By Johanna Schweiss,
Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator,
USGBC-Missouri Gateway Chapter
The St. Louis High Performance Building Initiative’s 25×20 Voluntary Energy Bench-marking Campaign is challenging our region to reduce its energy consumption by 25% by the year 2020! And the first step towards conserving energy and money is energy benchmarking. You know the saying- you can’t manage what you don’t measure!
Energy benchmarking is measuring a building’s energy consumption and comparing its performance to similar buildings. Your office, your school, your house of worship, your city hall, or your corner store – all buildings benefit from energy benchmarking
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a free and secure online tool that tracks energy and water consumption, as well as the associated greenhouse gas emissions. Any building can use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to benchmark energy and water use, and all building types benefit from benchmarking! According to ENERGY STAR data, buildings that benchmark over 3 years see an average 7% reduction in energy use.
Participating in the 25×20 campaign is easy. The first step is to take the 25×20 pledge at www.25×20.org. Next, find out how your building stacks up against similar facilities by enrolling in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and entering one year of energy use data. Once you’ve benchmarked your building, you can start using your results to inform your plans to save energy & money.
We’re here to help you as you benchmark! Volunteer benchmarking mentors are available to take you through the process step by step.
In partnership with Missouri Interfaith Power & Light, the Missouri Gateway Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council is offering resources to support faith communities as they benchmarking and reduce their energy use. Does your congregation want to conserve energy & money?
Visit www.25×20.org to learn more about this campaign!