Energy management heavily relies on benchmarking, which enables businesses to enhance their profitability through energy conservation, minimizing consumption and usage, and improving efficiency. By benchmarking energy performance, businesses can determine how to reduce energy consumption and save on utility bills like gas, water, and electricity. Having a comprehensive benchmarking strategy in place can aid in optimizing a property’s efficiency. Read more for our guide to benchmarking properties for optimum efficiency:
What Is Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is a tool that analysts use to analyze and compare the energy use of one building or a group of buildings with similar structures when it comes to energy. Benchmarking shows how energy use varies from a baseline. The information gathered during the comparison can then determine key metrics for assessing performance. It also helps businesses to establish baselines, to set goals, to identify building upgrade opportunities, and it facilitates continuous improvement by providing standards for use of performance evaluation over time.
Types of Benchmarking
There are two types of benchmarking: internal and external. Internal benchmarking is a comparison of a building or group of buildings within a company. External benchmarking compares the buildings of a company to other similar buildings. Companies may combine internal and external benchmarking as part of their plan.
Internal or external benchmarking is either quantitative or qualitative. Numerical measures of performance comparisons are in quantitative benchmarking and include benchmarking, management, and operational practice evaluations. Companies can combine quantitative and qualitative benchmarking in their efforts.
Common Benchmarks
According to ENERGY STAR there are six common benchmarks. These include:
- Best in class— The performance level of the top performer sets the bar when comparing similar buildings.
- Performance goal— A specific performance level as a target against which progress is measured may be established.
- Baseline— An initial performance baseline of the building before any commissioning or other measures can be utilized to track improvements over time.
- Above Average— Percentages above an average can be used to establish a benchmark.
- Commissioned performance level— The performance level of a commissioned building can be used as a benchmark.
- National ratings— National performance ratings, such as those established by ENERGY STAR, can be used as performance targets for specific buildings.
Companies may find it necessary to develop a unique benchmark—specific to that company’s needs and goals.
The Benchmarking Plan
Having a detailed plan helps to achieve successful benchmarking. This plan should include goals, a definition of the scope of the project, suggested metrics of performance, and a recommendation of potential partners.
Your benchmarking plan will be unique. When developing a plan, one must consider variable factors including weather, occupancy levels, or tasks that affect energy consumption.
Each company should have a set of defined goals. Examples include energy efficiency; energy conservation; energy reduction; decreased consumption of water, gas, and electricity; and decrease cost in utility bills.
Whatever your specific goals may be, you should establish a benchmarking strategy that will help achieve them.
Once you set your goals, you must define the scope of your benchmarking effort. The scope includes the scale, the organizational focus, and the period.
- Scale: The number of buildings included in the benchmarking plan?
- Focus: Will the benchmarking plan be internal or external?
- Time frame: Is the benchmarking performance timeline annual, monthly, weekly, or continuously?
Suggested Benchmarking Metrics
Benchmarking metrics will determine data-collection requirements. Data-collection requirements are based on the scope of the benchmarking analysis.
Common types of data used for benchmarking includes:
- Energy use: Quantities of use of energy sources
- Energy cost information: The purchase cost of energy sources
- Physical and design attributes: Building characteristics.
- Output or utilization data: Data that offers insight into energy-use patterns.
- Production data: Production inputs and product characteristics
- Climate variables: Heating, cooling, altitude, barometric pressure
- Economic variables: Economic metrics such as the implicit price deflator for gross domestic product
Once you have developed a plan, it is time to collect data, evaluate metrics, and apply results:
- Collect Data: Data-collection success depends upon participants’ ability to share it in a common platform. There are various tools available for tracking energy consumption. Free benchmarking software is available online.
- Evaluate Benchmarks, Apply Results: After collecting the data, it’s time to evaluate it and use it to rank facilities, set goals, identify and share best practices, act, track progress, and recognize achievements!
Although benchmarking may seem like a very tedious task, the energy savings are usually worth the effort. Renodis offers comprehensive benchmarking services for organizations of nearly any size. Renodis has made the entire process of benchmarking and optimizing a facility efficiency simple for thousands of properties. Contact us today to learn more.
