Energy audit identifies critical compliance reporting corrections

Growing numbers of cities across the U.S. are implementing Building Performance Standards as part of wider plans to reduce energy use and cut carbon emissions. In 2019, Washington D.C. was among the first cities to implement Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS), a regulation that requires buildings over 50,000 SF to meet minimum energy performance standards or improve performance over five years. Currently in the first compliance period, the regulation is a significant step towards the District’s commitment to lower carbon emissions 50% by 2032, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Center for Public Administration and Service (CPAS), a partnership of not-for-profit organizations that owns an office building, reported 22% more energy use than the median building in 2019, its compliance baseline year. Therefore, it needed to reduce its energy usage to comply with D.C.’s new BEPS – and do so in a cost-effective way.

CPAS sought a second opinion from JLL after receiving initial recommendations that involved significant capital spend from a third-party engineering firm in early 2023.

"The JLL team’s recommendations provided us with a way to avoid costly modifications to the existing building infrastructure. Our property managers continue to collaborate with JLL as a trusted advisor through implementation.”

- Sabina Agarunova, CPAS

JLL’s Sustainability Consulting team carried out an energy audit and reviewed existing operations, during which they identified some critical reporting corrections. The building had three substantial server rooms that weren't mentioned in the energy reporting. This led to the building receiving a lower score because it was benchmarked entirely against office buildings, rather than correctly separately reporting the data rooms. In addition, by reporting vehicle charging energy separately, the score improved further.

The team also recommended a series of low- and no-cost energy saving measures with a high return on investment. These included HVAC equipment scheduling, lighting upgrades, artificial intelligence chiller plant optimization controls and additional opportunities to improve inefficient building transformers.

Once the reporting is corrected, JLL anticipates that the facility will comply with BEPS without any capital improvements.

The low- and no-cost measures would also generate an additional 190,000 kwh/yr in energy savings, achieving a 5-year payback. While these measures aren’t required for the current round of BEPS, they will save money and help futureproof the building against more stringent requirements in the future.