EPA once again hosted the 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings. More than 3,000 buildings across 25 types of properties battled the scale and each other as they competed to find out who would become the nation’s biggest energy loser.
All competitors tracked their monthly energy consumption using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Nearly 50 buildings demonstrated energy use reductions of 20% or greater. Altogether, competitors saved a total of more than 900 million kBtus of energy and an estimated $20 million on utility bills.
Claiborne Elementary School in Baton Rouge, LA, emerged victorious by cutting its energy use by more than 45% in one year – an estimated cost savings of $114,499. Managing and scheduling the HVAC and lighting systems was a key strategy that was controlled by BAS and scheduling software.
Other measures included:
- Setting back cooling, heating, and lighting levels when rooms are unoccupied
- Determining how many chillers and hot water boilers are needed to meet temperature and humidity needs
- Automatically adjusting the amount of fresh air brought into the building to meet the occupancy and ventilation requirements during any given part of the day.
The school prevented the release of 488 MtCO2e (million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) of greenhouse gas emissions and achieved an ending EUI of 129 kBtu per square foot.
