This action encourages the municipality to draft a full building portfolio, collect twelve months of complete utility data for each building, and enter that information into an Energy Tracking and Management (ET&M) system to establish a historical baseline. In addition, the municipality can complete performance benchmarking and put an ongoing tracking and reporting system into place to monitor energy usage long-term. Why is it important? Energy costs represent a significant expenditure in municipal budgets. It is not uncommon for as much as 10% of the municipal budget to be devoted to energy expenses. This figure could continue to grow as energy prices rise. Good energy usage information is critical to identifying and prioritizing potential building performance improvement opportunities and tracking the actual impact of any upgrade investments that are made. As municipalities improve the energy performance of their public buildings, that action can...
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This action encourages the municipality to draft a full building portfolio, collect twelve months of complete utility data for each building, and enter that information into an Energy Tracking and Management (ET&M) system to establish a historical baseline.
In addition, the municipality can complete performance benchmarking and put an ongoing tracking and reporting system into place to monitor energy usage long-term.
Why is it important?
Energy costs represent a significant expenditure in municipal budgets. It is not uncommon for as much as 10% of the municipal budget to be devoted to energy expenses. This figure could continue to grow as energy prices rise. Good energy usage information is critical to identifying and prioritizing potential building performance improvement opportunities and tracking the actual impact of any upgrade investments that are made. As municipalities improve the energy performance of their public buildings, that action can inspire more widespread energy improvements throughout the community.
The importance of energy tracking and management extends far past the initial set-up phase. It is a continuous process. Continuing to enter new data is vital in maximizing tracking and validating actual cost reductions. Benchmarking is a valuable planning tool that allows a municipality to compare its building portfolio against other municipalities and national averages, which gives planners a general sense of its performance compared to similar buildings.
Overall, Energy Tracking and Management is considered a critical foundation step to improving building performance. The information and processes established here will help make the following steps (especially audits and business planning) easier to accomplish and more effective long term.
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