Shorenstein Properties – Andrew Guerra – 2014

Goals

Andrew Guerra was asked to improve the energy management program at Shorenstein Properties’ River North Point building in Chicago, as well as to identify any energy and cost saving projects that have potential to increase asset value and enhance environmental performance.

Solutions

Using ComEd bills, third party contractors and field observations, Guerra produced a detailed meter map outlining main feeds into the building and the corresponding floors and tenants. Guerra expanded on the meter map by benchmarking the base building and tenant loads into a macro-enabled worksheet to allow the management team to understand usage density in terms of cooling, heating, chiller pumps and lighting/receptacles. After a lighting analysis, Guerra identified two lighting retrofit projects for Shorenstein to take on. He also coordinated a tenant engagement event to educate tenants on simple measures they can take to reduce energy consumption and electric bills. In his final week at Shorenstein, Guerra facilitated a ComEd Retro-Commissioning application and sought out vendors to initiate the chiller plant recommission. Finally, Guerra completed a thorough engineering and financial cost benefit analysis identifying cost savings and return on investment associated with running the house chiller plant instead of using district cooling by using the Chicago River as a source of condenser fluid.

Potential Impact

Guerra’s lighting project could result in a combined annual savings of $5,000 and 160,000 kilowatt hours. His milestone Chicago River project could result in potential savings of $350,000 annually with a payback period of less than one year.