Green Building Blog

If you haven’t heard about it yet, PACE, or Property Assessed Clean Energy - is the unique financial tool that allows building owners to fully finance energy conservation measures with no money down. Because PACE projects must be “cash-flow positive,” this long-term loan is generally paid back out of the savings realized from the upgrades!

There’s a new phrase gaining popularity in the energy efficiency and cost saving arena. It’s really a new name for something we’ve been advocating for all along.

Connectivity. The Internet of Things (IoT). Controlling Costs.

Maybe these are not such new ideas in building operations and maintenance, but every year they improve and it was all on display in San Antonio at BOMA 2018. It was a hot time in Texas! Touring the exhibit floor, I made a point to learn what’s new in these areas.

And What You Can Do About It in 2017

The good news is that EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager is getting a much needed data update.

The bad news is that it may cause some Energy Star scores to go down.

How Portfolio Manager Works

As you probably know, Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) is a well-known and widely used program for comparing energy use among existing buildings. Building owners and managers use ESPM to see how well their building performs with regards to energy use. The ESPM rates the building on a 1-100 scale against buildings of similar size and use. It also takes into consideration climatization so that buildings in different climate zones can be compared with each other. 

Energy Star requires a score of 75 or better to earn Certification. For details, click here. If your score is below 75, or you would like to see a higher score – and lower utility bills – consider implementing some low-cost or no-cost Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) with relatively fast paybacks. Other ECMs might be more expensive with long paybacks. In that case you may want to consider alternative financing, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE (Click to learn how PACE can help you.)

Just have an energy audit done? Congratulations! It’s a great step toward saving money in both the short and long term, and toward creating a more environmentally-friendly building. But the audit is just the first step, not an end in itself. Don’t let it just sit on the corner of your desk, gathering dust! Whether it’s for business or home, here are some common-sense reminders of steps you can take to implement the audit.