Better Buildings
Better's Posts
City of Boston's improved energy management process
With nearly 4,000 utility accounts across more than a dozen different municipal departments as well as a need to leverage more granular data, the City of Boston needed a plan to improve their energy management processes. This column from Better Buildings reviews Boston's programmatic overhaul to how energy data was collected, analyzed, and reported, leading to the creation of real-time energy meter dashboards and recovering over $1.2 million in identified utility billing errors.
Read More
REI's net zero distribution center
This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Better Buildings Alliance partner REI for the energy productivity advances made in its Arizona distribution center located in Goodyear, Arizona. The center has achieved an annual energy savings of 18% and annual cost savings of $170,000 from the baseline in the first two years of operation. The goal is to have the facility be net-zero energy. How was this accomplished?
Read More
Hannaford Supermarkets' Brandon, Vermont Showcase Project
Hannaford Supermarkets, operators of more than 180 stores throughout Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, participated in Efficiency Vermont's Deep Retrofit pilot program with the goal of cutting their energy consumption in half. This column from Better Buildings shows how it was done.
Read More
IHG'S Green Engage Program
InterContinental Hotels Group, a member of the US Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge, created the IHG Green Engage system, a comprehensive online sustainability management system that allows hotels to track, measure, and report on their carbon footprint and utility consumption.
Read More
Resilience Isn't a Project - It's a Mindset for Better Plants Partners
2020 has been the year of “the pivot” – of looking critically at every part of operations and thinking creatively about new approaches to doing business. In this column from the Better Plants program, learn what General Motors and L'Oreal USA did to adapt to the events of 2020.
Read More
The Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency can save energy and money, but energy-saving projects often yield additional, quantifiable benefits that are frequently omitted from energy efficiency assessments. This blog from the Better Buildings Beat Team uncovers five key areas of additional benefits from energy efficiency.
Read More
Catholic University of America Preps Students for a Changing Climate
Better Buildings Challenge partner The Catholic University of America (CUA) isn’t just increasing energy efficiency: they’re also working to foster next generation of the buildings and decarbonization workforce. In this column, the Better Buildings Beat Team describes bringingtogether speakers from government, industry, universities, and nonprofits to cultivate connections among students, professionals, and university members.
Read More
Whole Foods Market Reaches, Exceeds Better Buildings Challenge Goal
In 2013, Whole Foods Market became the first grocery partner to join the Better Buildings Challenge, committing to a 20% improvement in energy use intensity by 2023 across its building portfolio of more than 12 million square feet. In this column, learn how Whole Foods Market surpassed that goal two years ahead of schedule, achieving a 21% energy reduction.
Read More
Multifamily Better Climate Challenge Partners Drive the EV Conversation
Despite differences in portfolio size, location, and target market, multifamily housing providers Foundation Communities and Veris Residential have chosen similar paths in pursuit of their sustainability goals. In this column from the Better Climate Challenge (BCC), learn how both companies have committed to cutting their carbon emissions in half and their shared belief in the growing importance of electric vehicles (EVs) to reducing emissions – from residents as well as their own operations.
Read More
Better Buildings Showcase: Life Time Chanhassen Athletic Club
The Life Time Chanhassen, MN Athletic Club reduced energy use intensity by 35% and water use intensity by nearly 60%. This column highlights how this Better Buildings Showcase project implemented a range of electric, natural gas, and water efficiency improvements from 2011 to 2021 to achieve these and other goals.
Read More
