It is the cities that have taken the lead on green building with 15 now having benchmark or disclosure laws which require owners to report their buildings’ annual energy use to the local government. In addition, some have adopted stretch building laws which require that new buildings achieve higher energy efficiency than is set in base code.
Benchmarking and disclosure laws appear to have the biggest impact as they are require property owners report their annual energy use. Walls point out that it is still early but the mere existence of these laws and the fact owners must report is leading to change.
One way owners have achieved this change is big data:
Most of the early advances have come from use of “big data.” New companies have sprung up to provide real-time, energy-use data—often at 15-minute intervals—to building owners to help them better understand daily patterns of energy use, identify anomalies when and where they occur, and optimize operational improvements.
Head over to the Wall Street Journal for more details.
