Business of Climate:

The Richmond community created a plan called RVA Green 2050 to tackle climate change in an equitable, forward-looking way. One of your first steps in taking climate action with your organization can be to understand where you fit in the community’s goals.

-Buildings - and especially commercial buildings - make up a whopping 66% of Richmond’s climate footprint.

-Commercial building efficiency is identified as a key focus of the plan, as is clean energy workforce development. Read more here.

-The plan also identifies key social equity, including sustainable employment practices, and transportation goals.

-If you’d like to dig into the details of the plan, access it here.

If you have utility bills, gather at least one year of info and track usage/cost over time.

a. When is usage highest for each utility? When is it lowest?

b. What are the trends over time?

c. If you have multiple meters, how different is the demand among them?

Energy Star Portfolio Manager is a powerful (and free!) tool that can help you manage your utility data and costs.

Use your energy bills to determine whether heating or cooling drives more of your energy use, or whether other processes make the biggest impact.

-Natural gas is primarily used for water heating and space heating. It’s generally lower in the summer, and higher in the winter.

-Electricity is usually used for cooling, lighting, and other equipment. If your facility doesn’t have natural gas, electricity can also be used for heating.

-Do you also use fuel, refrigerants, or other materials associated with carbon emissions? If so, quantify these uses as much as possible.

If you don’t pay your utility bills, you can still develop an understanding of your climate footprint.

-Ask your landlord or building manager if you can see the utility bills.

-Determine where your heating, cooling, and hot water come from. If you’re not sure, ask your landlord. How old is the equipment? Most mechanical equipment will need to be replaced after 15-20 years.

- Identify what other equipment or processes use energy.

-Encourage your landlord to explore ways to make equipment more efficient.

Do you have programmable thermostats controlling your HVAC equipment?

-If so, are they programmed?

-If they aren’t programmed, program them using the set points in the graphic below as a guideline.

-If you don’t have a programmable thermostat, get one!

-See Dominion Energy’s Building Optimization program for more resources and rebates related to building controls.

Do you have lights that aren’t LED? LEDs save huge amounts of energy, especially compared to incandescent, metal halide, or halogen lights.

-LED lighting upgrades will pay for themselves within just a few years

-LEDs are available in multiple color temperatures - no longer just in tones that feel “cold.”

-LEDs give off minimal heat, last much (much) longer, and don’t require “reset” time like metal halide lights often do.

-Learn more about lighting and rebates from Dominion Energy’s Lighting Systems webpage.

Energy assessments (also called energy audits) are great tools to help you assess your operations, identify opportunities for efficiency, and prioritize those opportunities for implementation.

The basics of energy assessments are here, and more details are available in C3’s Resources Library.

Energy assessments cost a minimal amount relative to their potential savings, with some facilities saving upwards of 30% of their utility costs by implementing assessment recommendations.

For information on getting an energy assessment, contact C3 at corp@theclimatecollaborative.org.

Research by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found the following priority actions for small businesses. Key takeaway: don’t start with your windows!

-Lighting, daylighting controls, and plug load efficiency measures have the greatest effect on reducing small office building energy use.

-Occupancy sensors also show strong energy savings in most of the small office building models.

-Reducing building leakage is highly impactful in older buildings, primarily pre-1980 vintages; upgrading roof insulation and HVAC equipment is also highly impactful in pre-1980s buildings.

-Upgrading to high-efficiency windows has the least impact on building energy use.

If you don’t currently have a facility, your focus will be on making a plan for future growth.

-If you plan to move into or purchase a facility in the future, consider how to build efficiency and climate-friendliness into your property search. Is the facility accessible on foot, by bike, or by bus? What’s the age and efficiency of the equipment? How does the energy use compare to other facilities?

-If you plan to grow as a virtual organization, you’ll likely reduce facility and transportation impacts significantly.

The key with single facilities is to 1) start with the basics (see above) and 2) determine how your energy use compares to others in your sector.

-Energy Star Portfolio Manager is a free online tool that allows you to compare your utility use to similar facilities.

-If Portfolio Manager doesn’t work for you, C3 can help you find other tools for comparison.

-Identify common sense opportunities for improvement by doing a basic facility walkthrough. What equipment is running, and when? How old is the equipment? Are there clear gaps around doors or windows? Does your attic (if there is one) have insulation?

-If you know how old your key equipment is (HVAC, refrigeration, process equipment, etc.), make a basic plan for replacement, including basic efficiency features.

When you operate multiple facilities, there are always lessons to learn by tracking data across facilities, and identifying where your biggest impacts are.

-Use a tool like Energy Star Portfolio Manager to track data over time, and determine how your facilities compare to each other and to others in your sector.

-Standardize data by calculating impact per square foot, per employee, per client served, or per unit produced - whatever makes sense for your industry.

-If you need help, contact C3 at corp@theclimatecollaborative.org, or consider joining the Green Business Alliance.

Rented facilities present unique challenges in terms of climate action. -If you manage a building with tenants, consider modifying your utility bill structure so that you can both monitor energy use and encourage tenants to conserve.

-If you operate out of a leased facility, explore sharing the costs of improvements with your landlord, or committing to a longer lease in exchange for efficiency investments.

-When you look for a facility to lease, seek information about energy costs, age and type of equipment, insulation, and other factors that will effect costs, comfort, and functionality.

-Explore “green leases” as a tool for moving toward your climate and sustainability goals.