Buildings Magazine - November 2015

24
wouldn’t have uncovered this issue without talking to employ-
ees. Not only were we able to reduce energy consumption, but it
took no money to resolve.”

How to Achieve Long-Term Success

Does 10 years seem like abstract amount of time? The idea of 2025 could certainly seem remote. You probably won’t need to worry about where to park any flying cars, but how do you implement changes today that will still be relevant in a decade? No matter how you acquire it, data that you can trend will help you make smart decisions.

“Metering at the campus level simply doesn’t enough provide
actionable information,” cautions Vargas. “You need to measure
energy at individual buildings so you can isolate your highest
consumers.”
“Because MSU operates its own cogeneration power plant, we
also manage Utility Billing System. For the most part, we’ve only
implemented building-level metering with real-time data. Any
submetering in place has an underlying reason, such as billing
to a specific department,” Lakos explains. “This still leaves some
gaps so we hope to expand submetering. One of my projects,
for example, is getting meters on our three major data centers
as they’re currently embedded into other buildings rather than
standalone facilities.”
“I recommend ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager because
it’s a free benchmarking tool. It’s been the bread and butter of
our sustainability and utility management program since 2008,”
adds Love. “We also use a variety of building management
systems and other real-time tracking measures.”
“Michigan State uses ongoing commissioning so we have a con-
tinuous look at buildings once we’ve implemented improvements,”
Lakos says. “Leveraging both metered data and building automa-
tion, we have the systems set up to alert us when something is
wrong or things are drifting. This approach ensures that we don’t
slide back into old habits and conditions that waste energy.”
“Beyond what the DOE requires, have an internal reporting
system that provides visibility into your performance,” Love rec-
ommends. “Use this to build site-specific programs that drive the
corporate goals. This transparency also provides positive rein-
forcement when people can see the results of their efforts.” B

Jennie Morton jennie.morton@buildings.com is Senior Editor of BUILDINGS.

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