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GreenStep City Best Practices Buildings and Lighting

Efficient Existing Public Buildings
no. 1

Benchmark energy usage, identify savings opportunities, and work with utilities and others to implement cost-effective energy and sustainability improvements.

  Best Practice Actions    [See action tools, guidance, city reports]

  1. Enter baseline information into the Minnesota B3 Benchmarking database and routinely enter monthly energy use data from all city-owned buildings.
  2. Make no/low cost facility operations & maintenance changes to city-owned/school buildings to reduce energy costs.
  3. Invest in energy efficiency opportunities through recommissioning/retrofitting city-owned/school buildings or by using the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program.
  4. Implement information technology efforts and city employee engagement to reduce plug loads and building energy use.
  5. Document that the new construction or major remodeling of public buildings has met or qualifies for a green building framework.
  6. Document that the operations & maintenance of city-owned/school buildings meet or qualify for a green building framework.
  7. Install in at least one city-owned/school building at least one of the following energy efficiency measures:
    a.  A ground-source, closed loop geothermal system.
    b.  A distributed fossil fuel energy technology for full-time energy generation: micro-turbine, fuel cell, reciprocating engine.
benefits  
  • Operations and maintenance experts claim a minimum 5-10% efficiency improvement is achievable in virtually any building by implementing certain low- and no-cost measures. According to Honeywell, Inc., without monitoring and maintenance, the efficiency performance of building systems and equipment can degrade by as much as 5% every year. And the EPA estimates that if the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings improved by just 10%, Americans would save about $20 billion annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to the emissions from almost 30 million vehicles.
  • Investments in buildings can produce immediate economic impact, as most of the money is spent on labor costs for workers who tend to spend this money locally and increase its multiplier effect: $1 million spent on retrofits creates between 8 and 11 jobs and generates about $300,000 in taxes, according to estimates.
  • The State’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Program is particularly well-suited to assist cities bundle low-cost, short-term payback improvements (lighting, highly efficient motors, building envelope improvements) with longer-term payback improvements (LED lighting, HVAC systems, steam/chiller conversions, co-generation systems, wastewater treatment facilities, ice arenas, renewable energy systems) to achieve deep energy retrofits where the aggregated payback does not exceed 15 years. The improvements – which require no capital contribution from a city - are paid for over the term of the financing arrangement using a combination of utility savings, operational and maintenance savings, and/or capital cost avoidance savings.
  • According to Energy Efficiency: Engine of Economic Growth (Environment Northeast: 2009), all the money that government agencies, utility companies, and others are spending on efficiency programs not only saves energy, it pumps cash back into the economy - from $6 to $8.50 for every $1 spent.
 
REQUIRED for Category A and B cities
Category A and B cities must implement this best practice by completing at least actions 1 and 2.

Category A cities must also complete at least one additional action from actions 3 through 7.

Category C cities that choose to implement this best practice must complete at least one action.
summary
In city buildings the owner is also going to be the tenant for most of the building's life; all cost savings from short and long-term efficiency investments will accrue to the city and its taxpayers. In such a circumstance, energy and water efficiency opportunities are almost always justified on a purely economic basis, even without considering the benefits from reducing greenhouse gases, lowering exposure to fuel price volatility, or meeting sustainability goals. Most existing public buildings were not designed to use energy and water efficiently, and even those that are designed well are infrequently managed to capture efficiency opportunities. Energy efficiency and other sustainability opportunities abound in existing buildings. Many of the opportunities not only reduce operating costs, but improve occupant quality of life, create higher resale value, and improve worker productivity.
greenstep advisor
Laura Millberg, green building specialist, MN Pollution Control Agency, for B3 & green building improvements: 651/757-2568, Laura.Millberg@state.mn.us, http://www.pca.state.mn.us/yhiz6ef

Peter Berger, Guaranteed Energy Savings Program Manager, MN Dep. of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources, for assessment and financing of energy improvements: 651/296-2459, peter.berger@state.mn.us, http://tinyurl.com/azktby2

connection to state Policy

  • All public buildings over 5,000 sq. ft. and fueled by two or more sources of energy are required by the State of Minnesota to enter energy consumption data into the B3 database. The database allows public entities to compare sq. ft. energy use among all buildings in a locale, and among the same type of building across Minnesota. This makes possible targeted energy improvements to lower-performing buildings.
  • In 2011 the State Commissioner of Commerce created under Executive Order the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program (GESP) to provide technical and financial resources to state agencies, local units of government, and school districts. Cities can access GESP through a voluntary Joint Powers Agreement with the Minnesota Department of Commerce.
  • Energy utilities are required to demonstrate annual efficiency or conservation reductions under the 2007 Legislature's Next Generation Energy Act.