Better Buildings Through Benchmarking

Join the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign

Take the first step toward energy and cost savings with the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign. Join over 80 businesses, organizations and institutions that have signed on to the Campaign to receive support and recognition for benchmarking your energy use, a building management best practice.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the energy used by buildings in the United States is responsible for almost 40% of our national greenhouse gas emissions (US EIA). Locally, we see an even bigger impact. In 2015, residential and commercial buildings accounted for 62% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the City of St. Louis (2015 GHG Inventory).

By improving their energy efficiency, building owners and managers can reduce their environmental impacts while simultaneously lowering their utility bills.

30% of energy used in buildings is wasted through inefficiencies, and half of all energy savings are possible through low-cost or no-cost operational improvements (U.S. EPA). The first step to identifying these improvements and reducing the environmental impacts of our buildings is energy benchmarking!

Sign on to the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign

What is Benchmarking?

Benchmarking is the process of tracking your building’s energy and/or water use and comparing your performance to similar buildings and to past performance. Benchmarking is the first step in determining how to conserve resources, reduce operating costs, and reduce environmental impacts.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a free and secure online tool that tracks energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Any building can use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to understand their energy, water, and waste performance – schools, governments, congregations, businesses and retail stores.

Why Benchmark? 

Benchmarking is a crucial first step to conserving energy and saving money. According to ENERGY STAR data, buildings who benchmark for three years saw an average energy savings of 7%. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.

Benchmarking is a building management best practice, and nearly 500,000 properties – representing about 50% of the national commercial building floor space – have used ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to measure, track, assess and report on their energy and water consumption (US EPA).

Together, the ENERGY STAR program for commercial buildings helped businesses and organizations save $10 billion in energy costs in 2016, contributing to cumulative energy cost savings of $150 billion since 1992. (US EPA)

Join the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign

Benefits

  • Receive recognition at USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter website and events!
  • Take advantage of offers for benchmarking and energy efficiency support from local service providers (see list below)
  • Receive one on one assistance from USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter volunteers
  • Referrals to energy efficiency incentives and rebates
  • Receive invitations to special Benchmarking training events
  • Gain national recognition through Green Building Information Gateway and ENERGY STAR Certification (if eligible).

 How to Participate

  • Sign on to the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign using this online form
  • Find out how your building stacks up against similar facilities by benchmarking your building energy use in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
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    • Use benchmarking results to inform your plans to save energy & money!
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      • Once you have benchmarked your building in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, you can use the tool’s energy use metrics to understand your performance, and you can set performance goals.
      • Explore opportunities for energy savings
        • Ameren Missouri BizSavers Program: Reduce out-of-pocket costs for energy efficiency improvements by earning cash incentives through Ameren Missouri’s BizSavers® program. Save money and energy!
        • Spire Energy Commercial Rebates: Take advantage of Spire Energy’s rebates to lower your monthly bills and shorted the time it takes to pay back your investment [/expand]
    • Help us track the region’s success by sharing your performance data.
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      • Sharing your performance data with the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign allows us to track our collective impact.
      • Sharing Performance Data through Portfolio Manager Data Request
          • Click here to open the Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Data Request. You may first be asked to log in to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
          • Select your desired timeframe. We suggest selecting Single Year, then choosing December 31.
          • Select the properties you would like to report.
          • Click Generate Response Preview. You will then be redirected to the reporting page. Your response preview will be highlighted in green. Choose “Preview Response” from the action menu to view your response to the data request. Choose “Send Response” if you are ready to send.
          • The short video below provides step-by-step instructions.


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    • Be recognized for your improvements:
      • 25×20: A 25% reduction in energy use by 2020, based on a baseline of your choice after 2014.
      • The Better Buildings Challenge: 20% reduction in energy use 10 years or less
      • ENERGY STAR Certification: Buildings with an ENERGY STAR score above 75 are eligible for ENERGY STAR Certification. Certification is annual and verified by a third party. There is no cost to apply for certification.
      • Share your success stories with us! We’re always looking for case studies to highlight. Contact usgbc-mogateway@mobot.org to get started.

Congratulations and THANK YOU to our Participants:

The Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Campaign is an evolution of the 25×20 Voluntary Energy Benchmarking Campaign, launched in 2014.

Architecture/Design Firms

      • Kuhlmann Leavitt, Inc.
      • Lawrence Group
      • SWT Design
      • Trivers Associates

Commercial Real Estate

      • 100 North Broadway, managed by Hertz Investment Group
      • 501 N Broadway, Stifel Building, managed by Cushman & Wakefield
      • 600 Washington, managed by Cushman & Wakefield
        [expand title = “Read More”] 600 Washington25×20 participants include 600 Washington, now featured in a benchmarking case study. This 25-story office building, formerly known as One City Center, is a 375,000 square foot office building with a variety of tenants, including several large legal and accounting firms. Originally built in 1985, the tower overlooks the former St. Louis Centre mall which has since been transformed into a 750 space parking garage in 2010. Read full case study
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      • Bank of America Plaza
      • Castaneda at the Frisco
      • CBRE
      • Deloitte Building, managed by Harbor Group Management Company
      • Frisco Building, 906 Olive Street, managed by Mark Twain Partners
      • Green Street St. Louis
      • Metropolitan Square Building managed by Jones Lang LaSalle
      • STLCRE
      • Sue Slocomb, Building Manager at 1015 Associates, LLC

Congregation/Faith Based Organizations

      • Bethel Lutheran Church
      • Catholic Student Center at Washington University
      • Central Reform Congregation
      • Christ Church, UCC
      • Episcopal Church of Holy Communion
      • The Ethical Society of St. Louis
      • First Congregational Church of St. Louis
      • First Congregational Church of Webster Groves
      • Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
      • Grace Episcopal Church
      • Immacolata Catholic Church
      • Lafayette Park United Methodist Church
      • Lutheran Church of the Atonement
      • New Life Community Church
      • New Northside Missionary Baptist Church
      • Parkway United Church of Christ
      • St. John’s Episcopal Church
      • St. Lucas UCC
      • St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church
      • St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Ferguson
      • SunRise United Methodist Church – O’Fallon
      • SunRise United Methodist Church – Wright City
      • Third Baptist Church
      • University United Methodist Church
      • Webster Groves Presbyterian Church
      • Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

Construction/Contractors

      • Automatic Controls Equipment Systems
      • Clayco
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        ClaycoClayco has been using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to benchmark their St. Louis office since 2007. Using this tool gave them a baseline, as well as the motivation to raise their score. As a result of energy saving strategies and building improvements that they have implemented since 2007, their ENERGY STAR score has more than doubled. Clayco has already met their goal to reduce their energy use 25% by the year 2020! Read full case study [/expand]
      • Tarlton

Education

      • Bishop DuBourg High School
      • College School
      • GSASTL (Gateway Science Academy of St Louis)
      • Kirkwood School District
      • Lewis and Clark Community College
      • Maryville University Saint Louis
      • Parkway School District
      • Saint Louis University
      • St. Louis College of Pharmacy
      • University of Missouri – St. Louis
      • Washington University in St. Louis
      • Webster University

Electronics Recycling

      • Midwest Recycling Center (MRC)

Entertainment/Recreation

      • Saint Louis Cardinals

Government: U.S. Local

      • City of Clayton
      • City of Creve Coeur
      • City of Maplewood
      • City of University City
      • City of Wildwood

Government: U.S. State

      • Missouri Department of Conservation Powder Valley Nature Center

Healthcare

      • Bethesda Health Group

Hotel

      • Magnolia Hotel

Library District

  • St. Charles City-County Library District

Manufacturing/Printing

      • EPC, Inc.
      • Global Products, Inc.
      • Sigma-Aldrich Corporation

Non-Profit

      • Brightside St. Louis
      • COCA
      • Green Dining Alliance (GDA)
      • Mid-County YMCA
      • Missouri Botanical Garden
      • Missouri History Museum
      • Saint Louis Zoo
      • St. Louis Youthbuild
      • Thomas Dunn Learning Center
      • WIN Warehouse

Pharmaceutical

      • Curium
      • Express Scripts

Retail

      • Save-A-Lot

Service and Product Provider/Consultant

      • Burns & McDonnell
      • CxE Group Energy Consultants
      • Microgrid Energy
      • SCI Engineering Inc
      • Sitton Energy Solutions
      • Trane
      • UniGroup[expand title = “Read More”]
        Unigroup
        UniGroup is a $1.7 billion transportation and relocation services company with headquarters in suburban St. Louis. UniGroup has embraced sustainability as a smart way to achieve cost savings. The company’s Director of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Rebecca Peterson led the charge to monitor energy usage, enabling the company to identify issues and resolve them quickly. As a result, they achieved the coveted ENERGY STAR certification. The company took full advantage of utility rebate programs to maximize the return on investments in energy-related projects. Read Full Case Study Online Here [/expand]

Utility

      • Missouri American Water – Service Center

Resources

Benchmarking Resources

Energy Efficiency Resources

CHECK OUT THE Better Buildings Through Benchmarking Collection on the Green Building Information Gateway (www.gbig.org), where all participants who have submitted their data are featured!

Need some help?

      • Sitton Energy Solutions has offered to assist owners with meeting the pledge and City of St. Louis Benchmarking Ordinance by providing a FREE consultation to benchmark energy and water in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and calculate Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for buildings over 50,000 square feet and served by Ameren. Sitton also provides services to help owners to develop a roadmap of energy saving measures to implement following benchmarking. Contact Sitton to learn more.  
      • Trane has offered a free consultation to buildings that have already benchmarked in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, resulting in a report listing potential energy conservation measures with estimated energy and cost savings. Contact Jon Bell to take advantage of this offer.
      • Are you a local government, congregation, non-profit or small business? Contact Johanna Schweiss to be connected with a benchmarking mentor.

Questions? Contact USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter at 314.577.0854 or
usgbc-mogateway@mobot.org.