When shopping for a car, fuel economy is a major consideration, along with safety and price.
For prospective building purchasers or renters, the same holds true. Whether inhabiting an office building, hospital, school, restaurant or government facility, building occupants expect a safe and healthy work setting that does not hinder productivity.
Environmental impact is increasingly important as well; buildings must be energy efficient and have acceptable carbon footprints.
However, unlike vehicles tagged with a miles-per-gallon metric, many buildings have no indicator to inform occupants and owners how well the building performs or measures up to others in the community.
That’s where building performance measurement comes into play. Across the country, cities are implementing programs that require building owners to report their buildings’ performance based on energy efficiency and carbon footprint — annual energy cost per square foot and/or annual carbon emissions per square foot.
Think of the building performance measurement as similar to the estimated mileage on new cars. The performance measurement tells prospective buyers or renters what it will cost to operate the building, and it enables them to compare to similar buildings.
As building performance ratings start to become the norm, owners undoubtedly will focus on ways to further reduce utility costs. Among the tactics:
• Replace older air-conditioning systems with more efficient systems
• Improve the control systems for the building’s HVAC, lighting and electrical systems
• Reduce water consumption
• Add solar/photo voltaic panels
• Use analytics software to improve the building’s operation and energy efficiency.
Building analytics gather key data in real time so customers can make essential decisions about operations.
Aside from performance measurement, owners should consider installing environmentally friendly materials, such as safer paints, wall coverings, flooring and adhesives.
Better lighting systems also can benefit occupants, easing eye strain and glare on computer screens. Use natural daylight as a source of lighting, and choose LED lighting rather than traditional fluorescent fixtures to improve the quality of interior lighting while also reducing energy consumption.
Optimizing a building’s performance can be a process, but taking steps toward better efficiency, safety, health and environmental impact ultimately will benefit building owners, occupants and buyers alike.
Tim Potter is vice president and Southwest branch manager at Envise, a national building management systems integrator and subsidiary of Southland Industries.