NACo assistance available for energy tracking, assessment
Counties interested in reducing their energy consumption should take a look at a new and free tool that can help them measure their energy consumption. Recent upgrades to ENERGY STAR’s Portfolio Manager tool allow counties to easily and quickly track and assess the energy use of their facilities.
This free online tool helps counties measure energy use in any building and calculate fluctuations over time. It provides similar tracking and calculation for water usage and net greenhouse gas emissions. On the macro level, the Portfolio Manager can compare a county’s energy performance to similar buildings around the country, assigning a rating of 1–100. Buildings with a score of 75 or higher are eligible for an ENERGY STAR label.
NACo is offering a one-time beginner’s startup assistance program to help enter the necessary utility information for each county building. Participating counties will then receive training from NACo to continue to maintain and update this data, as well as tips for improvement.
NACo will:
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establish a cost-free user account for your county in Portfolio Manager
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input your county’s building information and energy data into this online tool, and
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teach you how to maintain your data using the Portfolio Manager tool.
By participating, your county will be able to:
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evaluate your county’s energy use and determine comparisons between your county buildings
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compare the energy performance of your office buildings and courthouses to similar buildings throughout the country
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easily and quickly determine utility billing errors over a period of time
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receive an ENERGY STAR rating for your office buildings and courthouses and easily determine cost-effective strategies to improve this score
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earn an ENERGY STAR label to display on any office building or courthouse found to be in the top 25 percent of energy performing buildings in the country, and
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receive free training and technical assistance to improve your energy performance, protect the environment and save taxpayer dollars.
To participate, you must have your past 12 – 16 months of energy usage data (from your utility bills) for all county buildings available electronically. NACo will do the rest saving your staff time and money.
(For more information on the ENERGY STAR Challenge, contact Scott Berry at sberry@naco.org or 202/942-4274.)
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