TheEDGE Energy Solutions - Blog

In SF How to Report and Comply with Department of Environment

4/30/2013

A Confirmation of Energy Audit must be filed with the Department of Environment . The audit has to

identifying the building;
the owner;
energy professional performing the audit;
what type of evaluation was performed; and
a list of the cost effective energy efficiency measures that were identified.

It is completely up to the building owner whether to implement retrofits, and take advantage of any incentives that are available from the utility, state, and federal government by implementing those opportunities identified by the audit.

The entire audit does not need to be submitted, only a Confirmation of Energy Audit will be required. The Confirmation of Energy Audit is filed online.

April 1st is Here and Energy Audits for Some of You is Due Tomorrow

3/31/2013

This is just a friendly reminder that as of April 1, 2013 the second group of San Francisco Commercial Properties (approximately 2/3 of San Francisco's building stock) need to have submitted a Confirmation of audit. If you have any questions about this feel free to contact us.

Energy Benchmarking and Portfolio Manager

1/31/2013

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking involves measuring meaningful energy usage to determining how a particular building compares to others, and tracking changes over time. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2000 launched Portfolio Manager, a nationwide
benchmarking tool that uses energy usage data to provide a score on a 1-100 scale reflecting a building’s performance against comparable buildings. The score is normalized to account for regional differences in climate, operating characteristics, and other factors.

The score can be used to:

Establish a quick snapshot of a building’s energy performance.
Target candidate buildings for energy improvement projects.
Monitor the ongoing performance of a building or a portfolio of buildings over time.
Communicate with building occupants, management and ownership about a building's energy performance
Educate landlords and tenants about their building's energy performance compared to other buildings.

Proof from UC Berkeley that Green Label Buildings Increase the Market Value of Commercial Properties.

12/29/2012

The University of California Berkeley has conducted a study that shows that green labeled buildings command higher market rents per square foot resulting in higher selling prices and values of buildings. Conclusions of this study are found below.

The results clearly indicate the importance of a green label in affecting the market rents and values of commercial space. The results suggest that an otherwise identical commercial building with an Energy-Star certification will rent for about three percent more per square foot; the difference in effective rent is estimated to be about six percent. The increment to the selling price may be as much as 16 percent.

These effects are large, and they are consistent. As noted above, at prevailing capitalization rates of six percent, the increment to effective rents (estimated in Table 3) implies that the value of a green building is about $5.5 million more than the value of a comparable unrated building nearby. From Table 4, the incremental value of a green building is estimated to be about $5.7 million more than that of a comparable unrated building nearby.

To view the whole study click here.

November 15th is Here!!!!

11/15/2012

It is November 15th. If your building in San Francisco is 10,000 sq ft or greater and if you are part of the initial group (approximately 1/3 of the building stock) then you have to have your audit completed by today! If you don't you are potentially liable for penalty fees depending on the square footage of your building and how long you fail to be compliant.

If you are part of this first group you need to schedule your audit now and get it filed with the Department of the Environment. For more information about San Francisco's ordinance requirements check the compliance section of our website under San Francisco's “Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance” 17-11.

Green Buildings Command Higher Prices

11/6/2012

In 2009 the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) determined that Green Buildings with an Energy Star rating command on average a 16% higher selling price than their counterparts. They also tend to obtain 6% higher effective rents.

RICS is a world leading professional organization in the areas of property, land, construction and related environmental issues. They set, maintain and regulate standards. They also provide impartial advice to both governments and policymakers. They have more than 100,000 qualified members who participate across 17 disciplines in over 146 countries.

To learn more about this report visit the RICS website on Green Buildings Attracting Higher Rents in United States.

What is Title 24?

10/23/2012

Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code. According to the California Building Standards Commission's website it is a compilation of three different types of building criteria from three different sources which include the following:

Building standards that have been adopted by state agencies without change from building standards contained in national model codes;
Building standards that have been adopted and adapted from the national model code standards to meet California conditions; and
Building standards, authorized by the California legislature, that constitute extensive additions not covered by the model codes that have been adopted to address particular California concerns

Title 24 applies basically to all occupancies in California except for modifications adopted by state agencies and local governing bodies. Thus all builders, contractors and architects need to be familiar with Title 24 to ensure that any kind of work or addition to a building is done in accordance with California's Building Code.

November 15th Deadline for Some Commercial Property Owners

10/12/2012

San Francisco's ordinances require energy audits of commercial buildings 10,000 sq ft or greater. If you are in the initial group of commercial buildings (approximately 1/3 of the building stock) with the November 15th deadline you need to make arrangements for an audit now. It takes time to schedule an audit as you have to arrange with your property managers and tenants to allow full access to your building. Also as there are so many buildings currently out of compliance it is going to prove harder and harder to find a qualified auditor/engineer who has time in their busy schedule to go through your property.

The time to schedule an audit is now if you are in the first group. You have only a month left to get your audit completed and filed with the Department of the Environment. For more information about San Francisco's ordinance requirements check the compliance section of our website under San Francisco's “Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance” 17-11.

Where Do The Opportunities Lie in Energy Savings for Commercial Buildings

10/2/2012

When you look at all the areas where energy is used in a commercial building, how do you tell where you as a commercial property owner should focus on getting the greatest energy savings for your money spent? One way is to identify where most of your energy costs are coming from.

This is an attempt based upon US DOE: 2003 US Commercial Building Data to give you an idea of where your energy in your building is going.

24% Lighting
14% Space Heating
11% Space Cooling
9% Other
6% Water Heating
6% Refrigeration
6% Ventilation
6% Electronics
3% Computers
2% Cooking

This gives you an idea that you should be focused on Lighting and your Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems when looking for areas to save money on your energy bill and which areas you should be focused on making more energy efficient.

Energy Benchmarking

9/27/2012

If you are a commercial property owner Energy Benchmarking is going to be something you are going to have to become familiar with. Energy Benchmarking consists of gathering information on your building, such as your buildings square footage, what and how the tenant spaces are used in your building, your utility bills, the utility bills of your tenants, general information about heating and air conditioning use by your tenants, the number of computers used in your building, the number of employees your tenants have, and the operational hours of your tenants. All of this information is then put into benchmarking software such as Energy Star's Portfolio Manager or EnergyIQ.

Once all of this information is put into the Benchmarking software it provides a ranking and compares your building's performance with similar buildings located in similar climates. This allow you and your tenants to get a better understanding of how energy efficient your building is, and hopefully provides you with information or thoughts on how to improve the energy efficiency in your building.

Both the state of California and the City of San Francisco are requiring commercial buildings of 5,000 sq ft or greater and respectively 10,000 sq ft or greater be benchmarked if they seek financing, lease or sell their property to prospective buyers. Thus Energy Benchmarking is now going to become an important part of real estate transactions going forward.