InSite

This is fascinating - 37% of building professionals don't include HVAC in their active sustainability plans, according to a recent survey from a start-up manufacturer. That means one third of sustainability plans for buildings are ignoring one third of their portfolio's energy footprint. Why? Some challenges cited in the survey were: installation, cost and maintenance. Including HVAC in your sustainability plans shouldn't automatically mean a heavy price tag and a long lead time. There are effective strategies you can put in place through your sustainability efforts to understand your HVAC risk and mitigate it incrementally. It's never necessary to boil the ocean just to make a cup of tea. https://bit.ly/41x0zGi

A recurring theme in many of our conversations lately is one we see on this platform a lot too - our industry is at an inflection point where it's no longer enough to collect and report on operational or energy data, we need to do something with that information to make an impact across multiple aspects of business. As industry analysts and researchers label and relabel our work, the core components and motivations remain the same. We're looking back at the Energy Technologies Area at Berkeley Lab report from late last year exploring Decarbonization Software and its place in the broader building performance optimization landscape and keep coming back to this diagram. The application here is decarbonization, but so many of the inputs and outputs, even the flywheel that comes from gathering, analyzing and acting on data, are common across multiple applications. In other words, replace "ESG software" with "automated reporting," replace "GHG inventory" with "asset registry" expand "Decarbonization Software" to "Operational Efficiency Software" and change "Emissions Reduction Plan" to "Ops Improvement Plan" and you've got a path to reduced OpEx, and increased CapEx across the board, regardless of what you call it.

Our case study with Beatty Development Group was recently published in a series of Bisnow morning briefs and it's available online now. Examine the details of the data consolidation and building optimization program that brought the esteemed regional developer a net positive return on investment in its first year. We continue to work with the stellar operations teams across several Beatty properties in Maryland and we love seeing the value continue to stream in. https://bit.ly/43m6WPs

??Congratulations to Montgomery County Maryland on the unanimous passage of their building energy performance standards (or as we like to call them, #BEPS)! As one city council member said in the press release, "this regulation will help us further bend the curve on the 52 percent of countywide carbon emissions that still emanate from buildings." The regulation covers 30% of the county's buildings which create 15% of its total carbon emissions. This vote comes at the end of a long community engagement process where building owners, interest groups and the public worked together with Maryland County to revise and refine the regulations and allow for reinvestment in the community through the creation of the Maryland County Green Bank. ??As luck will have it, in a few short weeks InSite is joining the Healthcare Council to discuss decarbonization in the sector across the DMV region with a deep dive on this leading Maryland County legislation. Members are invited to participate in the discussion and we look forward to hearing from you!

Speaking of David Sciarrino, LEED AP and #AHR - the recording from his conference session is out now! Watch the video from the link below. TLDR (is TLDW a thing?): ??Smart building providers face serious challenges as they try to grow, because staffing in this industry is so difficult. ??Is better technology answer over more staff? Remains to be seen. ??Job efficiency is key regardless of a talent shortage It's important that we keep talking about this, because this industry - which, by our definition includes everything from HVAC-R, building automation, energy management, sustainability, controls, mechanical equipment, engineering and software - is full of opportunities.

We're still reeling from this year's #AHR. The massive trade show tends to take the spotlight as thousands of manufacturers and service businesses launch new products and showcase special offers for Procurement and Facilities Managers from across the country. But a lesser-discussed aspect of the show is the co-located annual meeting of the ASHRAE working groups. There are a few meetings of these groups throughout the year, but this one is definitely the largest. Our David Sciarrino, LEED AP was there to get up-to-the-minute info on changes to Guideline 43 standards from working group members like Dana F. “Dino” Coliano, with a focus on expanding the guidance to put hospital FMs in the drivers seat on compliance. Maybe you've seen the map (highlighted below) of the disjointed adoption of HVAC standards across the country - different states implement different versions of existing standards. The updated Guideline 43 (expected in Q2 of 2025) won't change these colors quickly, but it will empower FM Directors to take more control of their compliance path. One way we're working with hospital FMs to wield this power is in creating a comprehensive Ventilation Management Plan. Just like IT teams are tasked with developing plans and policies for network security and risk mitigation, FM teams are following a simple playbook to develop, deliver and maintain a VMP that keeps them compliant while having the wiggle room to adjust to real-time conditions throughout the hospital. If you've been following Guideline 43 developments, what do you think? Is ASHRAE doing a good job of addressing compliance challenges your hospital has faced? If you're new to Guideline 43 updates, would you like to schedule a deep dive with David?

??How do you define decarbonization??? Setting aside the literal definition you'll find in Miriam Webster (the process of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere), for those of us in building operations, decarbonization has mostly come to mean benchmarking and compliance. ??This narrow view limits the potential of decarbonization efforts and doesn't do enough to overcome inertia across operational systems and processes. If we expand the definition of decarbonization to include NOI creation, risk mitigation, energy security and resiliency then the potential for long-lasting impact grows exponentially and the path to getting there unfolds more logically.

For building owners facing increasingly stringent performance standards in local jurisdictions over the coming years, the stress of getting into compliance is all too familiar. At InSite, we see regulatory requirements like BEPS as incentives to prioritize programs that optimize total building operation. This kind of comprehensive approach to compliance enhances performance, reduces costs, and improves occupant experience, allowing your efforts in getting compliant to go beyond regulatory adherence. To optimize building operations requires the integration of various systems, processes, and technologies with the goal of improving the ongoing performance of a building. It looks at a range of factors, including: ??Energy Efficiency: Reducing energy consumption through smart building systems, automation, and energy-efficient equipment. ??Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ): Ensuring optimal air quality, lighting, and thermal comfort for occupants. ???Maintenance Efficiency: Implementing predictive and preventive maintenance to avoid unexpected equipment failures. ??Occupant Experience: Improving comfort, health, and productivity for building occupants through better management of resources and spaces. In many cases, one of the above factors influences another, making it difficult to look at only one slice of the operations pie. Unleashing the full potential of optimization results in: ??Cost savings and ROI ??Increased asset value ??Sustainability and carbon neutrality ??Positive occupant experience ???Future-proofing against stricter regulations We explore this topic in more depth on our website, linked from the comments below.

Building energy performance standards are cropping across the country. From Denver to St. Louis, Philadelphia to Boston and New York, municipalities see opportunity in regulating how buildings operate. Instead of viewing compliance as another line item bringing down an operating budget, we see BEPS as a way to jumpstart efficiency programs that, if done right, can actually pay for themselves. We check the map from Institute for Market Transformation often (latest from July, 2024 shown below) and keep tabs on the deadlines as they evolve at the local level. It's true there is plenty of gray space to fill here, but a total building optimization program is still a reliable way to achieve much more than compliance. As themes emerge from leading jurisdictions in the building performance standards space, we're seeing recurring outcomes too. From cost savings to increased asset value, improved occupant experience to future-proofed operations, expanding the focus of compliance efforts brings long-term, predictable savings. What questions do you have about this approach? Does it seem too good to be true?

Building energy performance standards are cropping across the country. From Denver to St. Louis, Philadelphia to Boston and New York, municipalities see opportunity in regulating how buildings operate. Instead of viewing compliance as another line item bringing down an operating budget, we see BEPS as a way to jumpstart efficiency programs that, if done right, can actually pay for themselves. We check the map from Institute for Market Transformation often (latest from July, 2024 shown below) and keep tabs on the deadlines as they evolve at the local level. It's true there is plenty of gray space to fill here, but a total building optimization program is still a reliable way to achieve much more than compliance. As themes emerge from leading jurisdictions in the building performance standards space, we're seeing recurring outcomes too. From cost savings to increased asset value, improved occupant experience to future-proofed operations, expanding the focus of compliance efforts brings long-term, predictable savings. What questions do you have about this approach? Does it seem too good to be true?