Washington, D.C. — According to a new survey published by FMLink,
the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International, the U.S.
Green Building Council (USGBC), and the Association for Facility Engineers
(AFE), more and more facility managers are implementing re-commissioning and
energy audits to measure and improve their building’s energy performance. The
survey, which was sent to more than 30,000 individuals, also found that most
energy savings successes were the result of aggressive low-cost operational
strategies rather major capital projects. However, such capital projects are one
of the big items scheduled for action in the coming year.
"With the ever-growing need to reduce our collective carbon
footprint and deal with the skyrocketing costs of energy, it is critical that we
better understand not only what our building owners and facility managers are
doing about this, but also to see which actions have made the greatest impact,"
said Peter Kimmel, an architect and IFMA Fellow, as well as the Publisher of
FMLink. "I was very delighted to see that so many respondents are already doing
so much to conserve energy wherever possible--there certainly are many more
building professionals doing more than ever before.”
Other key findings
include:
- Survey responses indicate
that more than three quarters of the buildings greater than 50,000 sq. ft. had
Building Automation Systems (BAS). 87
percent of those with more than 600,000 square feet had BAS. Most of the respondents who
experienced a greater-than-5
percent energy savings over the past two years had implemented a
BAS.
- Respondents who underwent
building recommissioning two or more times a year had significantly more energy
savings over the past two years than those who had
not.
- Forty-one
percent of building operating plans included a
professionally-developed energy-strategies staff education program. Just less then 12
percent of respondents said they plan to implement such a plan in the
next 12 months.
- Fifty-nine percent of respondents have
occupancy sensors in their general office
space.
- Nine
percent of the buildings had some form
of green certification (mostly ENERGY STAR or LEED). However, a majority said they plan to obtain
some aspect of green certification in the
future.
- Seventy-three percent of all buildings
greater than 50,000 square feet have had
an energy audit. Conversely, 63 percent of
those under 25,000 square feet did not
have an audit. Eight-six percent of the
audits were done in the past five years, 64
percent in the past three years; and 30
percent were completed in the past
year.
- For respondents that had an
energy audit, the most common recommendations to come from the audit were
lighting upgrades (with more than 45
percent for respondents with buildings greater than 50,000 square feet), and HVAC upgrade/replacement
(chiller, air handling unit, boiler, pumps, outside air), which were mentioned
by 34 percent of respondents. For those
with buildings smaller than 50,000 square feet,
weather stripping and insulation recommendations were frequently
mentioned.
- Overall, the respondents
averaged energy savings of 5 to 10 percent during
the past two years. Fifty-seven
percent of those respondents measured their savings through the money
expended on utilities, energy consumed or their ENERGY STAR
score.
- Sixty-six percent of respondents indicated
that they do not have a green lease; however, 55
percent of respondents do provide their tenants with an operations manual
that includes good energy management practices.
- Most respondents showed an
excellent understanding of nearly all energy-related concepts, with a few
exceptions that often fall in the bailiwick of professional engineers. It also
became clear that many building professionals would benefit from general
assistance in determining if their buildings are indeed “green” or what they
have to do to make them green. The largest differences in reported energy
savings came from those who have had an energy audit over the past three years,
those who re-commission at least twice a year, those who have implemented ENERGY
STAR rules of procurement, those with variable-frequency drives (VFDs), and
those with lighting sensors.
- When asked what they plan to
upgrade, install or replace over the next year, respondents said
- Minor repairs or corrective
maintenance (37
percent)
- HVAC equipment (30 percent)
- Ongoing recommissioning
(21
percent)
“From offering the latest industry
education to implementing energy audits to applying effective low-cost
operational strategies – property professionals are doing what it takes to save
energy and reduce costs,” said BOMA International Chair and Chief Elected
Officer Richard D. Purtell, RPA, portfolio manager, Grubb & Ellis Management
Services, Inc. “We were pleased to be a part of this important survey and look
forward to continuing to help our members and the commercial real estate
industry at large improve energy performance.”
The survey was co-sponsored by McQuay
International, Performance Roof Systems and Philips Lighting—three companies
that are committed to reducing carbon emissions.
The survey research was planned,
coordinated and analyzed by Peter Kimmel, AIA, IFMA Fellow, the Publisher of
FMLink and a former facility manager.
For more information,
visit
www.fmlink.com,
www.boma.org and
www.usgbc.org.
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