Make no/low cost indoor lighting and operational changes in city-owned/school buildings to reduce energy costs.
Best Practice of this action
Keywords
schools
Rating Guideline
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Implement changes in one poorer-performing building and summarize the actions taken: switch to LED lights; updating temperature, ventilation and lighting schedules and setbacks; occupancy sensors on lights/automated light dimmers; installing building-wide computer and office equipment power management software; assigning responsibility for turning off manual lights and other shared equipment; assuring that routine HVAC maintenance schedules are thorough and implemented at appropriate intervals; revising janitorial schedules to day-time hours; adjusting janitorial responsibilities to include regular cleaning of sensors, lamps and HVAC vents; installing lower-flow faucet aerators, dish sprayers, and showerheads to reduce hot water use. |
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Complete 1 Star criterion for two buildings. Post the Print Screen of the Baseline tab for one of the buildings with the Energy gauge showing at least a 5% decrease in energy use compared to the baseline period [12 months immediately prior to implementing changes]. Continue fine-tuning operations and maintenance procedures and monitoring energy usage to identify opportunities for additional savings. |
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Complete 1 and 2 Star criteria for two buildings. Use B3 to report at least a 10% decrease in energy use compared to the baseline period. |
Resources
- For no/low cost maintenance and operational changes, see Energy Star's Energy Treasure Hunt, a 31-page guidebook on how to organize and execute a 2-3 day event that engages employees in identifying low-cost energy savings opportunities from behavioral, operational, and maintenance actions. To optimize costs/benefits, the quick payback of lighting retrofits is often best paired with additional/longer payback equipment changes (action 1.3) to increase the ultimate savings to a city by facilitating funding of 95%, as opposed to 75%, of all potential energy conservation measures.
- See the ENERGY STAR Building Upgrade Manual for additional no/low-cost ideas.
- Use the International Dark-Sky Association Light Pollution Solutions and purchase lights with the IDA’s Fixture Seal of Approval.
- WaterSense at Work: Best Management Practices for Commercial and Institutional Facilities is a compilation of water-saving tips, techniques, and fixture recommendations for commercial and institutional sectors, including hospitality, food service, healthcare, laboratory, office buildings, and educational facilities, which collectively use 17% of the water provided by the nation's public water supplies.
- See action 1.3 for tracking and reporting energy use reduction in the B3 database. Poorer-performing buildings in B3 show 2½ or fewer stars in the Benchmark tab and the Actual/Benchmark Ratio is greater than 1.0
- For actions and resources related to water and wastewater facilities, see GreenStep best practice #20 (Efficient Water and Wastewater Facilities)
Order Number
2