OFFICE ENERGY INTENSITY
Energy use intensity (EUI) considers the office square footage when looking at
energy consumption, which allows us to compare energy usage across our offices
regardless of their size. TRC determined the energy use intensity per square foot
of conditioned space based on FY14 data for selected offices which directly pay for
their utilities. TRC then benchmarked our office source energy use intensity data
(in kBtu/ft2) against the DOE median source EUI of offices of similar size in the
same climate locations. The median source EUI, which is sourced directly from
CBECS, is a recommended benchmark metric for all buildings. This value reflects
the midpoint of energy use for a property type and indicates that half of similar
sized buildings in the same climate zone would use more energy than this value,
and half would use less. The graph below shows the performance of a selection of
TRC office in comparison to the median source EUI values. Offices that are shown
to be less than 100% of the median source EUI are performing better than the median value for comparable offices, and those exceeding 100% are consuming more
energy relative to similar locations based on size and geographic location. The
result of this benchmarking shows that many TRC offices are performing better
than the median EUI for their climate locations and size.
% of Median Source EUI*
200%
180%
160%
140%
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Percent of the Median Source EUI (CBECS) that TRC offices operate at annually
* The median source EUI based on national building data is determined for each office based
on building size and climate location; therefore, the actual value varies across offices based
on their characteristics.
The benchmarking analysis opens up the opportunity for TRC to further investigate our office energy use and efficiency tactics by location. We have designated
an Energy Champion to work with a team of office representatives to define the
best practices for energy use from our high performing offices and translate
and apply these in other offices, if applicable.
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