read More
Repurposing the Western Maryland Railway Station
The Western Maryland Railway Station in Cumberland, Maryland, built in 1913, went through various transformations before its current use for offices, a museum, and retail shops. This column from Better Buildings shows how a comprehensive building upgrade resulted in a 21 percent annual energy savings.
Read More
LBA Realty: Climate Risk Assessment Report and Resiliency Plan
LBA Realty (LBA, a full-service real estate investment and management company with a diverse portfolio of industrial and office properties in major markets throughout the United States, needed to implement an actionable climate risk assessment process to address concerns at a property-specific level. This column from Better Buildings shows how a new process was created to identify, validate, and mitigate confirmed climate risk factors during the acquisition process.
Read More
Iron Mountain Data Centers aces the Better Buildings Challenge
Iron Mountain Data Centers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its commitment to energy efficiency through DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. As a Better Buildings partner, Iron Mountain offered to share its best practices through a virtual tour of the cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies at its data centers.
Read More
Decarbonizing Kitchens: Opportunities for the Food Service Sector
As the public and private sectors pursue organization-wide goals for reducing GHG emissions, commercial food service kitchens and restaurants face multiple challenges: identifying new opportunities to improve energy efficiency while adhering to changing local and state regulations supporting electrification and decarbonization. This column from Better Buildings shows how operators like The Wendy's Company are finding success with a steady approach.
Read More
Ford Motor Company: Dearborn Campus Uses Digital Twin Tool for Energy Plant Management
At Ford’s Dearborn Research and Engineering Campus Central Energy Plant (CEP), the digital twin helps operators and engineers manage energy and operational risks by monitoring the CEP’s energy systems, including the combined heat and power (CHP) system, heat recovery chillers, electric centrifugal chillers, thermal energy storage, and other equipment. This column from the Department of Energy's Better Buildings explores how the design and construction of the CEP ensure that campus building upgrades followed specific sustainability principles.
Read More
Chicago Public Schools: Smart Energy Conservation Measures
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) - one of the largest school districts in the nation, serving over 330,000 students in more than 600 schools with a building portfolio covering more than 64 million square feet across 1,000 structures - is CPS is dedicated to reducing its energy consumption and environmental impact. CPS has joined the Better Buildings Challenge to help meet its goals.
Read More
Loews Hotels & Co - 50001 Ready at 11 Hotels
Loews Hotels & Co, operator of 26 hotels and resorts, strives to be an industry leader in environmental sustainability. This column from Better Buildings details the company's pursuit of DOE's 50001 Ready Program for energy management at 11 properties, including the creation of energy management teams at each facility.
Read More
Sheetz: Green Building Technologies at Herndon, VA Store
Sheetz, Inc. is reducing the company’s environmental impact by adding utility-efficient technologies to new store designs and retrofitting existing stores accordingly. This column from the Better Buildings Solutions Center explores a new facility Sheetz is constructing a new facility in Herndon, VA, which will be the most energy-efficient building in its portfolio.
Read More
LBA Realty: A Comprehensive, Building-level Approach to Reducing Energy and Emissions
LBA Realty developed a systematic, multistep approach to reducing energy use and GHG emissions at One Culver, an 8-story mixed-use office property in Los Angeles. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how the company pursued a renewable energy contract, installed window tinting, altered the energy management system, and performed audits to identify retro-commissioning opportunities.
Read More
Maloney Properties: Portfolio Management for Emissions Goal Tracking
Maloney Properties manages multifamily housing properties owned by third parties, many of which are subject to emissions reduction goals established by ordinances in the cities of Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this column from Better Buildings, explore how the company created an Excel-based tracking tool to monitor changes in site Energy Use Intensity (EUI), ENERGY STAR Score, and compare calculated emissions scores per building to city targets to evaluate compliance.
Read More
3M Achieves 34 Superior Energy Performance 50001™ Certifications
As a science-based Fortune 500 company, 3M focuses on producing innovative products while prioritizing sustainability as a core value throughout the company. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how 3M integrated the systematic ISO-based “plan-do-check-act” framework into on-site energy management practices, resulting in reduced energy use and costs, expanded employee engagement, and improved insight into energy performance at dozens of sites.
Read More
DOE Recognized 14 Organizations for Excellence in Integrated Lighting
Through the Better Buildings Initiative’s Integrated Lighting Campaign (ILC), the U.S. Department of Energy recognizes the use of advanced lighting by building owners and managers for increased building efficiency and comfort. Read on to learn about the organizations leading the adoption of advanced lighting controls and integrated lighting.
Read More
Case Study: Daimler Truck North America Plant – Detroit®
Daimler Truck North America Plant in Detroit has achieved its third certification in the U.S. Department of Energy's Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP) program. This case study from Better Buildings explores how the plant has continued to use ISO 50001 and SEP 50001 to measure and evaluate energy use and identify additional ways to reduce it.
Read More
MGM Resorts’ 100-Megawatt Solar Array: Climate Action Through Solar Farming
MGM Resorts International made significant headway on its emissions-based goals through installing a 100-megawatt solar array and other initiatives. In this case study from Better Buildings, dive into how the company's Las Vegas portfolio has so far achieved a 41% emissions reduction since 2019.
Read More
Cross Sector Peer Exchange: Geothermal Systems
During a recent peer exchange, Better Buildings partners from the healthcare and higher education sectors discussed geothermal district heating and cooling. Topics included funding opportunities and avenues for such projects, as well as successes and barriers encountered during project planning, design, and implementation phases.
Read More
Building Operators: Grid and Occupant Training
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Council partnered with Northeastern University and Washington State University to expand its Building Operator Certification® (BOC) training. In this case study from Better Buildings, learn how the program is emphasizing grid-interactive efficient buildings and occupant-centric controls with a focus on an entry- and pre-entry-level workforce.
Read More
Overview: Renewable Energy Certificates
A new guide, “Overview: Renewable Energy Certificates” provided by the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Climate Challenge, presents REC definitions and characteristics, regional tracking systems, procurement, and accounting and reporting for the U.S. renewable energy market.
Read More
Celanese Corporation: Upgrading Enterprise-Wide Environmental and Sustainability Data Reporting Systems
Celanese Corporation sought to improve and expand its ability to report Environmental, Social, and Governance data to stakeholders by housing all sustainability data in a single IT platform. Follow this fast-paced project that was implemented over 14 months to improve the accuracy and completeness of ESG data across 35 diverse and complex manufacturing plants in 19 countries.
Read More
General Motors: Using Data Visualization to Navigate Decarbonization
General Motors (GM) has publicly committed to reducing its energy consumption, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions across its 118 U.S. sites. All sites were tasked with evaluating potential contributions to the goal, as well as mapping glide paths to the targets. This column from Better Buildings explains how GM developed a new Energy and Carbon Optimization (ECO) Metrics Dashboard to standardize the process and help energy managers and plant leadership track monthly performance for energy, water, and emissions and estimate site-specific potential savings from their existing project roadmap.
Read More
Des Moines Water Works: Using SEP 50001 Energy Management to Reduce Energy Use and CO2 Emissions
Des Moines Water Works (DMWW) became the first water utility in the nation to have all of its water treatment plants—three, in this case—certified to ISO 50001 and SEP 50001. The utility has an energy policy that commits financial and labor resources to achieving continual improvement in energy performance. Read this column from Better Buildings Solutions Center to learn how DMWW improved its energy performance by 19%.
Read More
City of Norfolk: Watts Going Down Energy Efficiency Campaign
In 2022, Norfolk City Council adopted a resolution around the commitment to reduce energy consumption by 20% as part of the Better Buildings Challenge. To increase awareness of participation, the City’s Environmental Sustainability Division created the Watts Going Down, Norfolk campaign, which has engaged 87% of City staff.
Read More
The Sherwin-Williams Company: Accelerating Energy Reduction Initiatives Through Third-Party Audits
To achieve its Scope 1 and Scope 2 sustainability goals of reducing GHG emissions by 30%, Sherwin-Williams recognized the need for external energy audits to identify new opportunities and accelerate energy and emissions savings. In this Better Buildings column, find out how third-party audits produced energy reduction opportunities for the company with a potential of 7.7 million kWh in energy savings and a GHG emissions reduction potential of 10,000 metric tons of CO2.
Read More
Better Climate Challenge: Onsite Renewable Energy and Storage Working Group Report Out
The Better Climate Challenge's Onsite Renewable Energy and Storage Working Group Report Out looks at technologies deployed, barriers hindering implementation, biggest needs, and primary motivations — and includes contributions from W.L Gore & Associates, Ford Motor Company, Colgate-Palmolive and others on lessons learned.
Read More
St. John Properties Headquarters’ Integrated Energy Efficiency Solutions
St. John Properties headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, implemented a series of energy efficiency upgrades between 2018-2021 that resulted in over 225,000 kWh of energy savings and $12,500 in cost savings annually. Take a closer look at the changes the company implemented that also ensured operational excellence and sustained efficiency.
Read More
Bullitt County Public Schools: Energy Savings Performance Contract for Necessary Building Upgrades and Efficiency Improvements
Kentucky's Bullitt County Public Schools (BCPS), in the face of rapidly rising utility rates and failing essential building equipment, signed two separate Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs), which provided the capital to implement enhanced data tracking procedures and building automation systems, install high-efficiency lighting fixtures, and upgrade HVAC and boiler equipment to reduce utility usage and save money. In this column from Better Buildings, explore BCPS's challenges, process and results.
Read More
Marriott International Implements Data Automation Tools & Artificial Intelligence for Scope 3 Emissions Reporting Enhancements
As scope 3 emissions reporting becomes of increased interest, Marriott International (Marriott) decided to improve its data management practices by implementing an AI solution. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how this solution helped the Marriott achieve a 5-10% reduction in scope 3 emissions and a decrease in the number of labor hours required.
Read More
The State of Maryland's Energy Saving Working Group Series
The State of Maryland needed a way to manage and promote energy savings initiatives across a wide portfolio. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how the state's Office of Energy & Sustainability created a working group of 20 state agencies and university campuses to share energy savings technologies and practices.
Read More
Maximizing the Benefits of Onsite Renewable Energy Generation Using Onsite Energy Storage
Facility owners seeking to reduce their operating costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and build resiliency at their facilities can benefit from installing onsite renewable energy generation and onsite energy storage systems. DOE convened more than 20 partners to identify and highlight ongoing issues and opportunities when planning and deploying these behind-the-meter systems.
Read More
