Visualizing Mpls building energy efficiency

[Katie Jones Schmitt]

Hi all,

 

I have a project to propose, which I'm calling the Minneapolis Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Transparency Project, and I would love your help on it!

 

My name is Katie and I work with the City on the Minneapolis' benchmarking ordinance, which tracks energy in large commercial buildings and seeks to make building energy efficiency more transparent.  

 

Being green and using energy responsibly is a desire for many Minneapolitans.  Building managers consistently say that potential tenants are looking for green and efficient building space because of the lower utility costs and enhanced occupant experience that often correspond with efficient buildings.  Reporting the benchmarking results has been the beginning to providing such information, but knowledge of the program and the resulting report is limited.  We write a report every year displaying building energy performance, but we know that reports are not necessarily the best way to reach facility managers and building occupants.

 

Thus, why I am here.  I am looking for an app or website that would make the energy efficiency data more digestible.  We want for people to be able to examine the efficiency of buildings they frequent, compare the buildings to neighbors or other similar properties, and discover the best and worst run buildings in the city.  Our ultimate goal is to drive the building market toward higher efficiency, and this starts by making this data visible and accessible.

 

Feel free to ask me more about the project.  Please let me know if you're interested in working with us!

 

Thanks,

Katie Jones Schmitt

ksch...@mncee.org

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[Steve (Gmail)]

Can you give an example of the data that you would like visualized?

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi

blog: http://steve.stewdle.com/blog
twitter: @boberetezeke

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[Katie Jones Schmitt]

That was fast!  

I've attached the basic information that we would like to be displayed/conveyed: building name, address, building type, and two energy efficiency metrics. The Energy Star score is a performance metric from 1-100 with 1 being a poor and 100 being great performance respectively.  We'd also like to include the Site Energy Use Intensity as another energy metric, because not all building types can get an Energy Star score.  

So far, one idea is to display the information in a map and perhaps color code building performance along a spectrum (red to green, from bad to good).  It would also be cool to choose a few specific buildings that you want to compare.  For example, a user wants to compare the metrics three office buildings, because he is thinking of leasing space in one of them. 

Thanks!  I'm happy to provide more information.

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[Michaeline Sheehy]

http://www.pacenation.us/about-pace/

Might be beneficial to also state weather it's a PACE property or not.

http://citizensleague.org/what-we-do/policy/land-and-resource-use/electrical-energy/

A good way to reach local facility managers might be through the Citizens League. I participated in this project (see link), along with a number of other stakeholders in the energy field in Minnesota, many of whom were based out of Minneapolis. 

Although I'm still developing my coding skills, I would love to help on this project in anyway I can.

Once we have a beta version, I'd also be happy to write an article about it for submission to a couple relevant professional magazines, too, if that would be helpful.

Michaeline Sheehy

Supers...@gmail.com

612.203.2801

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[Michaeline Sheehy]

Is this the kind of thing you are looking for, Katie? I have not used the service myself.

https://utilityapi.com/blog

On Wed, Sep 2, 2015 at 4:13 PM, Katie Jones Schmitt <ksch...@mncee.org> wrote:

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[Katie Schmitt]

I had no idea this existed. It certainly looks interesting for data collection, and I think it would be most applicable for building managers who have a portfolio of buildings for which they are trying to manage utility bills.

The way the City collects the data now is through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM), a national tool that currently all 14 benchmarking cities are using.  Building owners/managers collect and enter the data themselves into ESPM, and then submit their aggregate information to the City through ESPM as well.  The City receives the data from ESPM in an Excel file.

For our project, I'm looking for a way to display the data we've received in a user-friendly way, so that buildings can compare themselves to their peers.  Since I first posted, I've learned of some examples coming out of other benchmarking cities:

Philly's map

Boston's map

Seattle's tool

They are are cool and useful in their own way, and I'm curious what others may think about them.

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Katie Jones Schmitt |  |

Benchmarking Outreach & Policy Associate |

Center for Energy and Environment

212 Third Avenue North, Suite 560 | Minneapolis, MN 55401

612.741.0596 | www.mncee.org

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[Katie Jones Schmitt]

Hi all, 

Today, we learned of GIS capabilities at Hennepin County and will be collaborating with them going forward.  So please consider this project closed.  Thanks for all of your ideas and interest!

Katie

[Frank Beissel]

Great news.  This is how open governments and communication should work.  Please share what you find.

Frank

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[Bill Bushey]

Agreed; happy to hear Hennepin County is collaborating with you.

Cheers,

Bill

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