2020 & 2019 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award Winner Webinar Series

Discovering Energy Savings with Treasure Hunts

Wednesday, April 29, 2pm ET

• Watch the recording.
• Download the slide deck. (PDF, 2.6 MB)

During this webinar, Tyler Puls (Des Moines Public Schools) and Barry Abramson (Servidyne) presented on their experiences using Treasure Hunts to engage building staff in finding new ways to save energy. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of their lessons learned.  

Treasure hunts engage and focus a team on saving energy

EPA’s resident expert on Treasure Hunts, Walt Tunnessen, emphasized that Treasure Hunts aren’t just a walkthrough, they’re a strategy for engaging employees and managers to focus on energy efficiency — to find opportunities to save energy and establish an action plan to ensure the savings measures are implemented.

EPA has off-the-shelf resources

EPA has Treasure Maps (i.e., checklists) for specific building types, step-by-step-guides, detail sheets to calculate potential savings, and opportunities for recognition. Download these resources and learn more at www.energystar.gov/treasurehunt

Take it one building at a time

Tyler’s team has conducted Treasure Hunts for the past three years, and they’ve found that focusing on one building allowed them to take the time to dig deeper and find items that were missed in the past, like set points off in automation systems and malfunctioning air handlers.

Once you start hunting, you can’t stop

DMPS is working toward 100% LED facilities, and Tyler said the treasure hunt energized their building staff to find any remaining lighting that needed to be retrofit.

No finger-pointing (or walking the plank)

Both Barry and Tyler acknowledged that the emphasis on positivity and collaboration yielded a refreshing approach for everyone involved. Tyler’s teams weren’t caught up pointing fingers for potential mistakes, and Barry could build a stronger relationship with his clients.

Example 1: How East High School saved thousands on energy costs

Tyler’s team used EPA’s Treasure Map for K-12 Schools during the walkthrough of East High School. It suggested what to look for and they used it to capture notes. They found that most issues could be corrected immediately and with minimal labor. For example, they found a minifridge’s exhaust vent directly next to a thermostat. Ultimately, they identified projects with a simple payback of 2 years (with utility incentives) that will save the school district thousands of dollars.

Example 2: The mystery of the similar buildings with different energy usage

Parmenter Realty Partners has eight buildings that are situated in several office parks where all the buildings are nearly identical. Despite this, the buildings differed in their ENERGY STAR scores. To solve the mystery, Servidyne conducted a Treasure Hunt in each building. Most of the fixes involved things that were happening during unoccupied periods. Some of the key opportunities included: AHU schedule adjustments; after-hours mode for minimum chiller load; lighting control repairs; Saturday on-demand HVAC; static pressure and temperature resets; and unoccupied floor setback. By the end, Servidyne found an average of 5% savings and around $21,200 total.

In addition, now that their office tenants have largely shifted to telework, Parmenter is expanding their findings to the entire buildings. The team estimates that by applying the strategy to 28 floors, the original savings of $1,700 will be generated every two weeks.

For all the details, watch the recording.

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Strategies for Setting Effective Energy Performance Goals

Watch the webinar recording

In this webinar, Ben Myers (Boston Properties), Jessica Loeper (CommonWealth Properties), and Jim Soutter (Hudson Pacific Properties) presented on the strategies their organizations used to set effective energy performance goals. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of their lessons learned.

“When there’s a public scoreboard, people play differently”

Ben’s team at Boston Properties recognized the importance of developing the tools for measurement, management, and disclosure to collect the necessary data to set energy and sustainability goals. He added that when that data is widely available and transparent, teams will be significantly more motivated to find and implement solutions to reach those targets.

Boston Properties success drivers: things you need to do to achieve your goals

Boston Properties has unlocked savings of $31M in operating costs to date and contributes much of its success to the following methodology:

1.      Maintain detailed historical energy performance information through a tool like EPA Portfolio Manager
2.      Create strong partnerships with operations, property management, and engineering
3.      Gain buy-in from senior leadership to define the purpose and support implementation
4.      Build broad stakeholder support through talking to customers, investors, and partners
5.      Develop a clear and strong business case

Reducing carbon emissions requires an evaluation of Scope 1, 2 and 3 sources

Jessica’s analysis found that most of the carbon emissions in the CommonWealth Properties portfolio came from Scope 2 sources, indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. This indicated that the company should focus their performance targets on the efficiency of their buildings and researching utility buying options through Green Power Purchasing plans and Renewable Energy Credits.

Setting performance goals is just the beginning

Success is not achieved with the goals alone, and Jessica provided some key insights on what to do next.

1. Find a pathway to achieve your goals – consider local and national incentives, examine where emissions come from and what the company can control, and use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to target specific properties
2. Implement Programs – measure and verify real-time performance
3. Communicate Results – host events, display emissions posters, develop sustainability leasing flyers, and post elevator and lobby signage

When early corporate goals are achieved ahead of schedule, its time to get serious

Jim’s team at Hudson Pacific Properties ran into a similar predicament that many companies experienced in the last few years, that they achieved their first ESG goals considerably ahead of schedule. Instead of resting on their laurels, Hudson Pacific Properties used that as a lesson that it can go deeper. The company expanded benchmarking to 100% of the spaces, invested in RECs, strengthened internal leadership, enhanced internal management, and increased marketing and communication.

Achieving performance targets starts with board-level commitments and continues down through the organization

Hudson Pacific Properties developed the following action plan to achieve its goals:

1. Make a commitment from board-level sustainability committee, down through the organization, and corporate and tenant business practices.
2. Assess performance with complete data benchmarking and tenant engagement surveys with ESG questions
3. Set a variety of goals that show progress across key areas, including: portfolio-wide goals, net zero carbon in operations, and net zero waste in operations
4. Create and implement long-term strategies incorporated into capital improvement plans, exploring innovative technologies, energy retrofits in older properties, and sharing of best practices with engineering and property management teams throughout the company
5. Evaluate progress through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to benchmark performance, identify tools for real-time performance monitoring, and solicit tenant feedback and input
6. Recognize achievements to encourage and promote best practices through highly visible internal programs and performance bonuses.

Speakers included:

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How to Develop Playbooks and Employee Guides for Energy Efficiency

Wednesday, June 24

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Playbooks and employee guides can be an effective method to convey best practices for energy efficiency as well as listing ENERGY STAR resources that are available. Join us to hear how three ENERGY STAR Partners have successfully developed employee playbooks and guides. Allergan will share how they developed an employee guide outlining what individuals can do. Lockheed Martin has developed an Energy Playbook program that has been rolled out in 2020 as part of the corporation’s new Go Green goals as a means to identify best practices and opportunities across the enterprise while also measuring success in all matters relating to energy efficiency. The new playbook was utilized for the first time at a large facility in March 2020 with plans to review the ten highest energy use sites over the next three years. Welltower developed the “Performance Playbook: A Guide for Senior Housing Efficiency and Excellence”, a user-friendly guide containing best practices, efficiency measures, and a library of ENERGY STAR tools and resources customized for the senior care industry.

Speakers included:

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Innovative Technologies Part 2

Thursday, October 8

Watch the recording

Commercial buildings are implementing a variety of innovative technologies as part of their energy management plans. Join us to hear about the experiences from two ENERGY STAR partners. Vornado will share how they have piloted technologies such as induction unit valves. Yardi will discuss how they have achieved cost savings and maximized performance using artificial intelligence (AI) to manage sophisticated building controls.

Speakers included:

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Lighting up Energy Savings with LED Upgrades

Thursday, December 3, 1pm ET

Registration link:
https://esbuildings.webex.com/esbuildings/onstage/g.php?MTID=e367e98d899de0b944294c521f013fcbd

Replacing lighting with efficient LEDs continues to result in substantial savings for commercial buildings. Join us to hear from three ENERGY STAR partners who have installed LED lighting and realized savings. Bimbo Bakeries will discuss their journey towards installing LED lighting in 80% of their bakeries, with LED lighting installations planned for the remainder of the bakeries by 2020. The savings from lighting alone account for at least 15% of their electrical consumption. Food Lion will share how they completed a rollout of LED sales floor lighting by upgrading 163 stores. The savings from the 2019 installs is over 40.6 billion BTUs. Ozinga Bros, Inc will discuss the lighting retrofits of five maintenance shops with LEDs. The combined projects will save $5,500 per year, and they were able to receive nearly $4,000 in utility rebates. In addition to better energy efficiency, the new lights make their shops brighter and safer.

Speakers included:

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Celebrate Earth Day with Energy Efficiency Education

Watch the recording from our April 4, 2019 webinar here

Are you looking for ways to educate your building or facility occupants about saving energy? Are you trying to get the word out about your building’s energy efficiency improvements? Join us to hear from two ENERGY STAR partners with successful energy education strategies.

Speakers included:

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POY Award Winners: K-12 Success Stories

Watch the recording from our May 22, 2019 webinar here

K-12 schools across the country are reducing their energy bills, cutting energy consumption, and helping protect the environment. From student engagement to energy audits, a wide range of savings opportunities exist. Listen to this webinar recording to hear first-hand success stories from 2019 ENERGY STAR Partner of Year - Energy Management awardees.

Speakers included:

Greenville County Schools representatives will provide an overview and accomplishments of key projects and initiatives, such as communication improvement, controls system optimization, and lighting and HVAC upgrades.

Pinellas County Schools will share how they reduced utility spending, increased classroom comfort, and optimized systems and reduced maintenance by partnering with Cenergistic in sustainability.

Bullitt County Public Schools

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Innovation in Energy Management

Watch the recording from our June 25, 2019 webinar here.

Commercial buildings are finding creative ways to reduce energy use by encouraging tenants to modify behaviors that impact energy use, installing efficient equipment, and testing out cutting-edge technology. Join us to hear how two ENERGY STAR Partners have saved energy through innovative approaches.

Speakers:

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How to Leverage Brokers to Promote Energy Efficiency

Watch the recording from our July 18, 2019 webinar here.

Training brokers to promote the energy performance and sustainability achievements of your buildings is key to attracting clients and executing green leases. Three ENERGY STAR Commercial Real Estate Partners will share how they provide energy efficiency training for brokers and recognize their accomplishments.

Speakers:

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Discovering Energy Savings with Treasure Hunts

Watch the recording from our September 12, 2019 webinar here.

During an Energy Treasure Hunt, groups of people walk around a building looking for opportunities to save energy. Treasure Hunts focus on quick fixes with a short payback period. Hundreds of organizations have used Energy Treasure Hunts to reduce their facilities’ energy use by 7 to 15 percent.

During this webinar, you’ll hear from two ENERGY STAR partners that have used Treasure Hunts as a way to improve day-to-day operations and engage building operators and employees in “discovering” treasure in their facilities. In addition, we’ll provide an overview of new resources available from EPA to help your organization plan and host a successful Treasure Hunt in time for Energy Awareness Month this October.

Speakers:

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Success Stories on Holding ENERGY STAR Competitions

Watch the recording from our October 17, 2019 webinar here.

Are you looking for a fun way to engage your building occupants? Join us to hear from two ENERGY STAR partners that have successfully run internal energy efficiency competitions.

We’ll also review off-the-shelf, co-brandable tools and resources that EPA has created to help you “Build Your Own Battle.”

Speakers:

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Recognizing Employee Participation in Energy Management Efforts

No recording available.

Employee engagement is often essential for achieving energy improvements in buildings. Join us to learn from three ENERGY STAR partners how they encouraged employees to pursue energy efficiency and recognized their participation and accomplishments.

Speakers:

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Engaging Commercial Tenants in Energy Efficiency

Watch the recording from our December 5, 2019 webinar here. 

The people who work in your office building, retail store, warehouse, or other commercial building can make or break your efficiency strategy – after all, they often consume most of the energy. Learn how two ENERGY STAR partners engage tenants and occupants to save energy. We’ll also give an update on the status of the forthcoming ENERGY STAR Tenant Space recognition program.

Speakers:

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