Building owners: What is your EUI?

As a building owner, how would you evaluate your building? If you were a real estate investor, how does an annual operating cost of a speculative building weigh in your decision to invest and add to your portfolio? If you have never evaluated your building's "operating efficiency" or compared potential building operating and maintenance cost to an existing high efficiency building, Energy Use Intensity (EUI) may not be in your vocabulary. The energy use intensity (EUI) generated for a building reflects a metric of the distribution of energy performance in a building or can be scaled to a set of buildings, such as a development, institutional school campus, or office park. The required data concentrates on energy use, measured in terms of energy consumption per s/f of real estate. EUI is directly affected by regional climate conditions, internal plug and lighting loads, and occupancy density among other factors over the course of a normal year (based on a 30-year climate average). The total annual energy use intensity for the target is based on the energy fuel mix typical in the region. EUI is not a new acronym, conceptualized in this age of sustainability and green, but has been around for many years. The Department of Energy has been using EUI to classify typical building types in such annual surveys as "Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (ie.CBECS), which has been publishing EUI data on typical buildings since 2003. Energy consumption and costs have become an ever-increasing focus over the past year, since in an economic downturn it seems that energy fuel costs simply continue their historical upward trend, seemingly oblivious to the other recessive financial pressures we currently face. Reduction of energy costs goes to the bottom line and measures can be performed in steps to minimize upfront costs and see immediate results to a company's profitability. In general, the following steps should be performed to approximate a building's EUI and typically a series of these steps should be routinely repeated to quantify potential savings, benchmark energy cost saving projects, extend the service life of equipment, or simply assist in preparing annual operating budgets. 1. Energy Audits. ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers) Level 1 through ASHRAE Level III Audits, ranging from walkthrough surveys, mini- and maxi-audits, which provide detailed analysis of capital intensive modifications, to identify and prioritize effective energy conservation measures and maintenance processes/contracts with high Return on Investment (ROI). Focus on the low cost, high ROI systems, (ie. "Low Hanging Fruit"). Audits should focus on any of the following: * Boiler Plant; Chiller Plant; Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC); Motors, Motor Controllers, and Variable Frequency Drives; Combined Heat & Power/Cogeneration; Building Management System/Controls; Interior and Exterior Lighting Systems; Plumbing Systems; Power Systems; Building Envelope (ie. facade such as windows, roofs, etc.); Elevators; and Metering. To be continued in the January 26 CDE edition of The New York Real Estate Journal. Mark Richter P.E., LEED AP, is a partner at AKF Group, New York, N.Y. and is also the current president of the New Jersey Chapter of ASHRAE. 2. Benchmark your building EUI through the 4Ms - metering, measurement, metrics, and monitoring. Following these steps will provide important benchmark statistics enabling a building owner to provide comparative analysis to national average, building within their portfolios, and assisting in capital planning projects in the near future. * Metering. "You can't manage what you don't measure." Metering can be applied to various power, water, and thermal systems. * Measure. Energy balances of your building systems/processes and identify their deficiencies and limitations. Measurement of systems and subsystems provides invaluable information of equipment efficiencies, allowing a quick evaluation on performance. * Metrics. Using third party testing and validation. Importance of Retro- and re-commissioning in confirming and adjusting systems for proper system operation and control and conservation strategies. * Monitoring. Through master planning of EUI, an annual program of clearly identified monitoring and protocols will ensure repeatability, operating anomalies, and ensuring peak system performance. 3. Identify state and local programs for financial and funding incentives. In New York City, the following is a summary of programs you should be aware of: a. New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) Programs Multiple programs are available and applicable to energy efficiency improvements to existing buildings * Existing Facilities Program * Flexible Technical Assistance (Flextech) * Energy Audit Program * Technical Assistance Program * New Construction Program (applicable to buildings undergoing renovations) * Multifamily Performance Program. Visit www.nyserda.org for further information on these programs including b. PlaNYC A six-point urban master plan, to reduce the City's energy usage and save consumers money, through financing of building energy-saving improvements using $16 million available from The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Commencing in 2013, City officials estimate the program will save property owners roughly $750 million a year in energy costs. It would be prudent for a building owner to line up streamlined and effective capital improvement projects for their buildings to be paid through revolving loan funds. Following the above steps will identify and provide an execution plan for the practical operation and maintenance improvements to existing building systems, reduce expenses, improve reliability, invest in preventative maintenance, and master plan to reposition a building in the marketplace. Mark Richter P.E., LEED AP, is a partner at AKF Group, New York, N.Y. and is also the current president of the New Jersey Chapter of ASHRAE.