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July 2017 — Property Management Quarterly — Page 13
sf, while Energy Star-certified build-
ings sold for $337 per sf. These are
not whimsical expenditures, but
investments by firms that understand
demand for this premium office stock.
Additionally, this information is
being used for mandatory bench-
marking. With the same idea as pro-
viding consumers with a nutrition
label, cities (and now entire states)
are adopting mandatory energy
disclosure. Cities/states that have
implemented the mandatory energy
disclosure have seen savings of 2 to
3 percent each year, according to the
Energize Denver website, again giv-
ing credence to what we measure,
we manage.
Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager
tool is easy to understand and pro-
vides building occupants with infor-
mation that many have never had.
Subsequently, while larger, Class A
buildings often have used Energy
Star to understand performance,
smaller buildings and many Class B
buildings have never benchmarked.
These buildings are “flying blind”
when it comes to performance. Once
the owners and managers see the
energy performance scores of these
buildings, perhaps decisions will be
made to address energy efficiency,
which can enhance profitability, save
utility costs, reduce emissions and
reduce demand on our power plants.
Next, Energy Star is a mandatory
component of LEED certification.
Any building applying for LEED v4
has to have an energy performance
score of 75 or higher, a prerequisite
to becoming LEED certified. Without
Portfolio Manager, how are buildings
going to apply for LEED?
There also are several easy-to-use
features available for free in the
program. Buildings can benchmark
against past performance – again,
because the tool factors occupancy
into the score instead of just look-
ing at usage, a building management
team can analyze how they achieved
a score of 84 in the past when they
are now at a 78, or tout the fact that
they had a score of 65 when they
took over management eight years
ago and now have improved perfor-
mance to 86 (among the top 14 per-
cent of similar building types in the
country).
Portfolio Manager also provides car-
bon emissions information. For own-
ers looking at calculating the carbon
footprint of their portfolio, this is a
free tool that can be used to gather
that information.
Finally, occupants in buildings are
using more and more energy as they
provide staff with multiple monitors,
set up more digital displays or TVs
in conference and break rooms, and
install multiple kitchens and break
areas in their suites.Without a dif-
ferent aspect of Energy Star, which
rates computers, monitors, printers,
dishwashers, refrigerators, etc., ten-
ants cannot make informed decisions
about their purchases, which have a
significant impact on the building plug
load/energy use.
But what about that other impor-
tant resource – water? Locally, there
is a metrowide recognition program
calledWatts toWater.Watts toWater
provides awards and PR opportunities
for building management teams who
are operating buildings efficiently and
those who are achieving significant
improvements. Because the Portfolio
Manager tool figures occupancy, oper-
ating hours and weather normaliza-
tion into the score, it’s the best avail-
able way to compare performance of
similar building types. It’s also a tool
that can be used to easily share this
data for analysis.
For now, these cuts are only pro-
posed. Until then, all eyes will be on
Washington, D.C.s
Sustainability
Ampajen Solutions
Portfolio Manager provides carbon emissions information, which can help owners calculate the carbon footprint of their portfolio.
Ampajen Solutions
A list of certified products can help tenants make informed decisions about their purchases,
which have a significant impact on a building's plug load and energy use.