SAN FRANCISCO— Energy consumption by commercial properties in San Francisco has declined significantly since 2011 after the implementation of San Francisco's Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, according to a new report released this week at the ULI Fall Meeting from the Urban Land Institute Greenprint Center for Building Performance. The report is the result of a collaboration between Greenprint and the San Francisco Department of the Environment.
The report shows a 7.9% reduction in energy use across a cohort of 176 properties consistently tracked since 2010 for $170 million in identified savings. A review of a broader group of 817 buildings found that the implementation of energy reduction measures could save tens of millions of dollars in costs during the lifetime of the projects, adding significantly to the properties' value.
Patrick Phillips, global chief executive officer for the Urban Land Institute, tells GlobeSt.com: “Owners and investors involved in this landmark benchmarking effort by the ULI Greenprint Center are the real winners—they've cut energy costs and are helping the planet at the same time. The building performance information provided by Greenprint is helping drive further innovation in environmentally conscious development practices.”
The San Francisco report bolsters a larger effort being conducted by Greenprint to work with jurisdictions throughout US cities, counties and states seeking to cut building energy use and emissions; and it suggests that significant economic and environmental benefits can be realized through broad adoption measures similar to San Francisco's program. The report points out that the collaborative effort between the city and Greenprint is a good model for other cities to follow, because it shows the positive results achieved through a combination of voluntary private-sector efforts and public-sector regulatory efforts to minimize the environmental impact of the real estate sector.
In San Francisco, just more than half of all greenhouse gas emissions come from energy used in the city's 197,000 residential and commercial buildings. Energy use is also the largest controllable cost in building operations, representing “low-hanging fruit” in reducing resource use and expense. The report points to voluntary market leadership as is demonstrated through Greenprint, incentive programs and major upgrades to building codes as major factors contributing to the energy reduction experienced in San Francisco.
As previously reported this week, Jerry Brown signed an aggressive bill to reduce state energy usage.
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Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.
