Energy Management Articles
Blog posts tagged with "better buildings"
2021 Better Buildings Progress Report
The 2021 Better Buildings Progress Report outlines the progress and collaboration of Better Buildings partners, which represent more than 30 of the country’s Fortune 100 companies, 12 of the top 25 U.S. employers, 12% of the U.S. manufacturing energy footprint, and 13% of total commercial building space, as well as 17 federal agencies, eight national laboratories, and more than 80 states and local governments.
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.
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.
Resilience Isn't a Project - It's a Mindset for Better Plants Partners
2020 has been the year of “the pivot” – of looking critically at every part of operations and thinking creatively about new approaches to doing business. In this column from the Better Plants program, learn what General Motors and L'Oreal USA did to adapt to the events of 2020.
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.
IHG'S Green Engage Program
InterContinental Hotels Group, a member of the US Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, created the IHG Green Engage system, a comprehensive online sustainability management system that allows hotels to track, measure, and report on their carbon footprint and utility consumption.
2020 Better Buildings Progress Report
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $11 billion in energy-cost savings by more than 950 public and private sector organizations in DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative. The 2020 Better Buildings Progress Report details partners’ progress in advancing energy productivity and highlights the 20 organizations that achieved their energy efficiency goals in the past year.
Hannaford Supermarkets' Brandon, Vermont Showcase Project
Hannaford Supermarkets, operators of more than 180 stores throughout Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, participated in Efficiency Vermont's Deep Retrofit pilot program with the goal of cutting their energy consumption in half. This column from Better Buildings shows how it was done.
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).
Saint-Gobain: Advanced energy monitoring with wireless submetering
Saint-Gobain North America’s current goal in energy monitoring is to gain more granular data on energy usage within its manufacturing sites to accelerate the achievement of its sustainability goals. This column from Better Buildings details the success found by using some less obvious opportunities.
Better Plants Progress Update, Fall 2019
The Department of Energy's Better Building, Better Plants partners have cumulatively saved $6.7 billion in energy costs and more than 1.3 quadrillion BTUs. Among the highlights of the 2019 Better Plants Annual Progress Update: seven partners have achieved their energy intensity reduction goals.
Outdoor Lighting Decision Tree Tool
High-performance outdoor lighting technologies are proving to be a cost-effective energy savings measure. Better Buildings presents the Outdoor Lighting Decision Tree tool to share successful approaches taken by cities, states, and regional groups.
2019 Better Buildings Progress Report
The 2019 Progress Report from Better Building highlights the accomplishments of the 900+ partners working with the Better Buildings Initiative to share and replicate positive gains in energy efficiency while also creating jobs and increasing market competitiveness in the commercial, industrial, government, and residential sectors.
Infographic: The Energy-Resilient City
Better Buildings' Efficiency-Resilience Nexus discusses resources for organizations across different sectors of a city - from offices and apartments to manufacturing facilities and stores - to build resilience and increase their ability to bounce ba
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.
REI's net zero distribution center
This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Better Buildings Alliance partner REI for the energy productivity advances made in its Arizona distribution center located in Goodyear, Arizona. The center has achieved an annual energy savings of 18% and annual cost savings of $170,000 from the baseline in the first two years of operation. The goal is to have the facility be net-zero energy. How was this accomplished?
Benchmarking and Transparency: Resources for State and Local Leaders
Buildings account for about 40% of the energy consumed in the U.S. and therefore offer a great opportunity for energy and cost savings. This resource guide from Better Buildings shows how benchmarking and transparency can provide the foundation for improved energy performance.
Engaging Franchisees in Energy Management & Benchmarking
Wendy's Smart Family of Designs 2.0 promotes energy efficiency while targeting significant savings in development costs. This column from Better Buildings shares efforts made by the energy team at Wendy's to provide coaching on understanding potential costs and potential return on investments from energy upgrades.
City of Boston's improved energy management process
With nearly 4,000 utility accounts across more than a dozen different municipal departments as well as a need to leverage more granular data, the City of Boston needed a plan to improve their energy management processes. This column from Better Buildings reviews Boston's programmatic overhaul to how energy data was collected, analyzed, and reported, leading to the creation of real-time energy meter dashboards and recovering over $1.2 million in identified utility billing errors.
Better Plants Program Partners save $5.3B in energy costs
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings, Better Plants program partners have posted savings of more than $5.3 billion in cumulative energy costs, which represents approximately 12% of the U.S manufacturing energy footprint.
General Motors and L'Oréal USA SWAP for energy efficiency
General Motors and L'Oréal USA are the stars of the fourth installment of the online video series, “Better Buildings Challenge SWAP,” as the companies exchange energy management teams to gain new insights, save money and improve the energy performance
Health club chain overhauls RTU portfolio
Health club company Life Time, which holds more than 127 locations across 27 states, recently completed an overhaul of its rooftop air handling units resulting in nearly 25% energy savings over the past four years.
Case study: The Arby's app for aging RTU management
This case study outlines Arby's innovative answer to a challenging question: When you have a portfolio of more 900 quick-service restaurants across the country, how do you keep track of, manage and maintain all of your HVAC equipment?
Using EMIS to identify top opportunities for efficiency
This guide from the U.S. DOE presents an overview of the top energy-savings opportunities in commercial buildings and shows how these opportunities can be identified using the type of interval meter analytics offered in energy information system technologies or using the automated analytics offered in fault detection and diagnostics systems.
Las Vegas Sands marks 17% energy use reduction
Following the implementation of a series of energy efficiency upgrades through its properties, Las Vegas Sands Corp. has reduced its energy consumption by 17% in a five-year period.
Case study: 3M's road to ISO 50001, SEP certification
This case study outlines the enterprisewide approach taken by The 3M Company, a multinational manufacturer, to certify multiple sites to the Better Buildings Initiative's "Superior Energy Performance" program, which includes a certified ISO 50001 energy management system.
Nashville hotel recognized by DOE for energy efficiency
Loews Vanderbilt Hotel was recognized by the U.S. DOE on June 27 for energy efficiency upgrades that helped to lower its energy consumption by 22% in the past two years.
DOE Better Buildings 2017 progress report: Successful strategies driving innovation and results
This report, released May 16 at the U.S. Department of Energy's Better Buildings Summit in Washington, D.C., details the efforts of leading organizations to reduce energy and water waste and modernize the nation's buildings and industrial facilities.
Case study: CKE Restaurants' defrost controller pilot
This case study from the U.S. Department of Energy explores CKE Restaurants' field test of an advanced demand defrost control system for walk-in coolers and freezers in their Carl's Jr. restaurants.
Green bonds: A primer for energy project financing
This report highlights the benefits and downsides of green bonds, a type of debt used to fund projects yielding environmental benefits, and offers an overview of recent issuances from U.S. corporations.
