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The commercial office building industry spends $24 billion annually on energy and contributes 18 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Energy represents the single largest and most controllable operating expense for office buildings. Members of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International represent approximately 80 percent of commercial real estate in the United States and have an opportunity to demonstrate unparalleled leadership in the industry. Through its Foundation and in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR® program, BOMA International developed an innovative, new operational excellence program offering no- and low-cost strategies for reducing energy usage in commercial buildings. The BOMA Energy Efficiency Program (BEEP), launched in 2006 as a three-year project, promotes industry standards for operational excellence, trains practitioners about cost-effective operational improvement strategies and measures, and documents and rewards success through recognition programs. Nearly 5,000 industry practitioners were trained in 2006, and the program was supported by large and small industry associations, energy efficiency awareness groups, utilities and others working and interested in the commercial real estate market. Using EPA’s national energy performance rating system, BOMA will be able to measure results and monitor progress toward reaching its goal of reducing the industry’s energy consumption and carbon emissions by at least 10 percent annually. Founded in 1907, BOMA International is the leading advocate for commercial real estate in North America and abroad. BOMA represents 90 local associations in the United States with affiliates in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and South Africa. BOMA’s North American membership (16,500-plus in the U.S.) represents more than 9 billion square feet of downtown and suburban commercial properties. BOMA’s mission is to enhance the human, intellectual and physical assets of the commercial real estate industry through advocacy, education, research, standards and information. On March 14, 2005, BOMA International was pleased to accept EPA’s “10 Percent Challenge,” which called on building owners and operators to assess energy usage, set efficiency improvement goals of 10 percent or greater, and make cost-effective improvements. As a result of this program we expect a 10 percent annual reduction in energy consumption across millions of square feet of properties through no-and low-cost improvements with corresponding reductions in pollution. |
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