Improving Energy Efficiency with the ENERGY STAR Program
If you work with energy consumption in any way, you probably already know that commercial buildings and industrial facilities generate about 50 percent of carbon dioxide emissions nationwide. But did you know that 30 percent of consumed energy is actually wasted?
Energy expenses now account for $8 million of school spending, so you can’t afford to ignore the opportunity to reduce energy costs and save money that can be reallocated to fund jobs, new programs and technology. With the ENERGY STAR program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), educational institutions have the opportunity to save as much as 10-percent of their wasted energy with little to no cost, potentially saving 20-50 percent of their energy budget.
The most basic tool, the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, is available to help you measure and track energy consumption. Putting twelve consecutive months of your energy bill data into the Portfolio Manager, along with a few structure characteristics, will generate an ENERGY STAR rating for your buildings. Portfolio Manager will also track your water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Having an ENERGY STAR rating is not only a great starting point for improving your energy management. but it can be a key motivator for administrators, faculty, staff, and students to start saving energy.
ENERGY STAR also offers a building upgrade manual, further demonstrating how a system integrated cost-effective energy efficiency retrofit can be utilized in your buildings.
On the EPA website, you can utilize the Cash Flow Opportunity calculator to better understand how implementing energy efficiency at your educational institution can deliver significant savings and returns. To learn more about ways to improve energy management in your organization, listen to our recent webcast, Achieving ENERGY STAR Certification: Best Practices in Energy Efficiency.
