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Challenge members to achieve a goal

Benchmarking and goal-setting go hand-in-hand. No matter what type of building they’ve entered into the tool, once your members benchmark in Portfolio Manager, they’ll have access to metrics and reports that will help them understand their current energy use and identify the best buildings to target for efficiency efforts.

This can help them set an aggressive but achievable goal for savings and act as a baseline to measure future improvements.

Benchmark performance within a portfolio, over time, or against the national median

There are multiple ways everyone can benchmark performance, such as comparing similar buildings within a portfolio, tracking energy use over time, or comparing energy use against national medians.

1 – 100 ENERGY STAR score

Certain property types can also receive a 1 – 100 ENERGY STAR score, which provides a comprehensive snapshot of a building’s energy performance compared to similar buildings nationwide. It also normalizes for weather, building characteristics, and business activity, giving you the most realistic picture of a building’s relative energy performance available.

A score of 50 is the median. So if your building scores below 50, it means it’s performing worse than 50 percent of similar buildings nationwide, while a score above 50 means it’s performing better than 50 percent of its peers. And a score of 75 or higher means it’s a top performer and may be eligible for ENERGY STAR certification.

Issue a challenge and recognize those that achieve the goal.

These benchmarks will give your members insight into their starting point. Now you can help them decide where to go next. Consider challenging your members to meet an energy-savings goal and recognizing those that achieve it.

There are several different metrics you could use to establish goals. For example:

  • Percent reduction: Reduce the energy used in their buildings by 10 percent or more by a given date
  • ENERGY STAR score: Achieve a portfolio-wide ENERGY STAR score or point improvement
  • ENERGY STAR certification: Earn ENERGY STAR certification for a minimum number of buildings
  • Best practices: Outline a specific set of actions for members to take

By setting a goal and challenging your members to meet or exceed it, you motivate them to set themselves apart from others in their industry.

Plus, setting an energy-savings goal for your members can give you a single, organizing framework to drive the rest of your efforts and messaging.

Save in your county buildings

Learn how the National Association of Counties is using benchmarking results from Portfolio Manager to unlock energy efficiency opportunities in county buildings nationwide: Energy-Efficient County Buildings

Who else is challenging their members?

ENERGY STAR partner associations across the country have challenged their membership to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings.

  • The ABA-EPA Law Office Climate Challenge, issued by the American Bar Association (ABA), encourages law offices to take simple, practical steps to become better environmental and energy stewards.
  • The Energy Efficiency Commitment (E2C) initiative, hosted by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering of the American Hospital Association, promotes the benefits of energy efficiency improvements in healthcare facilities and recognizes participants that have achieved milestones.
  • The 7-Point Challenge, issued by BOMA International, was accepted by more than 130 member companies and BOMA local associations, who reduced their adjusted energy use by about 7.5% from baseline.