The win-win collaboration on driving building energy efficiency

Occupants are the biggest consumers of energy. No matter what sort of high-efficient systems or equipment you’ve got running your building, how occupants use the facilities e.g. air-conditioning, lighting etc. can significantly impacts the effectiveness of energy conservation.

Here are a few tips and actionable strategies to engage with your occupants in your sustainability story and improve the performance of building by enabling GREEN behavior in building occupants.

Track and showcase building’s energy conservation and sustainability measures

It’s important to collect all of your building operations data from your Building Management System (BMS) and analyze the result to get a unified, real-time view of operating performance. The resource you can track include electricity, electric vehicle charge, indoor environment, gas, water etc.

Data explains itself – it will help you communicate with occupants more effectively on the shared goal and actions of your sustainability initiatives.

Give occupants a visibility they need to reduce resources

To connect the occupant engagement with performance, first you have to visualize the data and improve the accessibility to data. Convey your sustainability messages by simple, digestible, yet integral and relevant information that provides occupants insights into where the largest areas for potential savings exist.

By hosting a large screen in your facility’s lobby or common area, you’ll introduce occupants and visitors to your building’s sophisticated operating systems.
Inform occupants and visitors about your organization and its goals, programs to bring awareness to environment impact.
Display real-time data including energy and water usage, CO2 emissions, outdoor air conditions (temperature, humidity) as the motivation for occupants to persistently improve their performance on energy or resource use.
Use dynamic color dashboards and animated graphics to bring the building to life, making the goal and behind-the-scene workings engaging and interactive.
Feature historical highs and lows, total precipitation and trends of resource use to give relevant comparison points and drive improvement

Educate and empower your occupants

You have made an investment by building or retrofitting a more energy-efficient facility. Now is your opportunity to educate occupants about how they can contribute to the environment and community.

Occupants must be made aware of specific actions they can take to improve the performance of building, not just the impact they have on resource in the building.
Bring out your occupants’ competition sprit by hosting a competition. Use competition dashboard to display the results of a current resource reduction competition.
Put up tips as digital signage next to high energy use area to remind occupants constantly.
Feedback is important. Provide occupants a clear avenue for reporting building-related energy or water inefficiencies to facility manager.
Develop a way to effectively track the success of actions and occupant engagement
Celebration your success. Always publicize the results when you reach a set goal.

In particular for commercial buildings, retention rate for tenants have a significant impact on the profitability. Happy occupants stay put, show them that you care.