Benchmarking Program Update - City and County of Denver
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Benchmarking Program Update
June 2015
The energy used in large commercial and multifamily buildings in Denver results in 57% of the city’s harmful
greenhouse gas emissions1. Improving the energy efficiency of these buildings is an important part of responding
to climate change while also protecting and strengthening our area’s quality of life and economy.
Investing an estimated $340 million in improving building energy efficiency in Denver would result in 4,000 local
jobs and $1.3 billion in energy savings over 10 years2. The Denver City Energy Project benchmarking program
was created to help unlock the value of building energy efficiency in Denver and to help the City meet its climate
action goals.
To date, the Denver City Energy Project benchmarking program has 85 participating building owners and
managers. These participants are leading the way by benchmarking their buildings’ energy use with ENERGY
STAR Portfolio Manager and reporting their ENERGY STAR score annually to the City3. The enrolled buildings
represent 17.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family space in Denver. However, we are just
beginning to tap into the City’s potential. We have been actively enrolling buildings with our partners since July
of 2014, but current participants still account for only 4.6% of the square footage of buildings over 10,000 square
feet in the City.
The Energy Efficiency Opportunity in Denver
Energy efficient buildings do more than just reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning to more energy
efficient buildings is also cost-effective. The buildings where we live and work also present a massive untapped
opportunity for energy cost savings. On average, energy accounts for 22% of commercial building operating
expenses.4 Energy efficient buildings provide significant savings for owners and tenant’s bottom line.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a powerful free tool that property managers and building owners can use
to get a 1-100 score regarding the energy performance of their buildings. A score of 50 is the national average,
and any building that scores 75 or higher is eligible for ENERGY STAR certification, which celebrates high
performance. ENERGY STAR certified buildings use 35% less energy than their peers.5
1
57% is the result of Department of Environmental Health calculations based on community greenhouse gas emissions
numbers provided by Xcel Energy.
2
“United States Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and Financing Models.” Rockefeller Foundation and
Deutsche Bank Group. March 2012. Numbers scaled to City and County of Denver.
3
As of May 27h, 2015
4
“Practical Industry Intelligence for Commercial Real Estate” BOMA. 2010.
5
“A Better Building, A Better Bottom Line, A Better World” EPA, ENERGY STAR brochure.
1
In Denver, we estimate the potential exists to realize $1.3 billion in energy savings in our large commercial and
multi-family buildings6. This is the equivalent of 73,000 homes’ energy use for one year and has the potential to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10% city-wide. To realize those efficiency gains we would need to see $340
million invested in improving the energy efficiency of the city’s buildings, which would result in 4,000 jobs. It’s
time for Denver to get smart about energy use. We all know the MPG of our car, what about the ENERGY
STAR score of buildings where we live and work?
Denver’s Buildings
Of all the large buildings in Denver7, commercial buildings make up 61% of square footage, while multi-family
buildings represent 32% and municipal buildings make up the remaining 7%8. Over 80% of the total square
footage of commercial and multi-family buildings is made up of the 1,800 buildings that are 50,000 square feet
and larger.
Figure 1: Denver Commercial and Multi-family Buildings, by square footage
Municipal, 7%
Multi-family,
32%
Commercial,
61%
6
"United States Building Efficiency Retrofits: Market Sizing and Financing Models." Rockefeller Foundation and Deutsche
Bank Group. March 2012. Numbers scaled to City and County of Denver.
7
Large buildings are defined as those over 10,000 sq ft. There are nearly 6,000 buildings over 10,000 sq ft in the City and
County of Denver.
8
Based on City and County of Denver tax assessor data.
2
Of the commercial buildings in Denver, most are office buildings, followed by hospitality, retail, and medical
office spaces9.
Figure 2: Commercial Building Types, by number of buildings
Hospitality,
18%
Retail, 17%
Non-Medical
Office, 62%
Medical
Office, 3%
Of the multi-family buildings in Denver, 60% of the square footage is made up of apartments and 40% of the
square footage is made up of condominiums by square footage10.
Figure 3: Multi-family Building Types, by square footage
Condominums,
40%
Apartments,
60%
Benchmarking Program Update
The first step in improving energy performance is to measure it, because it is difficult to manage what is not
measured. The benchmarking program has 85 buildings enrolled to date. The owners and managers of these
buildings are benchmarking their buildings’ energy use with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and reporting
their ENERGY STAR score annually to the city11. These buildings owners and managers are leading the way
towards a more energy efficient Denver by taking this most fundamental first step in improving their energy
performance.
9
Based on Co-Star data.
10
Based on City and County of Denver tax assessor data.
11
As of May 27th, 2015
3The enrolled buildings represent 17.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family buildings in Denver.
The average ENERGY STAR score of buildings enrolled in the benchmarking program is 80, and they are 31%
more efficient than the national average of 50. While a great start, this represents only 4.6% of the square
footage of buildings over 10,000 square feet in the City. Unfortunately, the current level of participation leaves
us far short of the level needed to meet our climate action goals and to unlock the energy efficiency market
potential in Denver.
Although many of the enrolled buildings are office buildings, six multi-family apartments and condos, three
medical office buildings, and three hotels have enrolled as well.
The six enrolled multi-family buildings are paving the way for improving the energy efficiency of apartments and
condos in Denver. Nationwide, multifamily rentals average 34% fewer energy efficiency features than the
number found in other types of housing. These higher energy costs in multi-family housing make it harder for
multifamily rentals to house their occupants affordably. Those energy costs have a big impact on resident’s
bottom line. In households that earn less than the national median, home energy costs consumes 9% of the
homeowners’ total income.12
Improving our buildings energy efficiency is a critical step in reaching Denver’s climate action goals and while the
current participants are carving the way forward, the current level of participation leaves us short of the level
needed to meet our goals and unlock the full energy efficiency market potential in Denver.
The City is leading by example as a participant in the Better Buildings Challenge by benchmarking its own
buildings and committing to cutting their energy use 20% by 2020. The City is well on its way to meeting these
goals, having achieved 9% energy savings across its portfolio from 2011 to 2014, well ahead of the 7.5% energy
savings target for those years.
Figure 4: City and County of Denver Progress Towards Achieving the Better Buildings Challenge Goal of Cutting
Energy Use 20% in City Buildings by 2020.
12
“Energy Efficiency and its Relationship to Household Income in Multifamily Rental Housing”. Gary Pivo, PhD. September
12, 2012.
4Enrolled Building List
The currently enrolled 85 building owners, managers and operators have all taken the most fundamental first
step to good energy performance. They have benchmarked their performance using ENERGY STAR Portfolio
Manager and shared the resulting score or energy use intensity (EUI) with the city. We thank these participants
for helping Denver a more efficient, healthy, resilient, and prosperous city!
College/University:
Property Name Address Organization
Academic Building 1 1201 Larimer St University of Colorado Denver
Business School 1475 Lawrence Street University of Colorado Denver
Courthouse:
Byron White US Courthouse 1823 STOUT STREET GSA Region 8
City and County Building 1431 Bannock St City and County of Denver
Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse 520 W Colfax Ave City and County of Denver
Distribution Center:
Denver CO G25A 3900 Lima Street xpedx, LLC
National Clearance Outlet store 5445 N. Bannock St. Furniture Row
Hotel:
Brown Palace Hotel and Spa 321 17th street The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
Medical Office:
1125 Seventeenth Street 11000 E 45TH AVE Kaiser Permanente
East Denver Medical Offices 10400 E ALAMEDA AVE Kaiser Permanente
Franklin Medical Offices 2045 FRANKLIN ST Kaiser Permanente
Multi-family Housing:
Aria Apartments 2791 West 52nd Avenue Perry Rose
CVV Coho House 1544 Pearl St iCAST
Kappa Tower 2160 Downing St iCAST
Olin Apartments 1420 Logan St iCAST
Palace Lofts Condominium 1499 Blake Street Palace Lofts Condominium Association
Spire 891 14th Street Spire Owners Association, Inc.
Non-Refrigerated Warehouse:
Parks Maint – Jason 4495 Jason St City and County of Denver
Office:
1001 17th Street 1001 17th St. Vector Property Services, LLC
1290 Broadway 1290 Broadway CBRE Inc
151 Detroit Street 151 Detroit St. Crestone Partners, LLC
1515 Wynkoop 1515 Wynkoop, suite 800 American Realty Advisors
16 Market Square 1400 16th Street Cushman & Wakefield of Colorado, Inc.
1670 Broadway 1670 Broadway Cushman & Wakefield
1800 Larimer 1800 Larimer Westfield Property Services
51900 16th St (EPL) 1900 16th Street CBRE Technical Services
410 Building 410 17th Street JLL
4600 South Syracuse 4600 South Syracuse Cushman & Wakefield
8181 East Tufts 8181 E.Tufts Westcore
Alliance Center 1536 Wynkoop st Alliance for Sustainable Colorado
American Red Cross-Mile High
Region Headquarters 444 Sherman Street American red Cross
Arie P. Taylor Municipal Ctr 4685 Peoria St City and County of Denver
CO0006ZZ - NEW CUSTOMS
HOUSE 721 19TH STREET GSA Region 8
CO0039ZZ - BYRON ROGERS
FED BLDG CTH 1961 STOUT ST GSA Region 8
CO0054ZZ - CESAR CHAVEZ
FED BLDG 1244 SPEER BOULEVARD GSA Region 8
CO0061ZZ - ALFRED ARRAJ
COURTHOUSE 901 19TH STREET GSA Region 8
Colorado Regional Administrative
Offices 10350 E DAKOTA AVE Kaiser Permanente
Denver Financial Center 1775 Sherman Street transwestern
Denver Metro Chamber of
Commerce 1445 Market St. Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
Department of Personnel and
Administration 1313 Sherman State of Colorado
Eastside - Human Services 3815 Steele St City and County of Denver
FBI Denver 8000 E. 36th Ave. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Governors Center II 600 Grant Cassidy Turley
Granite Tower 1099 18th St. Transwestern
Group14 Engineering 1325 East 16th Avenue Group14 Engineering, Inc.
Health Care Policy and Financing
Office 1570 Grant State of Colorado
Kittredge Building 511 16th Street Kittredge Properties, Ltd.
Lawrence Street Center 1380 Lawrence St University of Colorado Denver
Lower Downtown 1521-1523 15th Street Todd Architecture
Metropoint I 4600 S. Ulster CBRE
Metropoint II 4610 S. Ulster CBRE
Minoru Yasui Bldg 303 W Colfax Ave City and County of Denver
Permit Bldg 200 W 14th Ave City and County of Denver
Pinnacol – Lowry 7501 E Lowry Blvd Pinnacol Assurance
Prologis Denver Operational HQ 4545 Airport Way Prologis
Quad at Lowry IV 7901 East Lowry Blvd Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial
Center 1300 Broadway Colorado Judicial Deparment
RE/MAX World Headquarters 5075 South Syracuse Street RE/MAX International, Inc.
Richard T. Castro Building 1200 Federal Blvd City and County of Denver
The Citadel 3200 Cherry Creek South Drive Cushman&Wakefield
Warren Village 1300 Gilpin Street iCAST
Wellington Webb Bldg 201 W Colfax Avenue City and County of Denver
6Wells Fargo Center 1700 Lincoln St. Beacon Capital Partners, LLC
Wewatta Wynkoop 1400 Wewatta Crestone Partners, LLC
Other:
Ashland Indoor Pool 2501 W Dunkeld Place City and County of Denver
Ashland Rec Ctr 2960 Fife Ct City and County of Denver
Athmar Park Library 1055 S Tejon St City and County of Denver
Aztlan Rec Ctr 4435 Navajo St City and County of Denver
Bear Valley Library 5171 W Dartmouth Ave City and County of Denver
Blair Caldwell Af-Am Library 2401 Welton St City and County of Denver
Broadway Library 33 E Bayaud Ave City and County of Denver
Byers Library 675 Santa Fe Dr City and County of Denver
Cherry Creek Library 305 Milwaukee St City and County of Denver
Children's Outreach Project 8000 Pecos St iCAST
City Park Greenhouse 2600 E 23rd Ave City and County of Denver
Court Child Care - Fire Arson
Bldg 280 14th St City and County of Denver
Retail Store:
Furniture Row North Broadway 5740 N. Broadway Furniture Row
Supermarket/Grocery Store:
King Soopers Store #007 –
Denver 5125 WEST FLORIDA King Soopers
King Soopers Store #021 – 825 SOUTH COLORADO
Denver BLVD King Soopers
King Soopers Store #026 – 6470 EAST HAMPDEN
Denver AVENUE King Soopers / City Market
King Soopers Store #035 –
Denver 890 S MONACO PKWY King Soopers
King Soopers Store #072 – 2750 SOUTH COLORADO
Denver BLVD King Soopers
King Soopers Store #083 - Green
Valley Town Ranch Center 18605 E. 48th Ave. King Soopers
King Soopers Store #093 - East
29th Avenue Town Center 2810 Quebec St King Soopers
Worship Facility:
First Unitarian Society of Denver 1400 Lafayette Street First Unitarian Denver
7Improving Energy Efficiency and ENERGY STAR ratings
Improving a building’s energy efficiency is a continuous process that involves operating the building more
efficiently as well as replacing building systems with more efficient systems when the time is right. The process
of improving energy efficiency will be somewhat different in each building, depending on current energy
management practices and the age and efficiency of underlying building systems. However, all buildings that
improve their energy efficiency will do some combination of the following:
1) Retrocommissioning/re-tuning: Improve operational efficiency
Operating a building efficiently requires regularly checking that heating, cooling and ventilation
systems are only running when they are needed, that lights are off when sufficient daylight is
present or afterhours, that thermostats, sensors and controls are correctly
calibrated/programmed and all other equipment in the building is working as designed.
These operational efficiencies can be maintained on a continuous basis through the use of
technology that automatically detects issues and fixes them. Alternately, if technology isn’t in
place to automatically detect issues, then a building can periodically go through a re-tuning or
retrocommissioning process to systematically evaluate and find opportunities for operational
improvements.
2) Energy Audit
The first step in making a plan for when to upgrade equipment and systems is to have an energy
audit. An energy audit will specify the energy savings and payback that might be expected from
replacing building equipment and systems with more energy efficient options.
3) Systems Upgrade
Equipment and systems can be replaced either at the end of their useful life, or ahead of
schedule if the new equipment will pay back quickly based on the energy savings. Some building
systems and equipment may make financial sense to replace immediately because the new
equipment will have an attractive payback based on energy savings. Other equipment may make
financial sense to wait to be replaced until it reaches its end of useful life, a time at which more
energy efficient equipment could be selected.
The following section provides a short summary of how some leading buildings have improved their energy
performance. For more details on what these buildings did see their full case studies on the Denver City Energy
Project website:
1670 Broadway
An energy efficiency project at 1670 Broadway is projected to save $128,810 per year in energy costs by
installing a new energy-management system (EMS)—a system of computer-aided tools used by building
operators to monitor, control, and optimize energy performance. “Measuring and monitoring building
performance is critical to good energy performance,” said Judy Purviance-Anderson of Cushman & Wakefield
and General Manager of 1670 Broadway. “Our new EMS can proactively accommodate and deliver efficient
services to the building while assuring system optimization. We’ve seen our ENERGY STAR score go up by one
point each month since installation.”
Aria Apartments
The Aria Apartments were built to be energy efficient. Energy efficient features include 90% efficient gas
furnaces, 73% efficient water heaters, motion sensors in common areas and long-lasting 13W fluorescent bulbs.
Energy efficiency and water conservation measures provide low-income residents with access to advanced,
efficient technology that will protect them from rising energy and water costs. Rose Companies Management
8uses BrightPowers Energy Score Cards (ESC) program to track energy usage at Aria and across its national
portfolio.
The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa
In the past two years, the Brown Palace has saved 26 percent on its electricity costs and 24 percent on its
natural gas costs per occupied room through a three-year façade repair project, HVAC upgrades, hotel culture
shifts, and a focus on staff awareness. “As a historic building, energy efficiency is one of our greatest
opportunities for improvement,” says Brenna St. Onge, Sustainability Chair at the Brown Palace. “We have
found that energy efficiency is one of the best investments a company can make as it keeps giving back year after
year.”
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce recently completed a series of energy efficiency upgrades on its
building at 1445 Market St. to improve its ENERGY STAR score from 45 in 2010 to 80 in 2014. The Chamber
replaced its rooftop cooling unit and boiler with units that are 40 percent and 60 percent more energy
efficient. All lighting was replaced with LED light bulbs, T5 indirect fixtures, occupancy sensors and daylight
controls. In addition, the building’s pneumatic zone controls were replaced with digital controls. After $17,371
in Xcel Energy rebates, the total cost of the mechanical retrofit was $580,000 ($280,000 over standard efficiency
equipment that was at the end of serviceable life). Projected utility savings in electricity and gas is $40,000
annually, resulting in equipment payback over the course of seven years.
Marycrest Assisted Living
Marycrest houses 161 residents in the 55,000-square-foot Serenity building and the 28,000-square-foot
Harmony building. In 2011, the current owner and operator of the facility, the Health Dimensions Group, used
to spend over $145,000 per year on energy bills and had many resident complaints about hot and cold spots.
Through work with Lightly Treading to improve their energy efficiency they have saved $32,000 per year in
energy and saw a huge drop in resident hot/cold complaints. The upgrades included repairs to by-passes in the
attic, reconnection of the air conditioning ductwork, blown in ceiling insulation, installing occupancy sensors to
turn off 80% of hallway lights, replacement of incandescent lighting with LED’s in common areas and CFL’s in
residential rooms, replacement of original air conditioning units, tinting and glazing on 60% of the building’s
windows, and a real time monitoring system to track and manage building performance. The upgrades resulted
in decreased temperature related resident complaints, and an estimated 400,000 kWh reduced annual
consumption, at annual savings of $32,000.
Kaiser Permanente: East Medical Office
When it was first benchmarked, Kaiser’s East Medical Office had an ENERGY STAR score of 64. After energy
efficiency improvements, the buildings received a score of 84. Kaiser began the improvement process by
installing a new Building Automation System (BAS). Next, it re-commissioned building systems and ensured the
correct operation of existing equipment. Then, based off an analysis of BAS data and the re-commissioning
report, Kaiser replaced heating, ventilation and cooling systems with more efficient equipment, parking lot bulbs
with LED’s, implemented energy peak demand reduction, and operational optimization. The company now uses
Enforma fault detection and diagnostics software to continuously monitor and troubleshoot. These
improvements resulted in annual savings of $38,633 and 326 tons of CO2.
Pinnacol Assurance
Pinnacol Assurance’s pursued significant energy efficiency improvements at their headquarters building starting in
2013. In less than two years, the building’s ENERGY STAR score improved from 54 to 74, with a projected
improvement to 89 once the retrocommissioning and data center improvements are made. The company
started with operational improvements (3 month payback), adjusting the air flow, temperature set points, and
scheduling of the heating, cooling, and ventilation systems. Next, Pinnacol upgraded to LED lighting (3.5 year
payback), performed retrocommissioning (1.5 year payback), and planned data center upgrades.
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