“It looked like a trading floor with all these computers all over the place,” said Lucas Tryggestad, also an architect with SOM. Architects and structural engineers typically require multiple machines to run complex models while continuing with other work, he explained.

Tryggestad, Leung and other SOM architects began to take part in biweekly meetings with other architects in the building, including those from VOA Associates and Goettsch Partners. The firms also started putting together workshops where they analyzed energy use in IT departments, printing offices, and other sections, and reaching out to other tenants. Hamilton Partners, the building manager, also installed smart meters on building systems and mechanical equipment.

Until she started taking part in this effort, Susan Heinking from VOA Associates said she did not understand “how behavior plays a huge role. I was going around like my mother” reminding everyone she could to turn off the lights for rooms not in use. Heinking discovered that simple signs hung in strategic areas worked better. And software that automatically shut down computers after a certain time resulted in a 16% savings.

“A computer on full brightness was blasting 114 degrees at you,” she said, creating a “vicious circle” as employees then need more cooling. They cut their machines' brightness “and we saw a 2% savings just from that.” Other techniques they want others to adopt include letting non-tech employees use low-energy laptops, outsourcing server needs to centralized data centers, LEDs and putting printers on sleep mode. “I don't think it's rocket science.”

Tryggestad said that SOM had already seen an 18% reduction and believes they can surpass the 20% goal this year. Furthermore, he told conference goers, “hopefully you will tell this story to all the other buildings out there.”