Benchmarking Program Update

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Benchmarking Program Update June 2015 The energy used in large commercial and multifamily buildings in Denver results in 57% of the city s harmful greenhouse gas emissions 1.

1 Benchmarking Program Update June 2015 The energy used in large commercial and multifamily buildings in Denver results in 57% of the city s harmful greenhouse gas emissions 1. Improving the energy efficiency of these buildings is an important part of responding to climate change while also protecting and strengthening our area s quality of life and economy. Investing an estimated $340 million in improving building energy efficiency in Denver would result in 4,000 local jobs and $1.3 billion in energy savings over 10 years 2. The Denver City Energy Project benchmarking program was created to help unlock the value of building energy efficiency in Denver and to help the City meet its climate action goals. To date, the Denver City Energy Project benchmarking program has 85 participating building owners and managers. These participants are leading the way by benchmarking their buildings energy use with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and reporting their ENERGY STAR score annually to the City 3. The enrolled buildings represent 17.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family space in Denver. However, we are just beginning to tap into the City s potential. We have been actively enrolling buildings with our partners since July of 2014, but current participants still account for only 4.6% of the square footage of buildings over 10,000 square feet in the City. The Energy Efficiency Opportunity in Denver Energy efficient buildings do more than just reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning to more energy efficient buildings is also cost-effective. The buildings where we live and work also present a massive untapped opportunity for energy cost savings. On average, energy accounts for 22% of commercial building operating expenses. 4 Energy efficient buildings provide significant savings for owners and tenant s bottom line. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a powerful free tool that property managers and building owners can use to get a score regarding the energy performance of their buildings. A score of 50 is the national average, and any building that scores 75 or higher is eligible for ENERGY STAR certification, which celebrates high performance. ENERGY STAR certified buildings use 35% less energy than their peers % is the result of Department of Environmental Health calculations based on community greenhouse gas emissions numbers provided by Xcel Energy. 2 United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and Financing Models. Rockefeller Foundation and Deutsche Bank Group. March Numbers scaled to City and County of Denver. 3 As of May 27 h, Practical Industry Intelligence for Commercial Real Estate BOMA A Better Building, A Better Bottom Line, A Better World EPA, ENERGY STAR brochure. 1

2 In Denver, we estimate the potential exists to realize $1.3 billion in energy savings in our large commercial and multi-family buildings 6. This is the equivalent of 73,000 homes energy use for one year and has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10% city-wide. To realize those efficiency gains we would need to see $340 million invested in improving the energy efficiency of the city s buildings, which would result in 4,000 jobs. It s time for Denver to get smart about energy use. We all know the MPG of our car, what about the ENERGY STAR score of buildings where we live and work? Denver s Buildings Of all the large buildings in Denver 7, commercial buildings make up 61% of square footage, while multi-family buildings represent 32% and municipal buildings make up the remaining 7% 8. Over 80% of the total square footage of commercial and multi-family buildings is made up of the 1,800 buildings that are 50,000 square feet and larger. Figure 1: Denver Commercial and Multi-family Buildings, by square footage Municipal, 7% Multi-family, 32% Commercial, 61% 6 "United States Building Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and Financing Models." Rockefeller Foundation and Deutsche Bank Group. March Numbers scaled to City and County of Denver. 7 Large buildings are defined as those over 10,000 sq ft. There are nearly 6,000 buildings over 10,000 sq ft in the City and County of Denver. 8 Based on City and County of Denver tax assessor data. 2

3 Of the commercial buildings in Denver, most are office buildings, followed by hospitality, retail, and medical office spaces 9. Figure 2: Commercial Building Types, by number of buildings Hospitality, 18% Retail, 17% Non-Medical Office, 62% Medical Office, 3% Of the multi-family buildings in Denver, 60% of the square footage is made up of apartments and 40% of the square footage is made up of condominiums by square footage 10. Figure 3: Multi-family Building Types, by square footage Condominums, 40% Apartments, 60% Benchmarking Program Update The first step in improving energy performance is to measure it, because it is difficult to manage what is not measured. The benchmarking program has 85 buildings enrolled to date. The owners and managers of these buildings are benchmarking their buildings energy use with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and reporting their ENERGY STAR score annually to the city 11. These buildings owners and managers are leading the way towards a more energy efficient Denver by taking this most fundamental first step in improving their energy performance. 9 Based on Co-Star data. 10 Based on City and County of Denver tax assessor data. 11 As of May 27 th,

4 The enrolled buildings represent 17.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family buildings in Denver. The average ENERGY STAR score of buildings enrolled in the benchmarking program is 80, and they are 31% more efficient than the national average of 50. While a great start, this represents only 4.6% of the square footage of buildings over 10,000 square feet in the City. Unfortunately, the current level of participation leaves us far short of the level needed to meet our climate action goals and to unlock the energy efficiency market potential in Denver. Although many of the enrolled buildings are office buildings, six multi-family apartments and condos, three medical office buildings, and three hotels have enrolled as well. The six enrolled multi-family buildings are paving the way for improving the energy efficiency of apartments and condos in Denver. Nationwide, multifamily rentals average 34% fewer energy efficiency features than the number found in other types of housing. These higher energy costs in multi-family housing make it harder for multifamily rentals to house their occupants affordably. Those energy costs have a big impact on resident s bottom line. In households that earn less than the national median, home energy costs consumes 9% of the homeowners total income. 12 Improving our buildings energy efficiency is a critical step in reaching Denver s climate action goals and while the current participants are carving the way forward, the current level of participation leaves us short of the level needed to meet our goals and unlock the full energy efficiency market potential in Denver. The City is leading by example as a participant in the Better Buildings Challenge by benchmarking its own buildings and committing to cutting their energy use 20% by The City is well on its way to meeting these goals, having achieved 9% energy savings across its portfolio from 2011 to 2014, well ahead of the 7.5% energy savings target for those years. Figure 4: City and County of Denver Progress Towards Achieving the Better Buildings Challenge Goal of Cutting Energy Use 20% in City Buildings by Energy Efficiency and its Relationship to Household Income in Multifamily Rental Housing. Gary Pivo, PhD. September 12,

5 Enrolled Building List The currently enrolled 85 building owners, managers and operators have all taken the most fundamental first step to good energy performance. They have benchmarked their performance using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and shared the resulting score or energy use intensity (EUI) with the city. We thank these participants for helping Denver a more efficient, healthy, resilient, and prosperous city! College/University: Property Name Address Organization Academic Building Larimer St University of Colorado Denver Business School 1475 Lawrence Street University of Colorado Denver Courthouse: Byron White US Courthouse 1823 STOUT STREET GSA Region 8 City and County Building 1431 Bannock St City and County of Denver Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse 520 W Colfax Ave City and County of Denver Distribution Center: Denver CO G25A 3900 Lima Street xpedx, LLC National Clearance Outlet store 5445 N. Bannock St. Furniture Row Hotel: Brown Palace Hotel and Spa th street The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa Medical Office: 1125 Seventeenth Street E 45TH AVE Kaiser Permanente East Denver Medical Offices E ALAMEDA AVE Kaiser Permanente Franklin Medical Offices 2045 FRANKLIN ST Kaiser Permanente Multi-family Housing: Aria Apartments 2791 West 52nd Avenue Perry Rose CVV Coho House 1544 Pearl St icast Kappa Tower 2160 Downing St icast Olin Apartments 1420 Logan St icast Palace Lofts Condominium 1499 Blake Street Palace Lofts Condominium Association Spire th Street Spire Owners Association, Inc. Non-Refrigerated Warehouse: Parks Maint Jason 4495 Jason St City and County of Denver Office: th Street th St. Vector Property Services, LLC 1290 Broadway 1290 Broadway CBRE Inc 151 Detroit Street 151 Detroit St. Crestone Partners, LLC 1515 Wynkoop 1515 Wynkoop, suite 800 American Realty Advisors 16 Market Square th Street Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado, Inc Broadway 1670 Broadway Cushman & Wakefield 1800 Larimer 1800 Larimer Westfield Property Services 5

6 th St (EPL) th Street CBRE Technical Services 410 Building th Street JLL 4600 South Syracuse 4600 South Syracuse Cushman & Wakefield 8181 East Tufts 8181 E.Tufts Westcore Alliance Center 1536 Wynkoop st Alliance for Sustainable Colorado American Red Cross-Mile High Region Headquarters 444 Sherman Street American red Cross Arie P. Taylor Municipal Ctr 4685 Peoria St City and County of Denver CO0006ZZ - NEW CUSTOMS HOUSE TH STREET GSA Region 8 CO0039ZZ - BYRON ROGERS FED BLDG CTH 1961 STOUT ST GSA Region 8 CO0054ZZ - CESAR CHAVEZ FED BLDG 1244 SPEER BOULEVARD GSA Region 8 CO0061ZZ - ALFRED ARRAJ COURTHOUSE TH STREET GSA Region 8 Colorado Regional Administrative Offices E DAKOTA AVE Kaiser Permanente Denver Financial Center 1775 Sherman Street transwestern Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce 1445 Market St. Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce Department of Personnel and Administration 1313 Sherman State of Colorado Eastside - Human Services 3815 Steele St City and County of Denver FBI Denver 8000 E. 36th Ave. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Governors Center II 600 Grant Cassidy Turley Granite Tower th St. Transwestern Group14 Engineering 1325 East 16th Avenue Group14 Engineering, Inc. Health Care Policy and Financing Office 1570 Grant State of Colorado Kittredge Building th Street Kittredge Properties, Ltd. Lawrence Street Center 1380 Lawrence St University of Colorado Denver Lower Downtown th Street Todd Architecture Metropoint I 4600 S. Ulster CBRE Metropoint II 4610 S. Ulster CBRE Minoru Yasui Bldg 303 W Colfax Ave City and County of Denver Permit Bldg 200 W 14th Ave City and County of Denver Pinnacol Lowry 7501 E Lowry Blvd Pinnacol Assurance Prologis Denver Operational HQ 4545 Airport Way Prologis Quad at Lowry IV 7901 East Lowry Blvd Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center 1300 Broadway Colorado Judicial Deparment RE/MAX World Headquarters 5075 South Syracuse Street RE/MAX International, Inc. Richard T. Castro Building 1200 Federal Blvd City and County of Denver The Citadel 3200 Cherry Creek South Drive Cushman&Wakefield Warren Village 1300 Gilpin Street icast Wellington Webb Bldg 201 W Colfax Avenue City and County of Denver 6

7 Wells Fargo Center 1700 Lincoln St. Beacon Capital Partners, LLC Wewatta Wynkoop 1400 Wewatta Crestone Partners, LLC Other: Ashland Indoor Pool 2501 W Dunkeld Place City and County of Denver Ashland Rec Ctr 2960 Fife Ct City and County of Denver Athmar Park Library 1055 S Tejon St City and County of Denver Aztlan Rec Ctr 4435 Navajo St City and County of Denver Bear Valley Library 5171 W Dartmouth Ave City and County of Denver Blair Caldwell Af-Am Library 2401 Welton St City and County of Denver Broadway Library 33 E Bayaud Ave City and County of Denver Byers Library 675 Santa Fe Dr City and County of Denver Cherry Creek Library 305 Milwaukee St City and County of Denver Children's Outreach Project 8000 Pecos St icast City Park Greenhouse 2600 E 23rd Ave City and County of Denver Court Child Care - Fire Arson Bldg th St City and County of Denver Retail Store: Furniture Row North Broadway 5740 N. Broadway Furniture Row Supermarket/Grocery Store: King Soopers Store #007 Denver 5125 WEST FLORIDA King Soopers King Soopers Store #021 Denver 825 SOUTH COLORADO BLVD King Soopers King Soopers Store #026 Denver 6470 EAST HAMPDEN AVENUE King Soopers / City Market King Soopers Store #035 Denver 890 S MONACO PKWY King Soopers King Soopers Store #072 Denver 2750 SOUTH COLORADO BLVD King Soopers King Soopers Store #083 - Green Valley Town Ranch Center E. 48th Ave. King Soopers King Soopers Store #093 - East 29th Avenue Town Center 2810 Quebec St King Soopers Worship Facility: First Unitarian Society of Denver 1400 Lafayette Street First Unitarian Denver 7

8 Improving Energy Efficiency and ENERGY STAR ratings Improving a building s energy efficiency is a continuous process that involves operating the building more efficiently as well as replacing building systems with more efficient systems when the time is right. The process of improving energy efficiency will be somewhat different in each building, depending on current energy management practices and the age and efficiency of underlying building systems. However, all buildings that improve their energy efficiency will do some combination of the following: 1) Retrocommissioning/re-tuning: Improve operational efficiency Operating a building efficiently requires regularly checking that heating, cooling and ventilation systems are only running when they are needed, that lights are off when sufficient daylight is present or afterhours, that thermostats, sensors and controls are correctly calibrated/programmed and all other equipment in the building is working as designed. These operational efficiencies can be maintained on a continuous basis through the use of technology that automatically detects issues and fixes them. Alternately, if technology isn t in place to automatically detect issues, then a building can periodically go through a re-tuning or retrocommissioning process to systematically evaluate and find opportunities for operational improvements. 2) Energy Audit The first step in making a plan for when to upgrade equipment and systems is to have an energy audit. An energy audit will specify the energy savings and payback that might be expected from replacing building equipment and systems with more energy efficient options. 3) Systems Upgrade Equipment and systems can be replaced either at the end of their useful life, or ahead of schedule if the new equipment will pay back quickly based on the energy savings. Some building systems and equipment may make financial sense to replace immediately because the new equipment will have an attractive payback based on energy savings. Other equipment may make financial sense to wait to be replaced until it reaches its end of useful life, a time at which more energy efficient equipment could be selected. The following section provides a short summary of how some leading buildings have improved their energy performance. For more details on what these buildings did see their full case studies on the Denver City Energy Project website: 1670 Broadway An energy efficiency project at 1670 Broadway is projected to save $128,810 per year in energy costs by installing a new energy-management system (EMS) a system of computer-aided tools used by building operators to monitor, control, and optimize energy performance. Measuring and monitoring building performance is critical to good energy performance, said Judy Purviance-Anderson of Cushman & Wakefield and General Manager of 1670 Broadway. Our new EMS can proactively accommodate and deliver efficient services to the building while assuring system optimization. We ve seen our ENERGY STAR score go up by one point each month since installation. Aria Apartments The Aria Apartments were built to be energy efficient. Energy efficient features include 90% efficient gas furnaces, 73% efficient water heaters, motion sensors in common areas and long-lasting 13W fluorescent bulbs. Energy efficiency and water conservation measures provide low-income residents with access to advanced, efficient technology that will protect them from rising energy and water costs. Rose Companies Management 8

9 uses BrightPowers Energy Score Cards (ESC) program to track energy usage at Aria and across its national portfolio. The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa In the past two years, the Brown Palace has saved 26 percent on its electricity costs and 24 percent on its natural gas costs per occupied room through a three-year façade repair project, HVAC upgrades, hotel culture shifts, and a focus on staff awareness. As a historic building, energy efficiency is one of our greatest opportunities for improvement, says Brenna St. Onge, Sustainability Chair at the Brown Palace. We have found that energy efficiency is one of the best investments a company can make as it keeps giving back year after year. Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce recently completed a series of energy efficiency upgrades on its building at 1445 Market St. to improve its ENERGY STAR score from 45 in 2010 to 80 in The Chamber replaced its rooftop cooling unit and boiler with units that are 40 percent and 60 percent more energy efficient. All lighting was replaced with LED light bulbs, T5 indirect fixtures, occupancy sensors and daylight controls. In addition, the building s pneumatic zone controls were replaced with digital controls. After $17,371 in Xcel Energy rebates, the total cost of the mechanical retrofit was $580,000 ($280,000 over standard efficiency equipment that was at the end of serviceable life). Projected utility savings in electricity and gas is $40,000 annually, resulting in equipment payback over the course of seven years. Marycrest Assisted Living Marycrest houses 161 residents in the 55,000-square-foot Serenity building and the 28,000-square-foot Harmony building. In 2011, the current owner and operator of the facility, the Health Dimensions Group, used to spend over $145,000 per year on energy bills and had many resident complaints about hot and cold spots. Through work with Lightly Treading to improve their energy efficiency they have saved $32,000 per year in energy and saw a huge drop in resident hot/cold complaints. The upgrades included repairs to by-passes in the attic, reconnection of the air conditioning ductwork, blown in ceiling insulation, installing occupancy sensors to turn off 80% of hallway lights, replacement of incandescent lighting with LED s in common areas and CFL s in residential rooms, replacement of original air conditioning units, tinting and glazing on 60% of the building s windows, and a real time monitoring system to track and manage building performance. The upgrades resulted in decreased temperature related resident complaints, and an estimated 400,000 kwh reduced annual consumption, at annual savings of $32,000. Kaiser Permanente: East Medical Office When it was first benchmarked, Kaiser s East Medical Office had an ENERGY STAR score of 64. After energy efficiency improvements, the buildings received a score of 84. Kaiser began the improvement process by installing a new Building Automation System (BAS). Next, it re-commissioned building systems and ensured the correct operation of existing equipment. Then, based off an analysis of BAS data and the re-commissioning report, Kaiser replaced heating, ventilation and cooling systems with more efficient equipment, parking lot bulbs with LED s, implemented energy peak demand reduction, and operational optimization. The company now uses Enforma fault detection and diagnostics software to continuously monitor and troubleshoot. These improvements resulted in annual savings of $38,633 and 326 tons of CO2. Pinnacol Assurance Pinnacol Assurance s pursued significant energy efficiency improvements at their headquarters building starting in In less than two years, the building s ENERGY STAR score improved from 54 to 74, with a projected improvement to 89 once the retrocommissioning and data center improvements are made. The company started with operational improvements (3 month payback), adjusting the air flow, temperature set points, and scheduling of the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems. Next, Pinnacol upgraded to LED lighting (3.5 year payback), performed retrocommissioning (1.5 year payback), and planned data center upgrades. 9

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