Building Performance

Why Track Building Performance?

Because it is important to know how much electric, gas, oil and water a building consumes. Keeping track of building performance is a constructive way to:

  1. Understand how efficiently a building operates and how it compares to other buildings
  2. Make sure that reduced energy usage is being sustained
  3. Assess problems and determine improvements
  4. Make necessary changes to keep buildings operating at their best

For supportive housing providers, operating costs spent on unnecessarily high utility bills diminishes funds for tenant services or building improvements -- and counteracts other efforts to reign in energy use.

Benchmarking and Beyond

All New York City buildings over 50,000 square feet must be benchmarked. Benchmarking requires the collection and submittal of building information, including energy and water use, for a full calendar year. This process enables similar buildings to compare performance.

The Network encourages supportive housing providers to, at a minimum, benchmark all of their buildings. Benchmarking can help property management identify portfolio-wide issues and highlight unexplained changes in use. But building owners should do more than a yearly benchmark; they can regularly track and evaluate energy usage through in-house procedures or through a number of different proprietary software programs. This enables problems to be identified, located and investigated so that repairs can be addressed. 

In New York City by 2013, buildings over 50,000 will also be required to have an audit and retro-commissioning performed as per Local Law 87. The responsibility to know how a building operates and to address problems as they arise is important for every building owner, and now it is becoming the law for many.

Additionally, sharing building performance data can help to identify unique operational differences in supportive housing as a building type.

Benchmarking Resources

Energy Star
Portfolio Manager Overview.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Webinars and events on benchmarking and other energy-related topics.

NYC Department of Buildings and PlaNYC
Benchmarking submission instructions.

New York City’s Urban Green Council
Benchmarking guide.

Benchmarking and other tracking services

Bright Power
EnergyScoreCards is a benchmarking program and energy management tool. Bright Power offers other tracking, evaluating and commissioning services as well.

Steven Winter Associates
Benchmarking services. Research, design, consulting and training.

WegoWise
Assistance with tracking the energy use of affordable housing residences.

The Community Preservation Corporation
CPC Benchmarking Plus.

IntelliGreen Partners
NYC energy efficiency consulting firm to multifamily and commercial building owners.

There are many other programs and services; the above list is a sampling. Please contact Ariel Krasnow or Johanna Walczyk with any questions or comments.