EP 36: Lower Your Building's Energy Usage Intensity

Host of Ten Minutes to a Better Building, Tyler Kern, sat down with Geoffrey Gilg, an energy engineer at Boland — the leading commercial provider of HVAC systems, services and building energy solutions. The pair discussed the efforts building owners can make to lower their energy usage intensity (EUI). A factor in measuring EUI is through the ENERGY STAR score, a one to 100 score that annually ranks just how much energy a building is consuming, per the official website.

“The best way to analyze it is to put it into the ENERGY STAR’s portfolio manager, and that will give you an ENERGY STAR score that rates you anywhere from one, which is very low, to 100, which is high. That tells you how you rate relative to other buildings of the same usage type,” said Gilg.

Gilg added that this is comparatively done only between buildings that house the same facilities, such as office buildings or hospitals. So, a building that has an energy star score of 50 simply means that its energy usage is 50% better than other buildings in a similar category. Naturally, many buildings and companies aim to have the highest score, but that can't always be the case. Luckily, there are solutions that come in levels to help them get there.

Most solutions involve actions such as reducing energy use at all hours of the day (unless the building is operating 24 hours), thermostat controlling, and overall proper management of energy-efficient mechanisms. However, building owners must reach various tiers in numerical order before they can obtain a better score. These tiers are:

1. Occupant health and safety

2. Space requirements

3. Occupant comfort

4. Energy efficiency