Nov. 16, 2016
Organizations throughout California have taken steps to reduce water consumption during what scientists have said is the state’s worst drought in recorded history. Two such organizations in Palo Alto – TIBCO Software and Cooley LLP – are participating in a pilot program initiative offered by the city of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) and GreenTraks for building energy management and sustainability benchmarking services, according to a press release.
Under the CPAU-GreenTraks Commercial Benchmarking Program, participating commercial CPAU customers receive services paid for by the city, including a one-year subscription to the GreenTraks Energy Manager, an industry-leading cloud-based energy management system, services to establish or update an ENERGY STAR portfolio manager account allowing businesses to benchmark building energy use against similar property types nationwide, and if applicable, receive ENERGY STAR ratings.
The goal of the pilot program is to enable commercial utility customers to view their energy and water consumption in a dynamic manner, allowing users to view trends in consumption patterns, identify leaks, high usage or other anomalies and become active managers of their utility consumption.
GreenTraks and the city of Palo Alto began work on the initiative under GreenTraks’ Climate Action Partners Program in October 2014. Since then, TIBCO and Cooley LLP have seen a significant reduction in water and energy consumption, as well as savings on utility costs.
GreenTraks presented the results earlier this summer in a Water Conservation webinar hosted by the Sustainability Management Association.
To improve the efficiency of their buildings, both TIBCO Software and Cooley took practical steps to reduce water consumption without significant investments in capital development projects.
TIBCO Software – TIBCO implemented a campus-wide interior and exterior conservation plan to reduce the company’s water use at its Palo Alto offices. In 2014, TIBCO installed low-flow showerheads, toilet fixtures, faucet aerators and café dishwasher water-sprayer.
Outdoors, TIBCO replaced unused areas of lawn with mulch, installed an irrigation drip system and drought-tolerant landscaping, while implementing a conservation system of measuring and monitoring landscape irrigation schedules. TIBCO modernized facility water fixtures and retrofit campus landscapes to reflect the natural surroundings, while considerably reducing water consumption and the associated costs.
· TIBCO reduced its overall annual water usage by 37 percent
· Total water usage avoided: 5,572 CCF (January 2014 – June 2016)
· Total water cost avoided: $59,984 (January 2014 – June 2016)
CBRE/Cooley LLP –Cooley focused on reducing irrigation water consumption, representing 77 percent of its daily usage. Beginning in 2014, Cooley cut watering times by as much as 30 percent, removed and replaced existing foliage with drought-resistant plants and ultimately ceased watering lawns altogether around the building periphery, allowing some lawns to be replaced with river rock. In both a material and symbolic action, Cooley shut off the water usage of its fountain, the centerpiece of its courtyard, while still maintaining professionally manicured green lawns at the property’s entrance.
· Cooley reduced its annual irrigation water usage by 46.6 percent
· Total water usage avoided: 2,097 CCF (January 2014 – June 2016)
· Total water cost avoided: $18,330 (January 2014 – June 2016)
“Considering the average person in the U.S. uses about 48 CCF or 36,000 gallons of water per year, TIBCO and Cooley saved a tremendous amount of water, and did so by taking relatively simple steps resulting in significant cost-avoidance, not to mention more engaged co-workers, increasing pride in their employers,” said Kevin Cochran, chief operations officer for GreenTraks.
While cities in California often provide businesses incentives to conserve water, at the city of Palo Alto these have included new construction efficiency incentives, free landscape irrigation surveys, free high-efficiency toilet and urinal direct installation, and the CPAU-GreenTraks Commercial Benchmarking Program. The benchmarking program includes measurement and verification of water consumption as well as electricity, and natural gas, and other commodities, for which the individual organizations may purchase, such as waste diversion, fleet-fuels tracking, and other resources and sustainability metrics.
CPAU is considering offering this value-added energy management service to all its roughly 2,500 commercial utility customers in Palo Alto, so businesses can benefit from benchmarking facilities through ENERGY STAR and the GreenTraks Energy Manager.
