BOMA Convention Update: “Connect”-ing Utilities and CRE

Eric Duchon, BOMA/NY

New York, NY Eric Duchon, chair of the Building Owner & Managers Association of New York’s  (BOMA/NY) energy & sustainability committee, served as a key panelist at the BOMA International Convention held in Washington, D.C. in late June, as one of the experts discussing the details of how the BOMA High Performance (HP) “Connect” program works and the results it is now achieving. 

The seminar, entitled “Connecting Commercial Real Estate and Utilities: Achieving Energy Savings in Commercial Buildings,” covered “Connect,” which was created and launched in 2013 to overcome the hurdles with traditional energy efficiency program and market engagement practices that are often implemented without the analysis of key data for owners and tenants. Its goal is to help drive great uptake of efficiency improvements by combining building and energy data to develop the best business case for such improvements. The program provides targeted support, the portfolio approach also facilitates collaboration among decision-makers, and project recommendations are tied to such key milestones as capital budget deadlines and tenant space fit-outs.

Highlights of the seminar included:

• Discovering how to address and overcome the split-incentive barrier.

• Establishing the best way to improve energy conservation measure adoption rates in commercial buildings.

• Learning how to work with utilities to optimize building efficiency across a portfolio.

• Determining how to create a durable pipeline of future energy projects.