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Energy Efficiency Initiatives
Commercial and Industrial Case Study
NYSERDA
Sector Focus Initiatives
The Company
7
New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority
The New York State Energy Research and Development
Authority (NYSERDA) is a public benefit corporation
created in 1975 to deliver energy efficiency programs,
research and development initiatives, low-income energy
programs, and environmental activities throughout New
York State.
Goals and Objectives
NYSERDA's Focus Programs are sector-specific initia-
tives that facilitate greater energy efficiency awareness
and energy efficiency market penetration in commercial
markets. The program is an outreach and marketing ef-
fort using strategies that vaiy by sector, with the goal of
improving energy efficiency and reducing demand. The
five-year (2006-2011) Focus Program budget is $18.9
million and the goal is to reach approximately 21,000
participants in eight sectors.
Description
The Focus Program promotes greater energy efficiency
in the following sectors: K-12 Schools, Colleges and
Universities, Hospitality, Healthcare, Commercial Real
Estate, Water/Waste water, Industry, and State and Local
Government. Strategies vaiy by sector and leverage non-
energy issues including the environment, indoor air qual-
ity, productivity, and savings through operations and
maintenance. These factors often drive energy efficiency
decisions.
~~ Target Customers
This Case Study highlights three of the Focus initia-
tives: Commercial Real Estate (CRE), K-12 Schools,
and Hospitality.
o Focus on Commercial Real Estate (CRE) provides a
business focus on energy efficiency that can enable
commercial building owners and managers to
maximize their return on investment for going green,
o Focus on Schools helps school (K-12) officials
understand energy consumption and cost-trends at
vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
each facility, and compares their schools'
performance to that of others locally and nationally.
Facility analyses identify actions for improving
operations and reducing costs,
o Focus on Hospitality works to improve the energy
efficiency and profitability of hotels, motels,
restaurants, and other commercial kitchens by
identifying opportunities and technologies to reduce
energy costs.
~~ Marketing and Outreach
o Focus CRE, offers concentrated outreach directly to
major real estate owners and through collaborative
work with associations such as the Urban Land
Institute and the Real Estate Board of New York
(REBNY).
o Focus on K-12 S chools prov ide s outre ach through
training opportunities for school districts and
municipality officials,
o Focus on Hospitality reaches its audience through
cooperation with industry associations, regional
groups and other New York State agencies.
~~ Process
NYSERDA created the sector-based Focus approach to
provide customers with a single point of entiy to access
NYSERDA's core programs and to leverage industiy-
specific associations to reach the target audiences.
A key element of NYSERDA Focus Programs is that
they encourage service providers and customers to
benchmark facilities using Portfolio Manager, the online
tool supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA). The initiatives are similar in that they:
provide sector-based outreach, benchmark using the EPA
energy performance rating, identify savings opportuni-
ties, and direct customer entiy into NYSERDA's incen-
tive programs. The value of the differentiated sector-
based approach is that each initiative uses strategies tai-
lored to reach the target audience.
Focus CRE
htty://CRE.nvserda. ors
o Training is provided for technical vendors, property
managers and building owners to facilitate their use
of the CRE benchmarking toolkit as provided
through the unique NYSERDA benchmarking web
portal.
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6nergystar.gov Commercial and Industrial Case Study
o An Account Manager is assigned to each company
to expedite the process and focus attention on the
company's needs. The goal is to drive participation
in NYSERDA programs,
o CRE provides cost-sharing for benchmarking and a
comprehensive whole-building review of energy use
in a one-day site visit called the Energy Scan,
o A diagnostic report identifies specific opportunities
for energy saving measures, with estimated cost and
payback of each enhancement. The report identifies
the range of energy efficiency opportunities and
evaluates the best opportunities for investments,
o Financial analysis support is offered to energy
consultants working with commercial office clients.
The CRE team understands the complexities
associated with tenant leases and return-on-
investment for energy investments within common
areas and tenant spaces, and works to help
customers maximize their net operating income,
o An Account Manager works with each customer to
build an action plan and to coordinate with
appropriate NYSERDA incentive programs.
Focus on K-12 Schools
http://www. n vserda. org/prosrams/sch ools/defau It. asp
o Focus on Schools is dedicated to providing objective
technical and financial assistance to K-12 Schools,
o The initiative assists school administrators and
facility managers in building and maintaining school
buildings that provide a safe, healthy, and energy-
efficient learning environment,
o A key component is providing technical services to
schools that use subcontractors to benchmark
facilities using EPA's Portfolio Manager.
NYSERDA also provides comparisons to other New
York state schools,
o Each school report includes a graphical
representation of the building's performance, as well
as a detailed explanation of the indicators used to
rank the building, including its carbon footprint. The
report includes recommendations for improving
energy efficiency and details the NYSERDA
programs most appropriate to provide financial
incentives and technical support.
Focus on Hospitality
http./Avww.nvserda. ors/h ospitalitv
o Customers are encouraged to benchmark their
facilities to identify energy savings opportunities.
Customers are directed to appropriate NYSERDA
technical support and incentive programs.
Collaborative work with industry associations,
community organizations, other Focus contractors,
and other State agencies are key program features.
Business partners in the food-service equipment
sector are engaged to provide information on
incentive-eligible equipment to their customers.
Results
Focus on CRE (2007-2008)
o CRE provided training on the benchmarking and
Energy Scan process to more than 150 service
providers and property managers,
o Seventy (70) building projects were benchmarked,
representing more than 49 million square feet,
o Eleven (11) building owners completed the Energy
Scan process representing 11,700,000 square feet
with estimated savings of nearly 15 million kWh and
1752 kW in demand savings.
Focus on K-12 Schools (2006-2008)
o The program benchmarked 829 public schools in
178 districts, serving 430,000 students and
encompassing 75 million square feet,
o The average school reduced energy consumption by
22 percent per square foot, with an 18 percent
reduction in C02 emissions,
o The program facilitated the designation of 67
ENERGY STAR building labels and 12 Leader
Awards in seven districts.
Focus on Hospitality (2007-2008)
o More than 300 lodging and dining properties were
contacted; over half participated in a NYSERDA
program for technical assistance or incentives,
o Six hotels were benchmarked representing 622,000
square feet.
o The Commercial Kitchens efforts highlight the value
of energy efficient capital purchases by educating
end-users on ENERGY STAR and CEE tiers for
food-service equipment.
Contact Information
For further information contact:
Susan Andrews
NYSERDA
(518) 862-1090 ext. 3234
sta@nvserda. org
Tracy Narel
U.S. EPA
(202) 343-9145
Nar el. T r acv@epa. gov
For general questions please contact:
com m ere ialprogr am s@,ener ay star. gov
v>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
September 2009

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