Lloyd District Saves Nearly a Million Dollars on Energy

PORTLAND, Ore. - July 21, 2015 - PRLog -- Portland, OR. July 21, 2015:  Lloyd EcoDistrict announced today that the implementation of its Energy Action Plan (http://www.ecolloyd.org/wordpress/assets/Lloyd-Energy-Action-Plan-FINAL-lowres-02-28-14.pdf) has resulted in area businesses saving almost $900,000 on energy costs over the past two years. The EcoDistrict worked with Lloyd District building owners to save the energy, and helped usage drop among commercial properties in the business district by 10% from 2012 to 2014. The energy reduction also avoided 7,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the emissions created by powering 680 homes.

Executive Director Sarah Heinicke noted that Lloyd EcoDistrict has partnered with property owners in the Lloyd District who track their energy usage via ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®, a free web-based program for tracking commercial energy and water data.

“By collaborating with our district stakeholders, we can support their efficiency projects and track progress towards the goals outlined in our Energy Action Plan,” said Heinicke. “Our short term goal was to reduce energy usage by 10 percent by 2017, and we are way ahead of schedule.”

Lloyd EcoDistrict has a long-term goal of no net increase in energy usage by 2035 based on 2010 levels. Given the projected development in the district, this translates to a 60 percent reduction across all properties by 2035. These recent savings were achieved through building owner participation in the 2013 Kilowatt Crackdown, and projects such as HVAC tune-ups and lighting retrofits. Lloyd EcoDistrict’s work on benchmarking and developing infrastructure to share best practices within the district also contributed to the success.

Currently, more than half of the commercial space in the Lloyd District is tracked in Portfolio Manager. Green Building Services (GBS), a Portland-based sustainability consulting firm, has partnered with Lloyd EcoDistrict to support their energy efficiency work, and performed the Portfolio Manager data analysis in a recently released report (http://www.ecolloyd.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015...). GBS President Elaine Aye, IIDA, LEED Fellow, stated, “We’re pleased to see the properties in the Lloyd District recognized for their energy efficiency work. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with Lloyd EcoDistrict staff and building owners to reduce energy consumption and costs even further.”

This announcement comes just a few months after the Portland City Council passed the Commercial Building Energy Performance Reporting Ordinance (http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/66256), which will compel owners of buildings larger than 20,000 sq. ft to track their energy usage in Portfolio Manager. While most of the affected properties in the Lloyd District are already using Portfolio Manager, Aye’s team will be working with EcoDistrict staff to support the remaining properties as they comply. The new policy takes effect in 2016.

Despite meeting their short-term goal so soon, Heinicke says that the EcoDistrict and their partners will keep pushing forward. “We still have work to do to. Through a combination of existing building retrofits, highly efficient new construction, and renewables projects, we can reach that goal and save the district millions of dollars a year in energy costs.”

Headquartered in Portland, OR, Lloyd EcoDistrict is one of the nation's most advanced ecodistricts, leading the way towards realizing the vision of making the Lloyd District the most sustainable living and working district in North America. More information is available at www.ecolloyd.org.

Green Building Services, Inc. (GBS) is one of the premier sustainability consulting firms in the United States, and a nationally recognized leader in achieving LEED certification for existing buildings and new construction projects. For more information visit:www.greenbuildingservices.com.