The New Year rings in fresh starts and earnest resolutions. At MACH Energy, we’re always looking out for ways to help you meet your organization’s goals. From reducing energy consumption to managing tenant billing, MACH provides you with the tools to keep your building in top shape. This year, we’re starting a new tradition and sharing our insider industry knowledge with you regarding energy trends and building outlooks. Continue to read our predictions for Top 5 Building Energy Trends in 2017!
Though there is uncertainty around the energy policies of the incoming administration, the desire for energy efficiency at home and in the workplace is unlikely to lose traction. As building teams, asset managers, and owners can testify, energy efficient buildings have numerous benefits such as increased tenant satisfaction, reduced energy bills, and improved bottom lines, creating an overall uptick in market demand for “green” buildings. In conjunction with market demands, local regulations are also urging for energy efficient properties: municipalities nationwide are instituting building energy efficiency regulations, oftentimes passing mandatory performance compliance ordinances. In the month of December alone, the cities of Los Angeles, Denver, Orlando, and Evanston, IL. passed building efficiency benchmarking programs, and more will follow in the new year.
More cities have begun to require building energy benchmarking, which means more interest in the ENERGY STAR program. Even for buildings that are ENERGY STAR certified, upcoming changes in 2017 and 2018 to the baseline of the program will lead building teams to redirect their attention and efforts to ensure their building performances remain competitive. (Check out MACH Energy’s webinar on ENERGY STAR earlier in 2016!) This was evident in our 2016 Industry Survey of Building Management Professionals, where nearly 700 survey respondents remarked that improving their ENERGY STAR scores was a priority over sustainability programs (e.g. LEED) – the exact opposite of 2015's result.
Our 2015 survey revealed widespread industry confusion over Energy Management Software, with over 70% of respondents indicating that they did not understand the difference between a Building Management System (BMS) that typically involves a high capital commitment and includes control functions, and Energy Management Software (EMS), a tool that is much more cost-effective than BMS and offers data analytics standalone, or to overlay with a BMS controls system. In 2016, this percentage of confused respondents decreased to 43%. Since 2016 saw an increase in the activity and movement of EMS companies reaching out to the industry, the market has gained better understanding of EMS’s benefits, leading to a corresponding increased usage.
As interest in EMS rises, people will seek out platforms with integrated tools and intuitive design that can tackle the many responsibilities of building energy management. A software platform like MACH’s seamlessly integrates tenant billing, automated budgets, variance reporting, and actionable data analytics while tracking and reducing energy and water usages by 5-10% in real time. This trend of seeking a well-integrated energy management software platform is reflected again in our survey where 67% of our respondents noted that their favorite EMS feature is “intuitive to use.”
Sixty-eight percent of our survey respondents reported “increased duties” at the workplace. MACH can help with time consuming tasks by automating energy budgets, tenant billings, and threshold alerts so you can free up your time for better tenant engagement, optimized building performance, improved portfolio asset value, and so much more.
Our New Year’s resolution here at MACH is to help you do more in less time while making your jobs easier. What are yours? We look forward to working with you in 2017!