Shorenstein Properties – Jacob Talbot – 2013

Goals

Shorenstein’s sustainability team enlisted Jacob Talbot to work closely with them on several energy efficiency initiatives. These initiative included a pilot program on employee behavior change and tenant engagement, building energy surveys and energy efficiency retrofit recommendations, sub meter system analysis, several case studies of building performance and a strategy for continuous energy efficiency improvements.

Solutions

Key retrofit recommendations include transitioning to high efficiency fluorescent lamps and LED fixtures. Once fully implemented, these projects could save approximately 2.5 million kilowatt hours and 1,100 metric tons of carbon equivalent annually. These savings could result in a net present value of approximately $620,000 with a payback of 1.5 years. Of particular note, all of these recommendations are going to be incorporated into Property Managers’ budgets for the coming year, and the fluorescent lighting upgrades represent new corporate procurement guidelines for all future lamp purchases.

In developing a pilot program on employee behavior change targeting plug load energy savings, Talbot identified the potential for 24,000 kWh savings annually for a typical office with 100 employees. If scaled to all occupants in Shorenstein buildings, these saving could reach more than 15 million kWh annually, or 8,500 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. Talbot plans to continue to follow the progress of these initiatives over the fall in order to develop a case study of Shorenstein energy efficiency successes.