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What is Efficiency-as-a-Service?
As-a-service business models are growing in popularity - and one of the most impactful may be Efficiency-as-a-Service. This column from Better Buildings discusses this pay-for-performance, off-balance sheet financing solution that allows customers to implement efficiency projects with no upfront capital expenditure, including how it works, alternative approaches, and advantages and disadvantages.
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Installing Rooftop Solar on a 1960s Multifamily High-Rise Building
The challenge facing the Tower Company was to determine how to install cost-effective rooftop solar on a 1960s high-rise apartment building with an existing structure and near full occupancy. Read this column from Better Buildings to explore the solution and outcome (including a one-year after-tax payback).
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Chesapeake College: On-Campus Solar Energy and Storage
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Better Buildings Challenge partner Chesapeake College for energy efficiency advances made throughout its Wye Mills, Maryland campus. Most recently, the college completed a 1.8-megawatt solar array with 1-megawatt battery backup. Here's how they did it.
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DWS: Site-Level Climate Risk and Resiliency Checklist Pilot
DWS' real estate business has been investing in assets for more than 40 years and includes $55.6 billion in assets under management across the globe. This column from Better Buildings explores the company's implementation of a Climate Risk and Resiliency Pilot to assess properties at risk from the impacts of climate change and identify strategies and improvements that would protect occupants, interior systems and equipment, and the physical asset.
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Repurposing the Western Maryland Railway Station
The Western Maryland Railway Station in Cumberland, Maryland, built in 1913, went through various transformations before its current use for offices, a museum, and retail shops. This column from Better Buildings shows how a comprehensive building upgrade resulted in a 21 percent annual energy savings.
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LBA Realty: Climate Risk Assessment Report and Resiliency Plan
LBA Realty (LBA, a full-service real estate investment and management company with a diverse portfolio of industrial and office properties in major markets throughout the United States, needed to implement an actionable climate risk assessment process to address concerns at a property-specific level. This column from Better Buildings shows how a new process was created to identify, validate, and mitigate confirmed climate risk factors during the acquisition process.
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Iron Mountain Data Centers aces the Better Buildings Challenge
Iron Mountain Data Centers has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for its commitment to energy efficiency through DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. As a Better Buildings partner, Iron Mountain offered to share its best practices through a virtual tour of the cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies at its data centers.
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Decarbonizing Kitchens: Opportunities for the Food Service Sector
As the public and private sectors pursue organization-wide goals for reducing GHG emissions, commercial food service kitchens and restaurants face multiple challenges: identifying new opportunities to improve energy efficiency while adhering to changing local and state regulations supporting electrification and decarbonization. This column from Better Buildings shows how operators like The Wendy's Company are finding success with a steady approach.
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Ford Motor Company: Dearborn Campus Uses Digital Twin Tool for Energy Plant Management
At Ford’s Dearborn Research and Engineering Campus Central Energy Plant (CEP), the digital twin helps operators and engineers manage energy and operational risks by monitoring the CEP’s energy systems, including the combined heat and power (CHP) system, heat recovery chillers, electric centrifugal chillers, thermal energy storage, and other equipment. This column from the Department of Energy's Better Buildings explores how the design and construction of the CEP ensure that campus building upgrades followed specific sustainability principles.
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Chicago Public Schools: Smart Energy Conservation Measures
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) - one of the largest school districts in the nation, serving over 330,000 students in more than 600 schools with a building portfolio covering more than 64 million square feet across 1,000 structures - is CPS is dedicated to reducing its energy consumption and environmental impact. CPS has joined the Better Buildings Challenge to help meet its goals.
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Loews Hotels & Co - 50001 Ready at 11 Hotels
Loews Hotels & Co, operator of 26 hotels and resorts, strives to be an industry leader in environmental sustainability. This column from Better Buildings details the company's pursuit of DOE's 50001 Ready Program for energy management at 11 properties, including the creation of energy management teams at each facility.
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Sheetz: Green Building Technologies at Herndon, VA Store
Sheetz, Inc. is reducing the company’s environmental impact by adding utility-efficient technologies to new store designs and retrofitting existing stores accordingly. This column from the Better Buildings Solutions Center explores a new facility Sheetz is constructing a new facility in Herndon, VA, which will be the most energy-efficient building in its portfolio.
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LBA Realty: A Comprehensive, Building-level Approach to Reducing Energy and Emissions
LBA Realty developed a systematic, multistep approach to reducing energy use and GHG emissions at One Culver, an 8-story mixed-use office property in Los Angeles. In this column from Better Buildings, learn how the company pursued a renewable energy contract, installed window tinting, altered the energy management system, and performed audits to identify retro-commissioning opportunities.
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