ENERGY BENCHMARKING

At present, where sustainability is a global concern and with energy cost constantly rising, local governments and international organizations have fervently raised awareness on the importance of energy benchmarking as a key step for energy management to proactively systematize and organize the management of energy use in buildings and satisfy both economic and environmental requirements.

Energy benchmarking “is a method used to determine whether a building is using more or less energy than its peer facilities with similar occupancies, climates, and sizes”. This practice intends to lower the energy consumption by enabling large and small property owners alike to measure and monitor the energy cost and consumption of a building through baseline establishment and energy accounting, and assess opportunities for energy savings.

Building energy benchmarking can also be an internal process by evaluating the building’s performance in comparison to its own past performance. Whether external or internal, energy benchmarking provides data that encourages facility managers and building owners to strive for continuous improvement, making it a powerful catalyst for improving the energy efficiency of the built environment.