Grubb Properties – Colin Walker – 2017

Goals

Grubb Properties, a property management, development and construction firm, has a long-standing commitment to sustainability. Having recently submitted all of the company’s multifamily properties into a third-party energy and water portfolio manager, they brought in EDF Climate Corps fellow Colin Walker go one step further. Walker was tasked with identifying best practices for analyzing the portfolio’s utility data and developing actionable goals based on his analysis.

Solutions

Walker analyzed water, gas and electricity data from 17 properties across four states, some of which had over 140 owner-paid accounts. Acting as liaison between Grubb and the third-party company, he identified over a dozen practices and design improvements to keep Grubb’s large and diverse portfolio as manageable and accurate as possible. After identifying the highest energy-intensity properties, Walker audited seven sites, discovering huge savings in the form of lighting retrofits, occupancy sensors and modifications to HVAC maintenance.

Portfolio manager allows Grubb to assess quarterly improvements, but even greater opportunities lay in real-time energy monitoring. After consulting with vendors and leading energy researchers, Walker assisted Grubb in installing smart meters capable of providing equipment-specific energy profiles, with precise, one-second data intervals that would allow Grubb to proactively identify energy inefficiencies before they showed up on a bill.

Potential Impact

At the seven audited properties, lighting upgrades alone would yield total annual savings of $40,000, reducing Grubb’s associated carbon dioxide emissions by 330 metric tons a year. By collaborating more closely with their third-party energy management company, and conducting energy audits and smart metering across the entire portfolio, Grubb could realize even greater emissions reductions and cost-savings and be better prepared to take their sustainability commitment to the next level.