Recommended Energy Performance Review Process

The following procedure should be completed annually as part of a property manager or maintenance staff’s performance review. The goal of the procedure outlined here is to provide property management and/or maintenance staff with feedback on the energy/water performance of their property and build a sense of accountability for energy and water performance over time. It also gives management and site staffs a scheduled time to review building performance, catch problems, and recognize successes.

Sign into EnergyScoreCards and access the property

o Use the search bar at the top right of the screen to search for the property name

Click “Year-to-Year” in the sidebar at the left of the screen.

After clicking “Year-to-Year,” the following screen (shown below) will show the performance of the building in two different 12-month periods. The column at left shows period which is used as the baseline for comparison. This comparison is weather-normalized, meaning it shows changes in building performance with the impact of weather-removed.

Also note you will see any “energy events” (e.g. upgrades or changes) that have been tracked in EnergyScoreCards for this period below the comparison.

First select the “Baseline Year” against which you wish to compare the property’s energy/water performance (e.g. if conducted a review in December of 2015, you might select 2014 as a baseline year).

NOTE: Always select “OWNER” in the popout menu – this will only focus on owner-paid utility accounts. Any utility accounts for which tenants pay the bills will be excluded.

By default you will be comparing to “Most Recent Year” meaning the most recent 12 months of data in EnergyScoreCards. If you’d like to assess performance in a different period (e.g. a particular calendar year), you can also select a different year to compare to the baseline period in the same manner described above, using the drop down and popout menu.

NOTE: Always make sure both the baseline year and the year being evaluated are selected for “Owner” accounts.

After selecting the baseline period, and the year you are currently evaluating – focus on the columns labeled difference on the right side. These columns calculated the change from the baseline year to the comparison year – both in absolute terms and as a percent.

The metrics being evaluated are listed below:

(All metrics are for owner-paid accounts only)

- Energy Index – Captures the total energy usage at the property (owner-paid accounts) across all fuels, normalized for a typical weather year.

- Cooling Index – Captures the energy usage used for cooling at the property. This metric is adjusted for weather at the location.

- Heating Index – Captures the energy usage used for heating at the property. This metric is adjusted for weather at the location.

- Electric Baseboard Index – Captures the electric usage at the property which does not trend with hot or cold weather (lighting, motors, plug loads, possibly DHW). This will include apartment electricity use (e.g. fridges, lighting electronics) for master-metered buildings only. Otherwise, it’s just common area usage.

- Fossil Fuel Baseload Index – Captures the non-seasonal fossil fuel (gas/oil) usage at the property. This usage is expected to be domestic hot water for buildings with central hot water systems.

- Water Index – Captures to the total water usage at the property.

Review the percent change in each of the metrics listed above with the employee. Energy and water usage is not expected to stay constant – it will typically fluctuate a little bit each year.

For any large increases from one year to the next (5-10% or more) – discuss what may have caused the change. The goal should be to help identify what may be causing the uptick in usage. If the reason is malfunctioning equipment, this exercise should help identify what questions the employee should be asking, and what issues they should be looking into on site.

NOTE: An increase in usage does not always indicate a problem to be fixed.

Have there been any changes in occupancy in the past year?

o This will typically affect fossil fuel baseload and/or water usage

Have there been any equipment replacements or repairs at the site? Lighting? HVAC? Appliances?
Have there been changes in the use of community spaces, offices or other common areas (e.g. new regular activities, meals or services provided)?

For any large decreases from one year to the next (5-10% or more) – discuss what may have caused the change. The goal should be to help identify what may be causing the reduction in usage. Commend any efforts initiated by the employee which seem to be resulting in energy savings.

NOTE: A decrease in usage does not always indicate a desired outcome – energy savings may be coming at the expense of resident comfort. .

Have there been any changes in occupancy in the past year?

o This will typically affect fossil fuel baseload and/or water usage

Have there been any equipment replacements or repairs at the site? Lighting? HVAC? Appliances?
Have there been changes in the use of community spaces, offices or other common areas (e.g. new regular activities, meals or services provided)?

For any changes discussed write down notes on possible explanations and share with POAH energy team.

If any equipment replacements, or major retrofits have taken place in the last year that are NOT already displayed in EnergyScoreCards as an energy event.

Discuss the grades (A, B, C or D) for each use, focusing on the current year. Do these make sense to the site staff given their experience in the building? If there are any surprises, e.g. a ‘D’ for an area where high efficiency equipment is known to be installed and operating well, discuss.

Note: not every C or D grade is a problem. Some properties may use more because of how the building was designed, services provided on site, or other factors that are difficult for site staff to change. However, it is important to be aware that your site uses more (or less!) than other similar buildings.

Set a goal for energy and water performance in the next year at the property relevant to the staff person’s responsibilities. For instance:
If the property is performing well, the goal might be to keep up with regular preventative maintenance and ensure that performance stays the same or improves slightly. Prompt attention to any problems, leaks or tenant complaints may be important for not allowing “energy creep”.
If the property is not performing well, or usage is increasing, think of practical steps that are appropriate to the person’s job. This may relate to topics covered elsewhere in the review (e.g. keeping up with regular maintenance, scheduling a visit from a local vendor or utility program to assess opportunities to save, paying closer attention to complaints or work orders from maintenance staff).

In either scenario, write down something simple and practical that can be referenced at the next review to see if the staff person followed through.

Recognize success. If the project is a recent retrofit, or problem-solving success, consider asking the site staff to write up the results or present to peers at an upcoming team meeting. Consider awarding bonuses or other recognition at annual reviews for energy and water performance, e.g. “Most-improved”, “Deep Savings”, “Nailing the Basics”, “Problem Solver