benchmarking

Since the dawn of time, energy efficiency supporters have touted benchmarking as the critical first step to reducing energy consumption in the buildings sector. Whether it's the first step or not, the age-old saying "you can't manage what you don't measure" is true. Assessing our energy performance is critical to inform improvement efforts.

It’s a new year, which means a new opportunity to ramp up policy efforts to decarbonize our economy. We are one month into 2020 and so much has already happened with each state’s legislative session kicking off. The Northeast is responding to a call to action on climate and pushing the bar to ensure that we are carbon-neutral by 2050. Already, a few trends have surfaced, including carbon neutral targets, benchmarking, and energy efficiency planning. Let’s take a look.

Who remembers the original Batman and Robin television show? There have been lots of iterations of the caped crusaders, but in my opinion, Adam West and Burt Ward are the one and only dynamic duo.

The smell of fresh cut grass, the sounds of “take me out to the ballgame”, and the crack of a baseball bat – these are a few things that signal the beginning of baseball season.

Picture yourself as an energy manager for a large portfolio of buildings. You are responsible for monitoring and reducing energy consumption in these buildings to reduce energy costs. You have just learned that you will be responsible for achieving a 20% energy reduction portfolio-wide over the next 5 years. Excited to dig in to this work, you decide to request the utility bills for all of the buildings over the last two years.