Public

Buildings
Portfolio
Management
Implementation Guide
 This work was supported by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) and the US Department of Energy
(DOE) Buildings Technology Office. This guide, an output of NEEA’s Community Buildings Renewal (CBR) project, was
produced by NBI with support from the CBR team, including NEEA, EcoEdge, Maalka, and New Buildings Institute
(NBI). In particular, NBI would like to thank Ken Baker of NEEA for his vision and leadership throughout the project,
Sharon Grant of EcoEdge for her contributions to the development of the Public Buildings Portfolio Management
implementation process and this guide, and Rimas Gulbinas, Clay Teeter, and Wynne Teeter of Maalka for their technical
insights. NBI staff supporting the creation of this guide included Alexi Miller, Mark Frankel, Amy Cortese, Reilly Loveland,
and Kevin Carbonnier.
The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) is an alliance of more than 140 Northwest
utilities and energy efficiency organizations working on behalf of more than 13 million energy
consumers. Through collaboration and pooling of resources, the region’s utilities and stakeholders
have harnessed their collective influence to drive market adoption of energy efficiency products,
services and practices for the benefit of utilities, consumers and the region.
Eco Edge, and its sister company Open Spaces NW, provides consulting on better building
through a belief in people, planet and prosperity. The focus is on people—gathering, guiding
and inspiring. Protecting our planet is a shared belief across all projects that range from strategic energy management
for commercial property portfolios and cities to LEED certification of over 100 homes, neighborhoods and commercial
buildings. The purpose of our work is to generate greater prosperity for our clients, which we define that as well-being
and return-on-investment. Based in the mountains of Idaho, Eco Edge brings a unique perspective to meeting and
charrette facilitation, strategic planning and program development. Sustainability is a way of life.
Maalka is an open platform that is used by cities, asset managers, and banks across the
United States to connect teams to customizable data-driven insights through energy and
sustainability programs. A Department of Commerce NTIS Joint Venture Partner and Wells
Fargo IN2 Company, Maalka works with national leaders like NBI, Architecture2030, and ZGF Architects to develop and
deploy solutions that guide stakeholders towards achieving energy and carbon goals.
New Buildings Institute (NBI) is a nonprofit organization driving better energy performance
in buildings. We work collaboratively with industry market players—governments,
utilities, energy efficiency advocates, and building professionals—to promote advanced design practices, innovative
technologies, public policies, and programs that improve energy efficiency. We also develop and offer guidance and
tools to support the design and construction of energy efficient buildings. Throughout its 20-year history, NBI has
become a trusted and independent resource helping to drive buildings that are better for people and the environment.

2 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

TABLE OF CONTENTS
VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre | Vancouver, BC | Photo: Nic Lehoux

4 INTRODUCTION

6 STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

9 GOAL SETTING AND VISION

11 BENCHMARKING

16 DIAGNOSTICS AND DATA

VISUALIZATION

23 TARGETED FIELD ANALYSIS

25 PLAN DEVELOPMENT

29 IMPLEMENTATION

32 ONGOING MONITORING AND

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

33 FINANCING

35 CONCLUSION

36 RESOURCES

Cover Photo: City of Tacoma

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 3

 INTRODUCTION
Boise, ID | Photo: Bob Young

Many communities have or are considering policies and programs to

address climate change. They understand that buildings represent a
critical element of these policies, since buildings comprise more than
40 percent of energy use and account for more than 38 percent of U.S.
carbon emissions.1 Improving municipal building performance represents
a unique opportunity to lead the community by demonstrating exemplary
performance in the public building portfolio.

Leading by example involves a strategic approach to energy efficiency

in public building portfolios. Decision-makers have a strong business
case for investing in continuous energy management. Their actions can
increase facility asset value, reduce operating costs, demonstrate sound
fiscal management, and create local jobs while increasing comfort,
productivity, and satisfaction for building occupants. Through better energy
management in their own portfolio, public owners can manage potential
risks of rising energy costs and the impacts of climate change.

This Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide outlines

a process to help staff engage stakeholders, set tangible goals, target
opportunities, and develop a plan to achieve deep and ongoing energy
reductions in public building portfolios. The Public Buildings Portfolio
Management process coordinates activities across departments and
establishes clear financial objectives and communication protocols. This
framework is applicable to any city, county, regional government, state
agency, or school district interested in saving on operating costs, reducing
emissions, and leading by example in their community.

Hood River Middle School Zero

Energy Music and Science Building |
Hood River, OR
Photo: Michael Mathers

1 Energy consumption Information from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Frequently Asked Questions. Accessed Jan. 4, 2016. Greenhouse gas emissions data from
EPA U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report: 1990-2013.

4 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

The Public Buildings Portfolio Management Process
Public Buildings Portfolio Management is a long-term approach to energy
efficiency in public building portfolios. With the overarching community
vision in mind, the process begins by engaging the right stakeholders and
collecting information about current practices and policies in the city or
district. Benchmarking allows for the comparison of the measured energy
performance of buildings to themselves, their peers within the portfolio, or
best in class buildings of that same type. Remote diagnostics can uncover
opportunities and focus limited auditing resources on high priority and
known problem areas across the portfolio. This is followed with targeted
field analysis and the development of a strategic plan that n that prioritizes
opportunities across the portfolio. Ongoing monitoring and communication
of results help to ensure the goals and objectives of the plan are effectively
tracked and results communicated back to key public decision makers. This
document outlines key components of the process as outlined in the spiral
figure.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 5

 STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
2016 Getting to Zero Nation Forum | Denver, CO

The first step in the process is identifying and engaging municipal building
stakeholders. This raises awareness and understanding of the value of
energy management in a public building portfolio as well as the relationship
of municipal building performance to broader policy goals. When high
level officials, like City Council or School Board members, understand the
benefits and the significance of energy costs in the general fund budget,
they are more likely to support the effort by allocating resources to develop
and implement the plan. When department heads and building operators
have clear information about how well their buildings are performing and are
given strategies to track and improve performance, they are more likely to
manage their buildings more effectively.

The Energy Team and Energy Champion

A cross-departmental energy team can ensure that each aspect of
Public Buildings Portfolio Management is addressed. Often, the Director
of Sustainability or the Resource Conservation Manager serves as the
energy champion, an overall point person who coordinates the effort. An
integrated team of stakeholders often includes representatives from each
department including the following areas:

• Department decision makers (e.g., Police/Fire, Parks and Recreation, etc.)

• Public Works and/or Facilities (including building managers and
maintenance staff)
• New Construction Master Planning
• Sustainability
• Information Technology
• Energy Policies and/or Codes
• Finance representative or decision maker
• Communications
• Executive representative (e.g., Mayor or City Manager’s office)

6 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Energy Team Meetings Gap Analysis

Regular meetings with the energy team are important to discuss projects, One useful activity is for the energy
compare lessons learned, and share success stories across departments team is to conduct a gap analysis
regardless of traditional operational or budgetary divisions. Establishing that compares existing policies
this formal mechanism for conversations and communications among and processes to best-in-class
city departments and staff in the context of energy performance can lead practices used by other cities,
to significant new initiatives, ideas, and approaches that support broad counties and school districts
progress toward city goals. around the country. These might
include procurement policies,
Through this process staff members, some new to energy management, equipment efficiency standards,
become empowered in efforts to reduce energy use. Those involved in benchmarking and disclosure
facility management, renovations or new construction might share best policies, operational policies,
practices that can be leveraged elsewhere in the city or school district. and more. Operational policies
Involving the Information Technology (IT) group can lead to impactful are important because occupant
reductions in energy consumption because networked devices, servers, behavior often is a major driver
and other IT equipment typically use a significant amount of energy and of building energy use. This
may offer scalable efficiency opportunities. The presence of the finance comparison is often very useful to
department is critical to help establish Return on Investment (ROI) criteria. identify what opportunities exist,
allowing jurisdictions to bridge the
Many cities and other organizations have found that meeting monthly or gap between current practice and
quarterly is efficient and productive. In some cases, it may make the most best practice. Leveraging examples
sense to have a smaller group meet monthly and report out to a larger of other leaders offers the benefit of
group quarterly or annually. When establishing meeting schedules and being able to follow an established
invitees, consider budget cycles and facilities master planning process path and learn from the experience
timelines to ensure that energy is considered at the optimal time in the of the trailblazers.
process to allow for effective implementation.

Communicating Results
Communicating results is a key responsibility of the energy team and
champion. At least annually, the team should provide a progress report
update to high level officials. In addition, representatives from the staff energy
team might report back to others, such as external committees established
to support livability, sustainability, and/or planning. For example, Ketchum,
Idaho has a volunteer Energy Advisory Committee made up of citizens with
expertise in energy, and Missoula, Montana has a Climate Smart Missoula
initiative where city staff regularly participate along with private sector
representatives.

Workshop Participants | Cambridge, MA

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 7

 Stakeholder Drivers
Various stakeholders involved in the Public Buildings Portfolio Management process have different drivers that impact
how they make decisions. Knowing these drivers is helpful to consider when developing a rationale that best resonates
with key decision-makers. Following are some stakeholders and a short explanation of their priorities to consider:

Stakeholder Driver
City Council Priorities: Quality services, fiscal responsibility, citizen partnership,
Elected city council members are the primary decision community pride, community partnerships, community livability
maker for city facilities. They routinely seek input Votes and support of City Council members represent final decisions
from the community, city staff, and a wide-range of critical to city operations, city budgets and facilities.
consultants in decision-making and report back to
the Mayor.

School Board Priorities: Education, 21st century skill development, fiscal

Elected school board members are the primarily responsibility, sustainability, positive school culture, social equity,
decision maker for school districts and school facilities. community engagement, on time project delivery, accountability,
They routinely seek input from the community, student growth.
students, staff, and a wide-range of consultants in Votes of school board members represent final decisions on many
decision-making. topics critical to school facilities.

Facilities Department Priorities: Dependable operation, ease of maintenance & operations,

The operation and maintenance of safe, healthy and avoiding or addressing deferred maintenance, meeting budgets, safe
functioning city buildings is the responsibility of the environments, healthy environments, staff availability and allocation.
Facilities Director. The Facilities Director may manage Typically, the Facilities Director participates on the Long Range
a group of staff that generally includes a team of Planning / Facilities Master Plan development as part of the
Facilities Managers who are deployed across the city Leadership Team, alongside other stakeholders. While they are
to various facilities to address specific maintenance interested in energy, they are more interested in maintaining healthy
issues and custodians. and safe built environments. Their buy-in on new systems is critical to
energy outcomes.

Sustainability Director, Energy Manager Priorities: Energy/water conservation, emissions and waste
Sustainability staff often work in association with reductions, healthy environments, upgrading facilities, reducing
staff and community members on a variety of “green” utility bills, social equity, community engagement, city pride,
projects including energy efficiency upgrades. Some accountability, community growth, resilience.
cities additionally have an energy manager that may Sustainability managers and energy managers hold critical
work to tie the sustainability department to the facilities information to understanding savings that come from
department through energy management and analysis. conservation practices. They are very important to bring
into the conversation early.

Department Leads Priorities: Depend on the particular department (parks, fire,

Department leads are responsible to council/Mayor on police, education, etc.), but generally they are focused on achieving
individual department performance and budgets. They department-level goals within allocated budgets.
may set building maintenance and upgrade priorities Department leads are responsible for making decisions related
and/or deploy staff and building resources. to day-to-day operational policies as well as capital investment
planning for their facilities.

8 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 GOAL SETTING
AND VISION Zero Net Energy Center | San Leandro, CA | Photo: FCGA Architecture

Many communities have already defined their long term vision and goals. The
vision may be regarding community livability, air quality or climate protection.
If so, the aim of Public Buildings Portfolio Management is to identify the role
and opportunity that the public building portfolio represents to help meet
these goals.

More and more communities are establishing goals specifically related to

climate. Sometimes they reference voluntary standards such as the STAR
Communities program, the 2030 Challenge, or the Paris Accord (see
Resources section). Others have their own reduction targets and timeline.
For example, the City of Boise, Idaho has set a goal for all new construction
and major renovations to be net zero by 2030 and for existing buildings to
achieve a 50% reduction in energy use on average by 2030 compared to the
baseline of 2010.

Setting more aggressive timelines for public buildings is a key demonstration

of leadership-by-example. For example, the State of California also has “Big
Bold Energy Efficiency Strategies” including: zero net-energy residential
new construction by 2020, zero net-energy commercial new construction
by 2030 and net zero in 50% of existing buildings by 2030. To demonstrate
leadership-by-example, the timelines for these goals have been accelerated
for state facilities. The California Department of General Services has a clear
policy that all newly constructed state buildings and major renovations must
be constructed to be zero net energy starting in 2017.

Goal Setting
Goals define the path to success. Goals should be specific as to whether
they impact the portfolio or the community. During the Public Buildings
Portfolio Management planning, the energy team provides context on how
public building energy consumption relates to the overall community goals.
Part of the process is to understand how much energy savings is possible
in public buildings and what proportion of savings this represents across the
entire community.

Goals require clear ways to measure progress toward achievement, both

in metrics (what) and methods (how). “SMART” (Specific, Measurable,
Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound) is a helpful acronym to keep in mind
when setting goals. In addition, interim targets break long timeframes into
realistic segments and allow for celebrating successes along the way.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 9

 When working with How will public buildings lead by How can efforts build resiliency
example? in the community?
the energy team to
• Benchmark energy use for all • Aim for zero energy
establish goals for buildings owned, leased or performance on your next new
public buildings, managed by the city, state, or construction or major retrofit
here is a list of school district. project
• Adopt a portfolio-wide energy • Invest in electric vehicle
considerations for reduction target over a baseline charging stations
discussion. year for energy and emissions • Convert vehicle fleets to low-
savings energy and alternative fuels
• Establish building specific • Incorporate renewable energy
energy targets for various sources into projects
building types in the portfolio
• Support the de-carbonization of
• Establish new construction the grid
standards and guidelines for
existing building retrofits, both How will this engage the
operational and capital for all community?
public buildings
• Publically disclose public
• Review plans, policies building energy use data
and practices to uncover
• Report annually on progress
opportunities to incorporate
toward climate goals.
energy efficiency
• Educate the public on the
• Establish financial Return on
process
Investment criteria and consider
life cycle costs in investment • Involve citizens in an Energy
decisions or Climate Advisory Group to
consider how to further engage
• Highlight buildings and
the community
processes that are already
setting a good example • Celebrate success with
leadership awards for
buildings, individuals or teams
that demonstrate exemplary
performance in the community

Community Engagement Workshop | Cambridge, MA

10 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 BENCHMARKING West Berkeley Public Library | Berkeley, CA | Photo: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Building energy benchmarking can lead to energy and cost savings Benchmarking is the process of
for building owners. Fundamentally, benchmarking involves tracking accounting for and comparing a
a building’s energy performance over time, including grid-purchased metered building’s current energy
electricity, onsite renewable generation, natural gas, district energy, and performance with its energy
delivered fuels. Municipalities and school districts benchmark facilities baseline. Benchmarking allows
in order to better understand their building stock, identify operational for comparison of a building’s
opportunities, and arrest performance drift. This can be done for individual performance over time as well
buildings or at the portfolio level to compare energy use or gauge as with similar types of buildings
performance in the marketplace. Non-building assets, such as wastewater whether they are within the
treatment plants, airports, swimming pools, and streetlights, can also portfolio or across the industry.
benefit from benchmarking (see Resources section for further guidance on Benchmarking is also useful to
the energy impacts of these process-driven facilities). document and recognize top
performers.
Tracking building energy use over time can help identify the impacts of
operational changes such as set points or lighting controls, maintenance
work or capital improvements. Buildings benchmarked over a 3-year
period showed an average of 2.4% annual savings in energy, according to
information from the US EPA ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager™ (ESPM)
program. Ultimately, benchmarking can lead to informed decision making
for building owners and operators, portfolio holders, building tenants, and
policy makers.

A study of 35,000 buildings that benchmarked energy

data using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool
showed an average percent savings of 7.2% over three
years, or 2.4% per year. The impact was greater for
certain building types, including offices and schools.
Source: Energy Star Data Trends, Benchmarking and
Energy Savings, October 2012.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 11

 A variety of tools are available on the market for energy tracking and
benchmarking. Energy Star Portfolio Manager has the greatest market penetration.
ESPM is a free tool that can be used to track data, generate reports, set goals, and
effectively overview any number of buildings across many different building types.
Tracking with ESPM can extend beyond energy to water, waste and greenhouse
gas emissions (although not, as of 2018, street lights). Commercial buildings in
cities with disclosure ordinances typically mandate ESPM to report and track
energy consumption.

Energy Use Intensity (EUI) is a metric that defines in the total energy use per building square foot. This includes
energy consumption from all sources (grid-delivered and onsite-generated electricity, natural gas, district energy,
and delivered fuels) in thousands of British Thermal Units (kBtu) per year and is divided by the building size in gross
square feet. The metric for EUI is written as kBtu/sf/year.

Note that there are two types of EUI: Site EUI

and Source EUI. The difference has to do
with whether the generation, transmission, and
distribution losses associated with delivering
usable energy to the site are included or ignored.

Site EUI is calculated with the total energy

use of the building at the meter, regardless of
the source. Natural gas, electricity, and solar
PV are all converted to one unit (kBtu) and
counted together.

Source EUI takes into account the total

upstream energy the building consumes,
which means it’s always larger or equal to the
site EUI. The exact difference between the
site and source EUI is a function of the fuel
mix delivered to the building, as well as the Example: US Median Office Building EUI
building’s location. Different regions of the Source EUI: 148 kBtu/sf/year
country have varying energy sources. Site EUI: 67 kBtu/sf/year

Source: Energy Star Portfolio Manager

12 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 Benchmarking with ESPM involves the following steps:

1 a. Create a user profile.

Set up a Portfolio b. Review the Benchmarking Starter Kit and other Portfolio Manager Training
Manager Account Materials.

a. Inventory all buildings and key characteristics.

2 b. Identify where energy data will come from (utility bills, spreadsheet, automatic
upload)
Collect Required Data
on Buildings in the c. Identify energy meters and match them to each building. Seek out and identify
Portfolio cases with multiple meters per building or multiple meters on site.
d. Gather data for delivered fuels, if any (e.g. fuel oil).

a. Add property data and building characteristics for each building. Review the
3 Technical Reference Guide for more information about data entry and building
parameters.
Enter Building
Characteristics and b. Energy data may be entered using a batch upload or one building at a time.
Energy Data for all Portfolio Manager provides excel templates for batch uploads. Alternately, users
Properties can enter data directly online. Finally, some utilities can transfer data directly from
the utility to PM.

a. Once building data is complete, ESPM will graph building energy use and show
the EUI and Energy Star Score.
b. Confirm that energy usage patterns are accurate and that information is correct.
4 This typically includes linking meters to properties, checking for energy and
Evaluate Results building characteristic data errors, gaps, and abnormalities, and aligning ESPM
and QC to the master building list. Maalka, a partner company, has developed an open
source Data Quality Tool to help communities with this task.
c. Using these monthly and annual comparisons, identify baselines of energy use to
help in formalizing energy goals and tracking progress.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 13

 Energy Data Collection
Establishing a process for collecting energy data often requires significantly
more effort than originally expected. Ultimately, the energy champion
is responsible for ensuring that the building list is complete and that
benchmarking data is accurate. By working with individual department
directors, the champion can ensure that all buildings in the portfolio are
listed on the building inventory.

An Energy Manager or other sustainability staff member can coordinate

with the local utility to collect bill information. However, if there isn’t an
Energy Manager on staff, this role might be filled with a committed energy
team member or an intern. The Americorps Energy Corps and Volunteers in
Service to America (VISTA) programs (see Resources) are good resources
for cities interested in finding medium-term volunteer staff.

It is critical to have the utility on board during the early stages of the
process. Utility staff can be helpful in gathering and transferring utility bill
data into tools like ESPM. Many utilities have an automatic data transfer
protocol. However, even when this is the case, care must be taken to
ensure that meters are associated with the correct building and that all
meters in that building are represented. Having utility staff involved can also
be critical to staying up to date about current incentives and other utility
resources. In one case, a city discovered during an energy team meeting
that the local utility’s lighting incentives were being discontinued, which
gave them a limited time opportunity to submit all lighting upgrade incentive
applications.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management

Success Story
Boise, ID

City Size: 64 Square Miles such as LED street lights, interior

City Population: 228,930 (2016) lighting retrofits and fleet improve-
Median Income: $54,535 ments. As time went on, it became
Number of City Facilities: 53 increasingly clear that existing
ASHRAE Climate Zone: 6B buildings with aging equipment
and infrastructure represented a
Since 2006 Boise has imple- tremendous opportunity for energy
mented a number of approaches savings. The city realized that more
to reduce energy consumption in carefully managing their own build-
their own city operations. Many ing portfolio would be the way to
of the early energy conservation demonstrate leadership-by-exam-
Fire Station 8 | Boise, ID
Image: Cole Architects measures were “low-hanging fruit,” ple in their community.

14 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Master Facility Equipment List
Creating and maintaining a master list of all facility equipment helps
department heads, facilities and operations staff, and planners anticipate
future needs and align building upgrades with maintenance requirements.
Centrally tracking existing equipment, including age and condition,
enables and streamlines the implementation of equipment efficiency and
performance standards.

Replacing equipment before it fails can yield benefits and avoid major
problems. Utility HVAC incentive programs often pay substantially higher
incentives for early replacement (that is, replacement of equipment that
is still working) as opposed to replacement on burnout. This provides
a financial incentive to replace (and upgrade) equipment that is near
the end of its life rather than waiting for units to fail. Replacing units
Turkey Foot Middle School Rainwater
early can minimize maintenance and repair cost and also avoids last- Catchment System | Edgewood, KY
minute expensive emergency equipment repairs and replacements. Key Photo: Piaskowy and Cooper Architects
components of a facility equipment list are:
This is the kind of equipment
• Existing Equipment • Anticipated Replacement often included in a Facility
ºº Location (facility) Equipment, by facility Equipment List:
ºº Type, model, description, etc. ºº Location (facility)
• Rooftop HVAC Units and
ºº Capacity (e.g. tons of cooling, ºº Type, model, etc. air handlers
kBtu/hr of heating) ºº Capacity • Boilers, furnaces, air
ºº Unit Age or date installed ºº Efficiency/Performance Level conditioners
ºº Anticipated Life (total and ºº Scheduled Installation • Pumps and fans
remaining) • Building management systems
and other controls
In some cases, if a building is a good candidate for a deep retrofit that includes
a change in the HVAC system type (e.g. rooftop units to radiant distribution
systems), planned replacement equipment may not be one-for-one.

With help from the Northwest folio Manager to benchmark a total to work on efforts on an ongoing
Energy Efficiency Alliance of 50 buildings. As a result of these basis. Additionally, City Council
(NEEA), the City of Boise took efforts, the city is now focusing on went beyond the previous target
a comprehensive approach to 17 high-priority buildings. of LEED Silver and established
improving energy efficiency in an aggressive EUI target for their
the city’s municipal portfolio. The Driven by cultural and organi- new fire station: 27 kBtu/sf/year.
team created a plan that laid out zational evolution, the city has Fire Station 8 is now in operation
clear tracking metrics, including established formal mechanisms and performing well. The building
Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for communications among city is prepared to add solar as funds
targets by building type. departments and staff in the con- become available.
text of energy performance. The
The team used Energy Star Port- city has committed about 1.5 FTE

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 15

 DIAGNOSTICS AND
DATA VISUALIZATION
Diagnostic Analysis
Simply benchmarking a group of buildings, in and of itself, will not achieve
energy and emissions reduction goals. Visualization and analytical tools can
help transform this data into actionable information – and provide insights
to inform the Public Buildings Portfolio Management Plan. The conceptual
framework of this approach starts with a broad view of energy across
the portfolio, zooms into individual buildings, and brings building-level
diagnostic results back up to the portfolio level.

Portfolio-Level Data Visualization

Gathering energy use and building data in one place – that is,
benchmarking a group of buildings – enables simple, easy-to-understand
portfolio-level data visualization. The following charts show a few of the
many ways to visualize portfolio-wide energy data.

The treemap diagram below shows the proportion of total city energy
consumption by various individual buildings and building types. This
quick snapshot of building energy use helps the energy team understand
the relative impact of different facility types and departments on total
portfolio building energy use. Diagrams like this help with evaluating
upgrade opportunities with potential to achieve the most significant
energy-use reductions.

Relative Energy Use of

Buildings in a Sample City
POLICE Portfolio
STATIONS
WASTEWATER Each small rectangle in this
TREATMENT LIBRARY THEATER treemap diagram represents a
single building. The size of each
rectangle is representative of
that building’s share of all energy
FIRE use portfolio-wide. Buildings of
STATIONS
the same type are color-coded
into a shared box. In this case
it is immediately apparent that
REPAIR OTHER
SHOPS the wastewater treatment plant
PARKING
FACILITIES (upper left, purple) and the parking
facilities (lower left, grey) together
OFFICES PUBLIC
SERVICES account for about a third of total
STORAGE
FACILITIES
energy consumption across all
MUSEUM city buildings.

16 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Adding building size and relative energy intensities into the visualization can
help bring the picture into clearer focus. The following chart shows building
size, annual energy consumption, and Energy Use Intensity (EUI) for the
same group of buildings that is shown in the treemap on the previous page.
Analyzing buildings based on their relative EUI can help:

• Identify poor performers

• Identify exemplary performers
• Determine to what extent building size is driving energy use
• Recognize the relative impacts of potential improvements in particular
buildings
• Compare building performance to national, regional, or customized
benchmark EUIs

160 Fire Station

Police Station
140 Museum
Library
Office
120 Assembly
Other
Wastewater Treatment
Measured EUI (kBtu/sf)

100 Non-Refrigerated Warehouse

Other - Public Services
Parking
80
Repair Services

60

40

20

0
0K 20K 40K 60K 80K 100K 120K 140K 160K 180K 200K 220K
Building Size (sf)

Energy Use Intensity, Size, and Total Energy Use of Buildings in City
Portfolio

This bubble chart shows three building performance characteristics for each
building. Larger buildings are to the right side of the figure (x-axis), and more
energy-intensive buildings are farther up on the figure (y-axis). The size of
each bubble indicates its total energy consumption: buildings with larger
bubbles, such as the wastewater treatment plant (purple), have higher energy
consumption.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 17

 Weather normalization is a The preceding two charts showed one year’s metered energy usage across
process used to adjust energy a portfolio of buildings. The following chart shows another way to look at
usage data to account for yearly the same basic data. In this case, we see both weather normalized EUI and
differences due to weather. This is weather normalized total energy consumption for all facilities in a sample
important when comparing data school district. The EUI chart (left) can help identify buildings that are not
from one year to a preceding or performing as well as their peers. The total energy use chart can help
following year, as is common when identify which buildings account for the largest shares of total energy use.
tracking performance against a Looking at both these data points at the same time is very helpful to identify
goal. It is also helpful to compare top energy consumers and potential candidates for upgrades.
one city’s buildings to a peer group
in another climate zone.

Weather Normalized Building EUI Weather Normalized Building Total Energy Usage
Elementary School 1 Elementary School 1

Elementary School 2 Elementary School 2

Elementary School 3 Elementary School 3

Elementary School 4 Elementary School 4

Elementary School 5 Elementary School 5

Middle School 1 Middle School 1

Middle School 2 Middle School 2

Middle School 3 Middle School 3

High School High School

Alternative High School Alternative High School

Technical School Technical School

K-12 School K-12 School

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 8080
Site EUI (kBtu/sf-year)
Site Energy Consumption (MMBtu/year)

Relative and Total Energy Use for Buildings in a School Portfolio

These charts show EUI (left chart) and total energy consumption (right chart) for
all schools in a school district. Elementary School #1 has a significantly higher
EUI than the other elementary schools, but is responsible for a relatively small
amount of the total district-wide energy use. On the other hand, the High School
has far and away the highest overall energy consumption and also has the
highest EUI.

18 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Building-Level Diagnostics
Remote diagnostics offer a way to further analyze benchmarking
data in each building to uncover high priority opportunities for energy
improvements without expensive sub-metering.

Energy Signatures
One useful way to visualize and evaluate energy patterns and trends is
to use a graph called an Energy Signature. An energy signature is a plot
of energy use at various outside air temperatures that provides a rough
idea of how energy is used in the building at various weather conditions
throughout the year. As expected, buildings use more energy when it is
very cold or very hot outside than they do in more temperate conditions.
Energy signatures can be developed using basic information: monthly
utility bills, building size, and basic weather data. This chart shows an
energy signature generated by plotting total energy usage (electric and
gas are combined here) against the average outside air temperature for
each month of the year.

Building Energy Signature

This energy signature converts one year’s worth of utility bill data (kWh for
electricity and therms for gas) into common units of kBtu, then plots total monthly
kBtu energy usage against the average outside air temperature for each month.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 19

 A variety of software tools, including NBI’s FirstView,® can be used to
remotely disaggregate benchmarking data into energy end uses and
identify building-level opportunities. These virtual energy audits have
become an important low-cost tool to define a prioritized list of buildings
that deserve a walk-through building assessment. FirstView uses an
algorithmic multivariable regression analysis to generate a physical model
of the building and identify how much of the building’s energy consumption
is associated with weather-dependent end uses (heating and cooling) or
weather-independent end uses (lighting, plug loads, water heating, etc.).
By comparing each building to reference benchmark values based on a
large database of previously analyzed buildings, automated diagnostic
recommendations are available to help identify areas of opportunity by end
use in each building.

This FirstView output chart

shows disaggregated energy
by end use for a sample
building. In this case, heating
clearly accounts for most
energy use in the colder
months of the year, while
cooling is a significantly
smaller load overall, even
in summer. The month of
lowest consumption based
on meter data is used to
estimate electric and natural
gas (thermal) baseloads.

Portfolio-Level Diagnostics
Once buildings across the portfolio have been evaluated, and opportunities
for operational and capital improvements have been identified, it is helpful
to combine the results of those analyses into a broader view at the
portfolio level. It can be useful to evaluate groups of similar buildings or city
departments, as well as to evaluate all buildings across the entire portfolio.

Peer Building Comparisons

Building type and use influence energy use enormously. It is helpful to
compare buildings to their peers: libraries can be compared to other
libraries, fire stations to other fire stations, etc. In many cases these
comparisons can be conducted at the department level. Many municipal
departments include groups of peer buildings (e.g. fire stations). Cities,
school districts, and other public building owners often have separate
decision-makers for individual departments. Therefore, department-level
comparisons can be helpful because they help streamline the analysis for
a particular decision-maker.

20 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

This chart shows the energy signatures of five police stations compared
to the range of typical performance for police stations based on NBI’s
database. The yellow shaded area shows the middle two quartiles for police
stations. This is known as a comparison spectrum.

Outside Air Temp (°F)

911 Center
450
Police HQ
Police Services
400
Police Station 1
Police Station 3
Modeled Energy Use (kBtu/sf)

350
Police Station Comparison Spectrum

300

250

200

150

100

50

0
5 °F

10 °F

15 °F

20 °F

25 °F

30 °F

35 °F

40 °F

45 °F

50 °F

55 °F

60 °F

65 °F

70 °F

75 °F

80 °F

85 °F

90 °F

95 °F
These five police stations’ energy signature lines tell a story of widely varying
energy performance among the department’s facilities. The steep slope of
the Police Station 1 energy signature (black line) indicates that the building
is more sensitive to cold weather than its peers. FirstView and similar remote
energy auditing tools can help flag potential problems with the building’s air-
tightness, insulation, heating system, or ventilation rates. On the other hand,
Police Station 3 (green line) uses less energy than the comparison spectrum
throughout the year. As a top energy performer year-round, this building
may be a good place to look to find exemplary operations, practices and
equipment.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 21

 End Use Disaggregation at the Portfolio Scale
The following graph shows the results of energy end-use disaggregation
for a portfolio of office buildings. Potential opportunities at the building
level stand out quickly. For instance, one building (circled in red) has an
EUI very near the portfolio median value, and would likely not stand out
on an EUI basis alone, but apparently has a much higher heating load
than its peers. Similarly, three buildings (circled in grey) show unusually
high thermal baseload usage and it may be worth looking for drivers of
year-round natural gas usage in those buildings (hot water recirculation
or HVAC reheat, for instance). The purpose of this analysis is to help
prioritize building assessments in order to be strategic about energy
efficiency investments.

Bldg. 1 Electric Baseload

Bldg. 2
Bldg. 3 Top Heating
Bldg. 4 Performers
Bldg. 5
Cooling
Bldg. 6
Bldg. 7
Bldg. 8 Thermal Baseload
Bldg. 9
Bldg. 10 Median Office EUI,
Bldg. 11 CBECS 2012
Bldg. 12
Bldg. 13
Bldg. 14
Bldg. 15
Bldg. 16
Heating
Bldg. 17
Opportunity
Bldg. 18
Bldg. 19
Bldg. 20
Bldg. 21
Bldg. 22
Thermal Baseload
Bldg. 23 Opportunity
Bldg. 24
Bldg. 25
Bldg. 26 High Electric Baseload
Bldg. 27 (Data Centers)
Bldg. 28
Bldg. 29

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

Site EUI - kBtu/sf/year

Disaggregated Energy End Use Data across the Portfolio: Examining

disaggregated energy end use data for a group of buildings can help identify
candidates for further investigation, including building assessments, and can
improve the effectiveness of building assessments by identifying likely areas of
opportunities.

22 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 TARGETED
FIELD ANALYSIS West Berkeley Library | Berkeley, CA | Image: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Once a portfolio of buildings has been analyzed and trends identified,

the next step is to prioritize candidates for further investigation. Many
considerations, not all related to energy consumption, influence the
Here is the basic recommended
timing and scope of potential energy upgrades. System maintenance and
approach:
replacement issues, comfort and life safety issues and other factors can
trigger opportunities for ECMs. Combining energy performance analysis 1. Identify top candidate buildings/
with broader issues can leverage funding to serve multiple needs in the assets for assessment
portfolio, and make energy upgrades more likely and cost-effective when a. Identify top candidates for
combined with other projects. There are prime opportunities for rolling deep retrofits (bringing up
ECMs into other projects such as deferred maintenance, equipment end-of- the rear)
life, new construction or major renovations. b. Identify top candidates for
zero energy retrofits or new
Using diagnostics to target specific buildings and subsystems can construction (leading the
substantially reduce the scope and cost of building assessments. Generally way)
speaking, it is a more efficient and effective use of time and money to
2. Perform deeper facility
target a limited number of buildings based on the priority levels rather
assessments (e.g. energy audits)
than conducting in-depth assessments of every facility in a portfolio.
across prioritized buildings
This strategic prioritization can help decision makers determine where
to perform building assessments that will identify concrete, actionable 3. Upgrade buildings based on
improvements at the facility level. deeper facility assessments

All Systems
One and System
System Interactions
Breadth of Audit
Low-Cost
and No-Cost
Options
Level I
Depth of Audit

As the depth and breadth of an audit

Level II increase, so do the costs. Consider
results from benchmarking data
analysis as well as other factors when
deciding what type of energy audit
to perform in each targeted facility.
Level III Major Capital Source: Advanced Energy Retrofit
Investments Guide for K-12 Schools (2013).

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 23

 Facility Assessments
While it is sometimes possible to identify energy savings opportunities
based only on the diagnostic tools described in the Diagnostics section
above, in many cases the next step is an in-depth targeted assessment.
Facility assessments vary in depth, and ASHRAE (American Society of
Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) provides well-
respected standards for three levels of building audits, which can be an
important analysis tool when scoping major building retrofit projects:

• Level 1 is a simple walk-through to identify low-cost/no-cost energy

conservation measures (ECMs).
• Level 2 involves a detailed building survey, breakdown of energy use,
and savings/cost analysis of ECMs.
• Level 3 focuses on capital-intensive projects and includes more rigorous
engineering analysis with a higher level of accuracy on cost and savings
calculations.

The goal of diagnostics is to identify the subset of buildings that are good
candidates for this level of effort, rather than spending significant resources
auditing a wide range of buildings. It is also common that there are
cost-sharing opportunities for energy audits through entities such
as local utilities. Advanced energy audits can also include building an
energy model of the building. This can be useful if major upgrades are being
considered and there is a desire to weigh multiple options to determine
those upgrades that have the best return on investment.

Targeted Submetering
After a facility assessment is conducted, in some cases an energy
auditor or other technical expert may recommend targeted submetering.
This typically involves the installation of on-site system-level monitoring
equipment, as well as deeper performance analysis to identify specific
system failures that are driving poor performance issues. Potential
applications of targeted submetering include identifying specific equipment
that may be driving high energy usage (for instance, HVAC unit controls
and sequencing problems) or investigating performance issues in specific
systems. It is important to first investigate obvious issues in any system
suspected of causing poor performance. For example, in a rooftop HVAC
unit these might include broken actuators or other components, stuck
dampers, frozen coils, dirty filters, obvious leaks, or missing insulation.

Submetering should be mainly reserved for buildings with issues that cannot
Submetered Circuits | University of be resolved through analysis and remote diagnostics. Because this work
California at Merced
tends to be relatively costly and time consuming, potential submetering
instances should be discussed and approved by the energy team or another
jurisdictional decision maker. Submetering equipment such as flow meters,
power and temperature loggers may be available from a tool lending library at
a local utility or from the Integrated Design Labs in the Pacific Northwest.

24 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 PLAN
DEVELOPMENT
Bishop O’Dowd High School Center for Environmental Studies | Oakland, CA | Photo: David Wakely Photography

The purpose of gathering data, benchmarking, performing analytics,

prioritizing opportunities, and performing targeted facility assessments is to
build an informed, coherent, and reliable basis for the Facility Improvement
Plan. The template plan provides a solid beginning, but each city, county,
school district, or other jurisdiction will have unique goals, targets, facilities,
and considerations. The process should ensure that decision makers feel
ownership and are committed to implementing the plan. This can go a long
way toward ensuring that the effort is successful.

Integrating Facilities Master Planning

and Decision Makers
Building energy benchmarking and analytics are not done in a vacuum.
Cities, counties, school districts, and other jurisdictions generally have
existing master facilities plans, budgets, planning teams, and other
existing framework elements. It is important to consider this framework
at the jurisdictional, not just departmental, level. Developing a simple
organizational chart (org chart) can be helpful to clarify who is responsible
for budget and decision-making for specific buildings.

Just as the energy team may begin a new series of meetings or may use
existing meetings and add agenda items, the Public Buildings Portfolio
Management plan may be a new document or may be a feature added
into existing master planning and other framework elements. In either case,
it is important that the plan be based on reliable data (e.g. benchmarking
data) and help the jurisdiction set and achieve their Specific, Measurable,
Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound goals.

Target Setting
A common and often successful way to align broad organizational
goals and specific facility-level operations is to set EUI-based targets by
building type (police stations, fire stations, offices, community centers,
etc.) across the portfolio.

ASHRAE Standard 100 (see Resources) is a good resource for EUI targets
differentiated by building type and climate zone. Setting performance
goals by department can help ensure apples-to-apples comparisons
by building type. It also allows for comparisons between departments,
which is typically how jurisdictions such as cities structure management.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 25

 Intermediate milestone targets at two to five year intervals are often helpful
in maintaining and measuring progress.

This graph shows how a selection

of buildings in a portfolio are
performing compared to overall
energy reduction targets.

The framework for measuring progress against these targets will influence
how progress is measured. If reductions are based on site energy (e.g.
EUI), simply tracking utility bills can suffice to measure whether goals are
achieved. If reductions are based on carbon emissions or source energy,
some minor calculations will be required. These types of ongoing tracking
and reporting tasks can be automated by web-based platforms, ideally the
same platforms used to track benchmarking data.

SAMPLE Goals for 2015 2017 2020 2025

This table shows existing Existing Buildings Target Target Target Target
departmental or jurisdictional
buildings goals and targets for a
Upgrade city facilities to maximize 10% 30% 50% Carbon
sample city.
energy savings and reduce loads reduction reduction reduction Neutral

Install on-site renewable energy 0% 0% 10% 15%

Purchase renewable energy credits 5%

Cumulative energy savings 10% 30% 40% 80%

Most energy reporting disclosure ordinances around the country use

Energy Star Portfolio Manager as the main data repository and reporting
tool, and public and private entities around the country have embraced
ESPM as a way to track the performance of their buildings. Consider add-
on tools such as Maalka (a development partner, at www.maalka.com)
to augment the capabilities of ESPM or other platforms in terms of data
visualization, tracking performance against goals, embedded analytics,
and automated reporting.

26 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Prioritization
It is helpful to schedule a prioritization group meeting with key Energy
Team members including decision makers and knowledgeable facilities/
planning representatives in which results of benchmarking data analysis
are summarized. The prioritization can be accomplished in several ways.
The Master Buildings List spreadsheet template includes a column for
tracking facility assessment suggestions and priority levels.

Factors to consider when prioritizing buildings include:

• Facilities Master Planning • Benchmarking results and trends
ºº Existing facility renovations, upgrades, and use ºº Buildings with high annual energy usage, energy
type retrofits cost, and/or demand charges
ºº Removal of facilities (tear-downs) ºº Buildings with high EUI relative to their peers (see
ºº New construction plans Resources section for comparison EUI sources)

• Budgetary and financial considerations ºº Buildings showing an increase in energy

consumption over time
ºº Deferred maintenance requirements
• Results of remote energy diagnostics
ºº Funding cycles and timing
ºº Building-level energy upgrade opportunities
ºº Utility incentive availability
ºº Buildings with high heating, cooling, or baseload
• Non-Energy considerations
relative to their peers
ºº Facility and equipment assessment
ºº Diagnostic findings and recommendations
»» Maintenance requirements
• Already-completed upgrades
»» Equipment service life remaining
ºº Operational and behavioral upgrades such as
ºº Occupant comfort, safety, health or productivity scheduling, reducing plug loads and thermostat
impacts settings
ºº Maintenance burden impacts ºº Low-hanging fruit (e.g. lighting) upgrades and
ºº Equipment service life (Note that for most utilities, retrofits
equipment replacement incentives apply only • Load-reduction opportunities (to help reduce HVAC
to replacements of functional equipment; once equipment capacity needs)
the equipment fails the incentive opportunity is
ºº Weatherization, air sealing, and insulation
significantly lower)
ºº Plug load reduction opportunities
ºº Community Access
ºº Resiliency

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 27

 Address operational Criteria for Existing Building Upgrades
opportunities first, Energy is an important consideration for cities when evaluating and
justifying building upgrades, but in many cases it takes a combination of
then budget for energy and non-energy considerations to gain approval for capital projects.
capital upgrades. Just as in the prioritization process, energy savings should be considered
alongside considerations such as:

• Occupant comfort, health, safety, and productivity

• Maintenance requirements and costs
• Equipment end-of-life replacement opportunities

Asking specific questions about proposed projects during energy team

meetings can be a helpful way to identify key criteria and be sure that
existing building upgrades under consideration are evaluated as holistically
as possible. This is not an exhaustive list by any means, and each
jurisdiction will have unique priorities and requirements.

1. Have operational and behavioral upgrades such as scheduling, reducing

plug loads and thermostat settings been completed?
2. Have load reduction upgrades such as air sealing and better insulation
been completed or considered before larger capital investments? Load
reduction can reduce the size of equipment needed.
3. Are capital improvements strategic and well planned to calculate ROI
over the life of the equipment not just the upfront price?
4. Is the emphasis on achieving heating efficiencies through more efficient
HVAC systems, sizing and distribution?

Installing a new HVAC unit | Vancouver, WA

28 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 IMPLEMENTATION Boston Carpenters Training Center | Boston, MA

The implementation of the plan is where the rubber meets the road.
Specific energy team members, or other individuals (for example,
department heads) will typically have responsibility for and oversight of
specific facility improvement opportunities, including capital upgrades
as well as operational improvements. These projects, prioritized and
described in the Plan, must be evaluated from a financial perspective.
Typically, upgrade projects are included in department-level master plans
and capital budgets. This generally requires active planning participation
and approval from department heads and/or finance staff. Energy team
members typically must obtain approval from decision makers for these
investments and include all significant expenditures in the budgeting
process.

Identifying Roles and Responsibilities

For each step along the way, a specific person or team must be responsible for delivering or completing each
task. This table shows key responsibilities and typical primary and supporting responsible parties. This example is
for a city; a school district, county, or other jurisdiction may be organized differently.

Potential Primary Responsible Potential

Task Parties Supporting Role
Initial Data Collection Energy Manager, Sustainability Director, Utility Account Reps, Intern(s), Consultant
Analyst, or Intern
Benchmarking System Setup Sustainability Director, Analyst Consultant
Benchmarking Data Maintenance Sustainability Director, Analyst Consultant
Create Master Buildings List Consultant, Sustainability Director, Analyst Department Heads
Building and Portfolio Diagnostics Consultant Sustainability Director
Building Performance Reporting Energy Manager, Analyst Sustainability Director
Building Performance Report Review Department Heads, Sustainability Director Analyst
Develop Public Buildings Portfolio Management Consultant, Sustainability Director Analyst, Department Heads
Departmental Performance Tracking Department Heads Sustainability Director
Financial Evaluation Sustainability Director, Executive Branch staff Accounting staff
Budgeting Executive Branch staff Accounting staff
Reporting to Policymakers Sustainability Director Department Heads
Reporting to Public Sustainability Director Communications staff

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 29

 Operational Policies
A building designed to high standards of performance relies on efficient
operation to reach its potential. An operational policy across buildings,
at the department or the jurisdictional (city, school district, etc.) level,
can help maintain a high standard of operations and keep performance
drift in check. It is important to find the right balance between energy
efficiency and occupant comfort and productivity. Energy efficiency is
not freezing in the dark!

Sample Operational Policy

Staff awareness
Temperature Setpoints recommendations &
and Natural Ventilation Plug Loads Lighting policies

• Occupied • Computers, printers • Lighting shall be turned • Adjust blinds or

Temperatures: 76°F and miscellaneous off or dimmed when curtains for sunlight
(summer) and 69°F office equipment shall sufficient daylight and heat gain
(winter) use networked energy available or the area is • Dress in appropriate
• Unoccupied saving settings and not in use clothing and layers
Temperatures: 80°F shall be turned off • Fluorescent or LED • Fan of less than 8”
(summer) and 55°F when not in use task lighting should allowed as needed
(winter) • Office equipment and be used in place of
• 100W Foot warmers
• Doors and operable appliances must be overhead lighting where
available from facilities,
windows may only be Energy Star rated or possible
no plug-in space
opened only when the equivalent, and Energy • Incandescent lights heaters
thermostat for that area Star settings shall should be replaced with
reads between 70°F be enabled in this CFL or LED bulbs Orientations for newly
and 75°F equipment
• Staff may request hired staff shall include a
• Refrigerator coils must lighting level review of this policy.
have adequate airflow adjustments
and shall be cleaned
annually

30 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Tracking Energy Efficiency Upgrade Impacts
Tracking the impacts of energy efficiency projects as they are implemented
helps decision makers see the benefits of spending limited time and money
on energy efficiency. It also helps sustainability managers and other staff
communicate success stories both internally (within the city, school district,
or other jurisdiction) and externally (to the community at large).

As projects are completed in individual buildings, performance data and

the date of project completion should be tracked. The impact of specific
operational and physical upgrades should be tracked by establishing a pre-
upgrade period and comparing pre-upgrade energy use to post-upgrade
energy use. These time periods are often one year, although if targeted
submetering equipment is used the time periods may be on the order of
weeks rather than years. Several software tools are available to weather-
normalize energy data and improve the accuracy of pre/post comparisons.
When feasible, it is good practice to track non-energy impacts, such as
occupant comfort and productivity. The Center for the Built Environment
has developed and standardized tools and methods for measuring building
occupant satisfaction (see Resources).

Establishing a robust benchmarking program is an important first step to

be able to track the energy savings impacts of whole-building upgrades.
When utility incentives are obtained for a project, savings estimates are
often evaluated by a third party; these results can provide useful validation
of project impacts. At a more basic level, simple spreadsheet-based
calculations can demonstrate the impact of an upgrade for some upgrade
projects. For example, the approximate impact of a lighting retrofit can be
estimated as: (pre-retrofit total installed lighting kW minus post-retrofit total
installed kW) times building hours of operation. At a minimum, monthly
energy data should be logged for at least one year before and after
upgrades are completed.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 31

 ONGOING MONITORING AND
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Zero Net Energy Center | San Leandro, CA | Photo: FCGA Architects

Occupant Engagement: Help Organizational goals inform and help define energy and climate targets.
building occupants and visitors Tracking performance against those goals, at the organizational level as
understand the impact their well as the facility level, is key. Clearly assigning responsibility for facility
choices have on building energy energy performance target tracking and reporting helps ensure that the
use and what they can do to help Plan is a living document and is fully implemented. Energy team members,
achieve energy and climate goals. department heads, or facilities staff may play some or all of these roles.

Reporting is essential to communicate the progress of the Public Buildings

Community Engagement Portfolio Management process, to share successes and lessons learned,
Options: and to ensure transparency with the public. Consider the following audience
• Citizen advisory group for reporting:

• Student government
• Administration (Mayor, City Council, and department heads) –
• Email newsletter interim reports on progress towards goals
• Website dashboard • Decision Makers (City Council) – annual report just before
• Dashboard in buildings budget season
• Benchmarking data in • Community – annual energy report
curriculum (for schools)
• Incentives Consider the format and frequency of reports, both external and internal.
Most organizations tend to report on performance against targets and
• Disclosure ordinance outreach
goals monthly, quarterly and annually. What level of detail is meaningful to
• Neighborhood or business each audience? For example, management may want quarterly reports
associations that show year-over-year comparisons of energy use and cost per building
• 2030 Districts and for the entire portfolio. Facility staff may want monthly reports that
show daily variations as well as overall trends year-over-year. External
reports such as annual city planning reports intended for citizens often
publicize goals, projects, incentives and metrics such as EUI and shows
rankings of buildings with a percentage change in energy use or cost
versus the prior year(s). Rather than creating a standalone energy report,
consider adding energy and climate targets as a standing
agenda item or line item in an established regular reporting
structure, for instance a Sustainability or Livability Report.

Kathleen Grimm School of Leadership

and Sustainability | Staten Island, NY
Photo: James Ewing

32 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 FINANCING Franklin High School | Portland, OR | Image: DOWA-IBI Group

Securing financing for projects is often a major challenge to achieving

the climate and energy efficiency goals of any city, school district, or
organization. A range of financial analysis and financial tools are available
to help decision makers and others fully understand the cost, benefits, and
financial implications of the Public Buildings Portfolio Management plan.

ROI Analysis for Capital Investments

Return on Investment (ROI) analysis presents a more comprehensive picture
than simple payback to evaluate and prioritize upgrade opportunities. Many
leading cities require ROI analysis as a key part of Requests for Proposals
(RFPs) when seeking bids for work on buildings. ROI analysis should reflect
financial and environmental priorities for the organization and is typically
based mainly on simple payback. A more comprehensive approach
includes simple payback, opportunity cost, maintenance savings, occupant
satisfaction, comfort, waste reduction and other factors. Life Cycle Costing
Analysis (LCCA) is a very useful tool to evaluate the true costs and benefits
of long-lived public assets like building components and systems.

Financing Mechanisms Financing Mechanism

A wide range of funding opportunities are available and project budgeting Examples:
will depend on a community’s accounting processes. It is important to Utility Rebates and Incentives
begin with a solid understanding of current processes before considering Bonds
new and innovative approaches. Critical questions to ask include:
Performance Contracting
• Are budgets managed centrally or at the department level? Grants
• Are utility bills managed centrally or at the department level? Revolving Energy Funds
• Will project funding be transferred out to the department who then man-
ages the funds and potentially the project or will central management of
the project implementation be maintained?

Incentives, often from utilities and energy efficiency program implementers,

and grants are available. These not only help to reduce costs but can also
serve as good indicators of which projects are cost effective because most
utilities are required to analyze the cost effectiveness of a measure before
being able to provide an incentive for it.

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 33

 Revolving Energy Funds (REFs), also known as Revolving Loan Funds
(see Resources) can be a very powerful tool to help institutionalize energy
upgrade projects across an organization. REFs can use either internal or
external funding sources. In an internal REF, a fixed pool of capital is set
aside to pay for energy upgrades. Some or all of the utility cost savings from
those projects are used to fund additional projects. Some mechanisms
often used to create internal REFs include:

• Establishing a budget line item for a fixed number of payments into the
Energy Fund
• Contributions from Capital Budgets of all departments that will benefit
from use of the fund
• Establishing a fixed or percentage “utility surcharge” that all departments
must pay in addition to their utility bill

Many external REFs are administered by states: more than 30 states

have established loan funds for energy efficiency and renewable energy
upgrades. The benefit of using an external REF is that budget dollars do not
need to be set aside to launch the Fund. However, interest rates and terms
Three examples of Energy Funds
vary significantly among external REFs. In some cases, projects have had
from cities around the nation.
Source: Allegheny Science & success leveraging internal funding with external REF resources by using
Technology. the internal funding as a credit enhancement.

REF Initial Sustaining Repayment

City Formed Funding Funding Managed By Model Project Criteria Basis

Ann Arbor, 1998 $100k/year for 80% of Energy Office; Grant 3 funding categories: Projected
Michigan 5 years, from projected Committee 70% Direct savings, max avoided cost*
City’s General (energy audit) oversees project 5 year payback
Fund avoided costs selection 20% educational
for 5 years 10% data gathering (e.g.
audits)

San Jose, 2005 $200k utility 100% of Environmental Grant Projects must have Projected
California incentive rebate; projected Services payback ≤ 5 years avoided cost
$60k from city (audit) avoided Department
depts. costs for 2
years; utility
incentive
rebates

Hillsboro, 2010 $28k prior 50% of Sustainability Projects capped at $25k, In-house cost
Oregon energy projected Manager; larger projects must avoidance
efficiency (energy audit) Committee demonstrate avoided costs calculations
project; $23k avoided costs oversees project
facilities in year 1, 25% selection
management in years 2
budget and 3
* Repayment was originally based on actual avoided costs but was changed to projected avoided costs. The city cited both difficulties in measuring
savings and delays in accounting processes resulting from waiting for actual energy performance data as reasons for making this change.

34 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

 CONCLUSION NREL Research Support Facility | Golden, CO | Photo: Dennis Schroeder

Cities and states are increasingly primary drivers of progress in achieving

energy efficiency and climate goals. As the saying goes, change starts at
home. By focusing on public building portfolios, cities, counties, regional
governments, state agencies, and school districts can lead by example
and make a real difference. By taking a strategic approach to building
energy management, jurisdictions can avoid increases in operating costs,
demonstrate sound fiscal management, and create local jobs while
increasing comfort, productivity and satisfaction for building occupants.

This Public Buildings Portfolio Management Guide is one of many tools

available to help public building portfolio holders lead by example. A wide
variety of tools, guides, and other resources are listed in the following
section to help cities and other public building portfolio holders transform
the built environment.

Discovery Elementary School | Arlington, VA

Photo: VMDO Architects

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 35

 RESOURCES
West Berkeley Library | Berkeley, CA | Photo: Harley Ellis Devereaux

Comprehensive Toolkit
State and Local Government Toolkit.
https://gettingtozeroforum.org/local-governments/

Stakeholder Engagement
Schools Stakeholder Guide. https://newbuildings.org/resource/zero-
energy-schools-stakeholder-engagement-guide/

ZNE Charrette Toolkit. https://newbuildings.org/resource/zne-

charrette-toolkit/

Goal Setting and Vision

NBI’s Action Paths. https://newbuildings.org/wp-content/
uploads/2015/12/nbi_Codes_10ActionPathsZNE_2017.pdf

C40 Cities Good Practice Guide: Municipal Building Efficiency.

https://c40-production-images.s3.amazonaws.com/good_practice_
briefings/images/8_C40_GPG_MBE.original.pdf?1456789018

2020 Leadership Agenda for Existing Commercial and Multifamily

Buildings by the State and Local Energy Efficiency Action Network.
https://www4.eere.energy.gov/seeaction/system/files/documents/
SEEAction_Leadership%20Agenda-finalv4.pdf

2030 Districts homepage. http://www.2030districts.org/

Architecture 2030. http://architecture2030.org/

Star Community Index. http://www.starcommunities.org/

PV Watts® Solar Calculator. http://pvwatts.nrel.gov/

Transition to Sustainable Buildings: Strategies and Opportunities

to 2050. https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/
Building2013_free.pdf

Benchmarking
Learn About Benchmarking, Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us/how-can-we-help-you/
benchmark-energy-use/benchmarking

36 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

The Benefits of Benchmarking Building Performance, Institute
for Market Transformation. http://www.imt.org/resources/detail/the-
benefits-of-benchmarking-building-performance

US Building Benchmarking and Transparency Policies, Institute for

Market Transformation. http://www.imt.org/resources/detail/map-u.s.-
building-benchmarking-policies

Americorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program.

https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorpsvista/

Building Energy Use Benchmarking, Department of Energy.

https://www.energy.gov/eere/slsc/building-energy-use-benchmarking

Portfolio Energy Benchmarking Webinar. https://newbuildings.org/

webinar/portfolio-energy-benchmarking-and-prioritization-step-by-step/

Maalka Data Quality Tool. https://dataquality.maalka.com/

Diagnostics and Data Visualization

NBI Advanced Benchmarking recorded training modules. https://
newbuildings.org/module-1-introduction-to-advanced-benchmarking/

NBI A Diagnostic Review of Building Energy Performance. https://

newbuildings.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/nbi_fv_FAQ_2017.pdf

Targeted Field Analysis

PNNL Guide to Energy Audits. https://www.pnnl.gov/main/publications/
external/technical_reports/PNNL-20956.pdf

Department of Energy Building Analysis Tools:

https://energy.gov/eere/buildings/analysis-tools

Plan Development
Building Commissioning Association: Sample Owners Project
Requirements Template. https://www.bcxa.org/knowledge-center/
best-practices/cx-application-tools/#item-1

NBI Sensitivity Analysis. https://newbuildings.org/resource/sensitivity-

analysis-comparing-impact-design-operation-and-tenant-behavior-
building-energy-performan/

Template Public Buildings Portfolio Management and Template

Master Building List spreadsheet. https://newbuildings.org/resource/
public-buildings-portfolio-management/

EUI targets by building type. Source: ASHRAE Standard 100.

https://www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/bookstore/standard-100

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 37

 Submetering of Building Energy and Water Usage, National Science
and Technology Council, 2011. http://www.allianceforwaterefficiency.
org/uploadedFiles/Resource_Center/Library/submetering/NIST-2011-
Submetering-of-Energy-and-Water-Use.pdf

Metering Best Practices: A Guide to Achieving Utility Resource

Efficiency, Release 3.0, US DOE 2015. https://energy.gov/sites/prod/
files/2015/04/f21/mbpg2015.pdf

Implementation
Daylight Pattern Guide. http://patternguide.advancedbuildings.net/

Heat Island Compendium. https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands/heat-

island-compendium

NREL Advanced Energy Retrofit Guide for K-12 Schools. https://

www.nrel.gov/docs/fy14osti/60913.pdf

ASHRAE 189 “High Performance Building” Specifications. https://

www.ashrae.org/resources--publications/bookstore/standard-189-1

ASHRAE Standard 100. https://www.ashrae.org/resources--

publications/bookstore/standard-100

Ongoing Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

Plug Load Guide. http://newbuildings.org/resource/plug-load-best-
practices-guide/

ICC Guideline for Commissioning. http://shop.iccsafe.org/icc-g4-2012-

guideline-for-commissioning-1.html

Whole Building Design Guide Building Commissioning. https://www.

wbdg.org/building-commissioning

Building Commissioning Association. http://www.bcxa.org/

Gamified Energy Efficiency Programs. http://aceee.org/research-

report/b1501

WA Green Schools Energy Curriculum. http://www.wagreenschools.

org/my-account/my-resources/energy/

38 Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide

Financing
Ten Goals for Green Leasing. https://betterbricks.com/uploads/
resources/10_Goals_for_Green_Leasing.pdf

Revolving Loan Funds. https://energy.gov/eere/slsc/revolving-loan-funds

Washington State LLCA Tool. https://www.ofm.wa.gov/facilities/state-

agency-facility-oversight/facility-life-cycle-cost-analysis-alternatives-
comparison

Cost Control Strategies for Zero Energy Buildings. http://www.nrel.

gov/docs/fy14osti/62752.pdf

DSIRE. http://www.dsireusa.org/

Federal solar tax credits. https://energy.gov/savings/business-energy-

investment-tax-credit-itc

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre Green Roof | Vancouver, British Columbia
Photo: Nic Lehoux

Public Buildings Portfolio Management Implementation Guide 39

Hood River Middle School Music and Science Building | Hood River, OR | Photo: Michael Mathers

The Public Building Portfolio Management Implementation Guide was produced with support from the U.S. Department of Energy
and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. This guide was developed by a team including NBI, EcoEdge, Maalka, and NEEA.

Copyright © 2018 New Buildings Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.