While city benchmarking policies are often justified with potential or future energy and cost savings, a new report shows that the benefits have materialized for New York City with cumulative energy savings of over $267 million (5.7%) from 2010-2013. Additionally, the city saw a cumulative GHG percentage reduction of 9.9% and over 120 jobs created as a result of the policy.
The study also shows that the best candidates for high energy saving are college and office facilities and older buildings, which are more likely to have systems that need to be replaced. Additionally, building managers in older facilities may opt to implement new projects at the same time, further driving energy savings.
The New York City Benchmarking and Transparency Policy Impact Evaluation Report notes that while the many positive gains cannot be directly attributed to Local Law 84 (the ordinance requiring benchmarking), the amount of savings in addition to the owner and property manager interviews conducted by the researchers validate the idea that the benchmarking and transparency policy will have a positive impact on city energy consumption.
Wondering how to start benchmarking performance in your own building? Check out this Guide to Portfolio Manager to learn more.
