Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings

Implementing Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings

The momentum for greater energy savings in public buildings is sweeping the United States, thanks in part to executive orders, local legislation, and citizen pressure. Organizations that commit to improving the energy performance of their buildings will enjoy lower utility bills and the satisfaction of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change.

Cadmus helps organizations meet their internal performance goals, local or regional climate goals, and state goals for reducing carbon emissions. Having worked with more than 1,000 public sector entities, Cadmus is a leading source of technical expertise for increasing the efficiency of buildings through better energy management. We have more than 10 years’ experience collaborating with state and local governments, K-12 schools, institutions of higher education, state governments, federal agencies, and regional consortia. As a result, we understand the complexities of institutional arrangements, the realities of budget limitations, the turnover of leadership and its impact on long-term planning and investment, and the pressures of constant public scrutiny. Cadmus can provide you with as much or as little counsel as you need. We can serve as a long-term strategic ally, for example, and work side-by-side with you to craft and implement a complete energy management plan. Or we can perform specific technical services needed at certain stages of the process. Cadmus can also market energy conservation and efficiency programs to the community. And if you want to implement a green building program, we note that “ee” (energy efficiency) is the core of “green.” Energy efficiency should be the first step toward green because it provides verifiable savings.

Time is money, and Cadmus’ experts help clients save both. Our multidisciplinary team of analysts, engineers, economists, and marketing professionals bring a full array of technical expertise and hands-on experience in the building sector. This expertise stems from years of marketing and implementing some of the leading public-private voluntary partnerships, such as EPA’s ENERGY STAR®, Climate Leaders, Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS), and Green Indoor Environments. Cadmus offers public sector organizations the following services:

Energy management program design, planning, team building, monitoring, and verification.
Energy education and Web-based or onsite training with customized materials.
Measurement and analysis of the energy performance of commercial buildings.
Financial pre-feasibility studies for energy investments.
Creation or review of policies, RFQs and RFPs, user guidelines, and staff rewards programs.
Benchmarking and tracking energy use improvements over time.
Oversight of energy services companies.
Environmentally preferred purchasing.
Water and wastewater plant efficiency.
Marketing energy conservation and efficiency programs to the entire community.
Public outreach and event planning.
Promotion of organizational achievements and staff recognition.

Cadmus employs a four-step process to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings.

Strategic Planning
- Develop roles and activities for each energy team member.
- Formulate an energy management policy and present it to senior decision-makers.
- Establish energy education and training programs.
- Plan and provide online and onsite training assistance.
- Create team and staff incentive, recognition, and reward programs.
- Publicize the commitment to staff, the local community, and the media.
Evaluation and Benchmarking
- Establish key performance indicators germane to the organization.
- Benchmark to establish energy use baselines and estimate greenhouse gas emissions baselines.
- Evaluate current energy management practices in light of benchmarking results, and prepare load profile analyses or other analytical reports.
Prioritization and Goal-Setting
- Prioritize facility upgrades based on organizational needs.
- Prepare savings opportunity reports and cash flow projections.
- Establish energy reduction goals, target savings, and best practices.
- Carry out building energy use audits in preparation for retrofit feasibility studies.
- Develop recommendations for facility upgrades.
- Communicate goals and best practices to key members of the organization.
Action Plan Development
- Define technical steps and targets.
- Determine team roles and resources needed.
- Review funding options and alternative financing mechanisms, including performance contracting.

Achieving energy efficiency in existing buildings involves more than making the physical upgrades. It also involves educating building occupants and users about energy-saving habits, improving the operations and maintenance of the building’s energy systems, and recognizing outstanding achievement. To help you maximize the human side of energy efficiency, the Building Performance Services team at Cadmus draws on the expertise of our other practices – Marketing & Media, Water, Environmental Health Solutions, Green Buildings, and Clean Energy – to offer services in the following categories:

Building Upgrades

Assist in the procurement process and provide due diligence (e.g., with performance contracts) and submittal reviews, based on our knowledge of which technologies apply in various scenarios.
Provide counsel, tools, and resources for the design team, weighing approaches that will lead to greatly increased building performance.
Oversee large upgrade projects undertaken by the preferred energy service company.
Address the range of operational tasks and impacts of the various building systems, the most important of which is commissioning.
Draft the Building Operations Plan, which is a prerequisite for LEED-EB certification.

Occupant and User Education

Create a communications plan to help change the behaviors of decision-makers, staff, students, and other building occupants and users, including the community.
Enhance professional capacity in building performance concepts, roll out organizational-level plans through online and onsite training, and deliver “Train-the-Trainer” programs.

Energy System Operation, Maintenance, and Improvement

Benchmark sand tracks energy use over time to evaluate the effectiveness of energy reduction measures.
Report on actual savings as well as anticipated outcomes for work in progress.
Provide monitoring and verification (M/V) services for performance-based contracts.
Facilitate an action plan review meeting for senior administrators.

Recognition Programs

Implement staff recognition and rewards programs established in the planning stage.
Assist in the preparation of applications for federal, state, and professional association awards that honor outstanding energy efficiency achievements.
Prepare news releases and other communications for the community and peers.

Project Example: Southeast Rebuild Collaborative

With a history of low utility costs and growing interstate solidarity, the coastal states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina saw the need for a regional strategy to reduce energy consumption and its associated environmental and financial impacts. The states wanted to raise the public profile of the benefits of energy efficiency and strengthen regional collaboration.

The Challenge

Although contiguous, the states are highly diverse and energy efficiency was not a priority among public institutions. Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina are predominately rural, while Florida and Georgia have sizable, rapidly growing urban centers. As a result, the region needed a self-driven energy efficiency program that provided the flexibility for customization according to the needs of each state, while achieving measurable, replicable results.

Our Approach

In 2005, Cadmus seized an opportunity created by the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO), and the Florida Energy Office (FEO). Through a grant, NASEO channeled DOE funds to supplement a program called Rebuild America. Cadmus and the FEO recognized the conditions to create a regional effort that would emphasize energy efficiency and the Southeast Rebuild Collaborative (SRC) was born. By leveraging the lessons learned and best practices from our extensive experience with ENERGY STAR®, Cadmus developed a robust platform for tracking energy use, training participants about energy reduction strategies, and tactics, and sharing success. With Florida’s leadership, a coalition of state energy offices teamed together to do what no state alone could achieve.

Our Success

Cadmus worked with the states to identify potential funding and partner sources. Ultimately, we focused on 900 schools and 300 other institutions in the public sector (including local governments and higher learning) as the primary targets for the first wave of training. Cadmus and SRC set a goal of influencing reductions in energy consumption by 10 percent among the target group. By August 2007, Cadmus had launched a suite of training, communications, and support services, which include: a Web site and Web-based training, support, and outreach; telephone and e-mail support for participating facilities; on-site support for committed, qualified organizations; and energy reduction verification, motivation, and recognition. Cadmus will continue providing support, drive energy efficient resources to the area, help to meet state and regional energy efficiency goals, and work with the newly created Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance to provide continued service to the southeast states.