1. Building Energy Benchmarking Lisa Timmerman Portland Bureau of Planning & Sustainability
Introduction

2. …know how much energy your facilities use each year
(or you could easily look it up if you needed to).
…track or benchmark your facilities’ energy use by using software or online tools (or even just Excel spreadsheets!)
…have a plan in place to manage your facilities’ energy use.
…regularly review your energy management plan and/or are implementing the plan.
Post-lunch interactive exercise! Everyone stand-up!
Remain standing if…
…you know how much energy your facilities are using on an annual basis, or you could easily look it up if you needed to.
…you benchmark your facilities’ energy use by using some sort of software or online tool.
…you have a plan in place to do manage your facilities’ energy use.
If you don't know the answer to theses questions, you may be one step behind - but you're certainly not alone. Many building owners and operators lack basic information about how their properties perform compared to peers or best practices.
Energy benchmarking is an important foundational step to help you make decisions about controlling energy use and costs.
…have saved energy and/or $$$ as a result of any of these activities.

3. Is your building a Geo Metro or Hummer?

4. There are many online and software tools that can help you track your facilities’ energy use.
It’s easy and it can be free! One of the most widely used tools is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.
It’s already used by 40 percent of the nation’s commercial building space, more than half of the Fortune 100® and half of the largest U.S. healthcare organizations,
major league sports teams, colleges and universities, and entire cities.

5. WHY Else?
To see how a certain building compares to a portfolio or peer group.
To make the business case for efficiency investments.
To track current projects expected to save energy, money, etc.
To set targets for improved performance.
To earn a rating (ENERGY STAR®) or gain recognition.
Tracking energy usage can be useful for all of the reasons I mentioned during our stand-up activity, but benchmarking a building can also yield a number of other benefits:
To assess a building's performance before you buy/lease it.
To facilitate assessment of property value and marketing rental properties.
To present building performance to a potential buyer or lender.

6. That covers why you might care about benchmarking energy use, but why the heck does the City of Portland care?
We care, because we know that commercial buildings account for 25% of total carbon emissions in the City of Portland.

7. Local carbon emissions come from powering our homes, businesses and vehicles.
We started tracking carbon emissions in 1990, and we’re proud to report that we’ve actually reduced carbon emissions by about 14% since then. We’ve seen some progress in the industrial and residential sectors, commercial buildings have been stuck at about the same level since 1990.
Stricter state building codes are certainly helping in new construction, but we don’t achieve substantial carbon reductions in the buildings stock without addressing our existing buildings.

8. ROADMAP TO CUT CARBON 80% BY 2050
Buildings and energy
Urban form and transportation
Consumption and waste
Food
Natural systems
Climate change preparation
Engagement and outreach
Government operations
Because of all that, buildings and their associated energy use are key part of our City’s Climate Action plan which aims to cut the City’s carbon emissions 80% by We use this plan as a framework for continuing to drive reductions.

9. In 2015, the City of Portland passed an ordinance that requires commercial buildings 20,000 square feet and larger to track and report their energy usage to the City of Portland each year, using the online tool Portfolio Manager.
These buildings report their energy performance by providing key metrics to the City. This includes: 1) Energy Use Intensity, which is essentially the amount of energy used per square foot. 2) Depending on the type of building, an Energy Star score also offers provides comparison to other similar buildings and is adjusted for weather and operational characteristics. 3) The third major metric is carbon emissions, and this is a key metric for the City to track as part of our Climate Action Plan.

10. One of the key elements driving the policy was to create greater market transparency. This means that we are making information about the energy efficiency of each building easily accessible for tenants or prospective purchasers.
It also means that we have local data that you can use to gauge how well your building is performing according to its peers. I’m going to give you a quick overview of the different ways you can access and use this information.

11. Commercial Building Energy Performance Annual Results
Individual building energy performance metrics reported to the City are published on our website in a sortable Excel spreadsheet on our program website.
If you have facilities in other cities, like Seattle, many of those cities also have this information available as well.

12.
Individual building energy performance metrics reported to the City are available in a searchable online interactive map interface.

13. Site EUI = Energy Use per Square Foot
2017 reported data
Lowest performing buildings use up to 5.5x more energy compared to the median.
Each year, we analyze the energy performance data that is reported to us. The graphic shown displays Energy Use Intensity, or energy use per square foot, for each building reported to the City in If you know your own buildings’ EUI, you can use this chart to see where you stand compared to other buildings of a similar type.
Also, noteworthy is that the poorest performing buildings use up to 5.5 times as much energy annually compared to the median within their category.

14. Buildings with greatest opportunities!
ENERGY STAR® Scores
2017 reported data
Buildings with greatest opportunities!

15. City of Portland Buildings
Strategic Energy Management
City-wide Energy Management Plan
Benchmark ALL Buildings
Building Retrofits
This is where I tell you that we’re not only the president, but also a member.
Amongst the building data that I’ve shown you on previous slides, many of our City-owned buildings are included as well. We currently benchmark all of our buildings which are 20,000 square feet and larger. We are this very month launching an effort to benchmark the energy usage of ALL of our buildings.
We are going to use that information as the basis of a city-wide energy management plan for our buildings, which will help us prioritize our limited resources where we can save the most energy and costs over the long-term. This information will also help us more easily take follow-up steps such as using diagnostics tools that can more clearly help us understand whether we are facing O&M issues that need to be addressed and how to invest in building retrofits.
That is why I’m pleased to be joined by my colleagues today – Wendy Gibson who is going to delve further into the importance of Energy Management Plans. And, Paul Wallman who is going to get even further into the trenches and explain how he’s used benchmarking and energy management strategies at the World Trade Center facilities.

16. City of Portland Energy Reporting Help Desk
City of Portland Energy Reporting Help Desk

17. Energy Benchmarking & Beyond
What’s your game plan
Energy Benchmarking & Beyond
April 17, 2019

18. Putting together your game plan
Baseline
Organizational Assessment
Building Assessment
Benchmarking

19. Assessing your Building
Opportunities
Capital
Behavioral
Operations
Maintenance
Will add Year 2.

20. Assessing your organization
Opportunities
Management Commitment
Procurement
Budgeting
Policies
Measuring, Tracking, Reporting
Engagement

21. Assessing your Organization
Energy Management Assessment

22. Know what success looks like
Percent reduction over a period of time.
Decrease in EUI
Increase in Energy Star Score

23. Individual Responsible
One step at a time
Action
Individual Responsible
Due Date
Status

24. The Case for Energy Management
Internal External Social
Cost
Sustainability
Profits
Employee Comfort
Supports other program efforts
Cost
Sustainability
Public Relations
Stewardship of funds
Sustainability
Public Health
Being a part of something bigger than yourself

25. The Case for Energy Management
Savings
Safety
Environmental
Quality
Creating an energy management program has additional benefits
Maintenance

26. PGE Energy Management Plan Training
May 9, 2019 
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 
Wilsonville, OR
Portlandgeneral.com

27. Thank you Closing slide
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