The North Alabama Buildings Performance Challenge is an initiative to cut energy usage in our community. When you’re using ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager, you’ll be able to calculate the amount of energy your company uses by using the Energy Use Index (EUI). The main benefit of using the EUI is that you can compare your building’s performance to similar facilities across the country. By itself, an EUI is practically useless, but, when you compare it to a statistically relevant data set, it can help you understand how well you perform against your peers. This device is a good way for companies to figure out how their building’s energy usage measures up to other buildings that are similar and to help them set energy usage goals for the future.
A practical use for your EUI is to set energy goals and benchmarks. By monitoring your EUI each year and using the information that it gives you, you can set tough but achievable energy usage goals. Each month, you’ll need to enter the data from your utility bill, making it easier to track improvements over time and giving you the ability to automatically see the difference it had on your EUI.
An EUI isn’t the one and only useful device, but it’s just one of the tools afforded to you by ENERGY STAR and the North Alabama Buildings Performance Challenge. You can have an EUI in the top 25% out of similar buildings around the country, but your work space might be uncomfortable. Don’t sacrifice your employee’s work place comfort just to cut energy usage. The key is not to just reduce energy consumption but to cut the waste and still get your work done.
SIDE NOTE: There is a big difference between site EUI and source EUI. Site EUI is the type of energy use that most of us are used to; it’s the energy use that shows the amount of heat and electricity consumed. That is what is reflected in your utility bill. To see how the energy use for a building changes over time is the reason why we look at the site energy usage. Source EUI is the calculation that accounts for the entirety of energy use. It is the total amount of raw fuel that a building uses to operate, which includes the on-site energy uses.
Ready to see how the Energy Use Index can work for your company? Try it out! It’s free!
