As IMT gets ready to power down for the holidays, we’d like to share with you our top five resources of 2017, as measured by their popularity in downloads. From stalwarts such as our building energy benchmarking and transparency map (congratulations to Salt Lake City and St. Louis, which both knocked down barriers to energy efficiency by passing benchmarking and transparency laws this year), to more recent releases such as our “Financing Energy Efficiency through Mortgage Loans” market analysis, IMT’s resource library is packed with a wealth of building efficiency information and inspiration to get you up to speed and energized for 2018. Without further delay, here are this year’s greatest hits.
- U.S. Building Benchmarking and Transparency Policies and Beyond
Who doesn’t love a good map? IMT’s benchmarking map shows which U.S. cities, counties, and states have enacted building energy benchmarking and transparency policies for commercial, multifamily, and public buildings. A second version of this map highlights cities that have passed mandatory benchmarking and transparency policies for commercial or multifamily buildings, as well as those cities that have gone beyond benchmarking to include additional measures like audit or retrocommissioning policies. Buildings are the primary source for carbon emissions, air pollution, and energy use in most cities, so benchmarking and other effective building performance policies and programs will be critical to meet ambitious climate goals. To stay in the know about building performance policies in the U.S. and around the globe, don’t forget to visit IMT’s BuildRating.org. - Energy Benchmarking and Transparency Benefits
Transparency is popular, especially when it comes to building energy and water use. From increased competition and market choice to job creation and energy and cost savings, IMT’s energy benchmarking and transparency resources highlight a range of benefits that benchmarking policies offer to building owners and tenants, government agencies, utilities, and others engaged in the built environment. We also explore how the growing pool of data gained from benchmarking policies is allowing building stakeholders to make more intelligent and cost-effective business decisions. Download our fact sheet here and the full report here. - Financing Energy Efficiency through Mortgage Loans
Commercial lenders take notice. This year, IMT teamed up with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) to conduct a market analysis of real properties and the programs that helped them successfully account for energy efficiency during mortgage underwriting—IMT has been a long-time proponent of this practice. The new resource offers guidelines for both the mortgage lending community and building owners on how to roll energy efficiency upgrades into traditional mortgages in a seamless manner. Although the lending industry remains a tough nut to crack for incorporating energy efficiency into most commercial, multifamily, and residential loans, this new analysis indicates market leaders are closer than ever to marrying the two while simultaneously reducing property default risks. - Measuring the Potential Impact of Green Leases in the U.S. Office Sector
Adding energy efficiency language to a traditional lease is a simple and sure-fire way to enhance building performance and lock in win-win agreements between landlords and tenants. This IMT report provides an analysis of energy efficiency measures made possible by the signing of green (also referred to as energy-aligned or high-performance) leases. IMT estimates that green leases have the potential to reduce energy consumption in U.S. office buildings by as much as 22 percent, providing the leased office market $3.3 billion in annual cost savings. For the latest on green leasing trends in the U.S. and to learn about our Green Lease Leaders recognition program, visit and greenleaselibrary.com and greenleaseleaders.com. - Catalyzing Efficiency: Unlocking Energy Information and Value in Apartment Buildings
With more Americans renting than ever before, increasing the efficiency of U.S. multifamily buildings is a difficult but vital mission and could save building owners and managers, residents, governments, energy efficiency service providers, and financiers close to $3.4 billion in annual savings. Recognizing both the savings potential and the need to tackle this fragmented building sector from multiple angles, IMT’s comprehensive report explores how governments and energy efficiency implementers could help multifamily stakeholders unlock savings by acting upon newly-available building energy data.
Special mentions:
Although they didn’t crack the top five for 2017, the following new IMT resources are steadily climbing the charts and deserve a special mention:
- Guide to External Financing for Energy Efficiency in Retail
IMT and the Retail Industry Leaders Association present external financing mechanisms (as well as internal solutions) for nearly any retail company’s energy project goals, budget, and risk preferences. - How to Choose the Right Energy Management Information System
IMT and the DC Sustainabile Energy Utility’s (DCSEU) resource helps you select the EMIS that most accurately addresses your building’s needs. - Evaluating Energy Code Compliance in Cities
The City Energy Project Code Compliance Assessment Methodology for Medium and Large Cities helps identify residential and commercial energy code compliance issues and key focus areas for improving local compliance rates. - Building a Successful Green Lease Infographic
IMT and the DCSEU’s new green leasing infographic shows what clauses are typically included in a green lease and includes some real-life examples from The Tower Companies. - Empowering Small Businesses: Energy Symposium Report-Out
In September, 2017, IMT’s Small Business Energy Initiative convened an Energy Symposium, bringing together 19 members of chambers of commerce, small business associations, and organizations from across the country. Here are the key energy efficiency themes, challenges, and highlights from the event.
Whether you are a building owner or tenant taking steps to control energy use in a building or space, or a mayor, city sustainability director, or utility looking to better harness the multiple benefits of energy efficiency, we hope you’ll find the above resources and the many others in our library useful. IMT has several new tools, case studies, and resources in the works for 2018 and we look forward to sharing them with you as we accelerate towards a future in which all buildings are highly efficient.
