Great Forest Marks 100th Waste Audit in Mid-Atlantic Region

Great Forest's mid-Atlantic team recently conducted their 100th LEED waste stream audit - a milestone that reflects the region's green building trend. As reported in our newsletter last September, we've been seeing more developers and real estate companies aggressively seeking LEED certification and focusing on sustainability in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C. 

The 100th waste audit was conducted for Polinger Shannon & Luchs (PS&L) at 1 Thomas Circle, a 238,000 sq. foot Class B office building in Northwest Washington, D.C. that Great Forest is helping towards LEED certification. 

"There are a few reasons why our clients request LEED-style waste stream audits, which are more in-depth, for their properties," says David Troust, V.P. of Business Development for Great Forest. "While the building is usually pursuing LEED certification, often times our clients, or their tenants, are simply interested in a more detailed, accurate one-day snapshot of their diversion efforts." 

Zubedia Elhindi, V.P. of Asset Management with PS&L was thrilled to find out the building had a 69% diversion rate. "The audit shows that our work with Great Forest on our recycling programs have paid off. We are delighted with the progress but there is still room for improvement in some areas of the recycling program, and we will continue to work on that with David and his team."

Learn more about how Waste Audits Tell All

Free Event/Tour: EPA's Food Recovery Challenge, Oct. 24, NYC

Want to find out how to reduce the amount of food in your waste stream? Interested in seeing how a composting program works? 

Then sign up for this free event, organized by the NYSAR3 (New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling) and St. John's University. Learn about the EPA's Food Recovery Challenge (part of the Waste Wise Program), and get a tour of the university's 02 food waste composting facility. 

7-Point Challenge Deadline: Oct. 15

Five years ago, BOMA challenged members to reduce their energy and water usage, and work towards a market transformation. Now its time to measure the impact of the 7-Point Challenge on the industry and the environment.  

If you accepted the challenge, you have until October 15 to complete the survey, share your data, and get the recognition you deserve. Congratulations!

Electric Demand Snapshot for 2012

More Proof that Peak Electricity Demand Does Not Precisely Follow the Weather 

Looking back on this hot summer, there are a few lessons we can learn about energy use.

States in the Northeast, which recorded its hottest year on record, did not report as much record power use as other states like Nebraska, Texas, Arizona and Idaho. One reason for this, exemplified below, is that humidity and consumption patterns inform the energy demand curve.

[Note: In the examples below we are using Cooling Degree Days (CDDs) as a universal standard measure of the intensity of the need to cool. CDDs usually start accumulating above 65 degrees F. CDDs and HDDs (Heating Degree Days) are used to assess the effect of weather on building systems.]

On the Con Edison peak day 2011, which was a Friday, CDDs reached a steamy 28.2 in NYC's Central Park. Heat had been building all that week through the 20s (in CDD terms) and commercial building load plus residential air conditioning use compounded through that afternoon. The peak was reached at 4:00 p.m.   

7/18/2011 - 17.6 MON

7/19/2011 - 17.3 TUES
7/20/2011 - 15.6 WED
7/21/2011 - 20.3 THURS
7/22/2011 - 28.2 (FRI: Peak Day)

Meanwhile, this year, the CDDs reached only 18.1 on the peak day - July 18 - a Wednesday, at 1:00 p.m. Very high humidity, though, added to the "comfort burden" of the typical weekday office load this year on July 18. It may be significant that the peak day was represented by a Wednesday accumulation of CDDs, not a Friday. When you look at warm Mondays and Tuesdays, we noticed, peak MW demand curves don't tend to reach the top due to the pre-cooling effect of an unoccupied building on Saturdays and Sundays.
7/14/2012 - 13.2 SAT
7/15/2012 - 14.5 SUN
7/16/2012 - 15.3 MON
7/17/2012 - 20.3 TUES
7/18/2012 - 18.1 (WED Peak Day)

"This example shows that peak demand and peak temperature are not perfectly correlated in commercial properties," says Sheila Sweeney, Great Forest's director of energy services. 

"When making decisions about future energy needs and efficiency efforts, we think weather data is a powerful tool when considered alongside occupancy and other scheduling patterns," she added.

Another useful lesson from energy usage during this summer: the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) also recorded an all time peak on 7/18/2012 at 33,865 MW. Since 2,500 MW were enrolled statewide in Demand Response programs on that date, and most of those were commercial or institutional assets, at least some of those enrolled assets and customers were deployed to help lower demand.

In sum, every building has a role to play to make the incremental difference in hot weather. 

Did You Know... CFOs See Sustainability As Key Financial Driver 

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