Last week the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled a major analysis of energy benchmarking data in U.S. buildings. This is the largest analysis to date, examining over 35,000 buildings that from 2008-2011 consistently used the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager measurement tool.
The buildings showed a 7 percent average savings in energy over three years. The initial lowest-performing buildings made the greatest improvements. See the full analysis here.
The data revealed that if all buildings in the U.S. followed a similar trend, more than 18 million metric tons of carbon dioxide could be saved each year. That would equate to $4.2 billion in energy savings just in the first year. EPA estimates that through 2020, the total savings in building energy use could be about 25 percent on a per-building basis if the trend continues.
Here’s the press release from the Institute for Market Transformation.