New Math: The 80% Energy Efficiency Opportunity

Our mission at Octus Energy is straightforward: to significantly reduce energy expenses and increase cash flow for building owners, managers and occupants. When we do this, we generate a triple bottom-line return for our clients (aka, the Octus 3 Ps):

Profit: Energy costs are reduced immediately and perpetually; NOI, building values, occupancy, and lease rates are bolstered.
People: As building environments improve, employee, occupant and customer morale, satisfaction and productivity increase.
Planet: Significant reductions in the carbon impact of facilities.

And, we holster a few metrics to our mission: Commercial buildings in the U.S. spend an estimated $100 billion annually for electricity, solely for lighting and cooling. With in-the-market solutions, energy costs can be cut in half: $50 billion per year. And, we are not seeking to create a new market, but rather serve an existing market.

A recent study, portrayed by our comrades at The Building Advisor, blows our metrics through the roof. “Up to 80 percent of commercial building energy is going up in smoke,” said F. Noel Perry, founder of Next 10.

Next 10 has issued a new study, “Untapped Potential of Commercial Buildings: Energy Use and Emissions,” which suggests that energy use by commercial buildings could be reduced by up to 80 percent through energy efficiency measures, based on national averages. The full report is available here.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s blog, The Thin Green Line, chimes in:

“Indeed, an average building’s energy use can be cut by half just with low-cost, low-tech improvements to lighting and insulation.”

Next10's study points out that behavioral changes, or tenant use (adjusting lighting schedule, etc.) in commercial buildings can provide energy savings at very low costs. The Building Advisor: "It’s real, folks: there are cash saving things you can do for your building that don’t cost anything."

Piling on, GreenerBuildings: While there is an emphasis on energy efficiency in new construction, it is actually existing building stock that represents the biggest potential for energy reduction, yet remains largely unaddressed by state legislation.