Energy Benchmarking and Auditing

Peer benchmarking allows large and small property owners alike to quickly determine whether or not their facilities are performing at a level that is highly efficient, wasteful, or anywhere in between. For large property owners, this data can quickly identify properties that are in need of greater attention with respect to utility use, and can be a great tool for understanding which properties will benefit the most from energy audits or retro-commissioning processes.

Energy Benchmarking is a method used to determine whether a building is using more or less energy than its peer facilities with similar occupancies, climates, and sizes. Benchmarking is done by taking a buildings total energy use (typically converted to kBtu in the US and Watts elsewhere) and dividing by the building's total area. This number is frequently referred to as the Energy Usage Intensity or EUI, is then compared to buildings of the same use type (ex. Office Space) to determine how efficiently the building is utilizing energy. Through energy benchmarking, building auditing can then be pursued more effectively when determining which buildings are inefficiently using energy.  

Harvard is currently developing energy benchmarks for each of our major building types (e.g. "office", "classroom", etc.).  More information on this process will be available in the coming months.