Today, Salt Lake City honored buildings with high energy performance at the annual Elevate Buildings Awards. The Department of Sustainability invited all buildings who participated in the City’s energy efficiency benchmarking program and received an ENERGY STAR score of 75 or above to the reception this afternoon attended by Mayor Biskupski.
A score of 75 indicates exceptional energy performance.
In addition, the City opened up nominations for buildings to have a particular energy project recognized. Three awards were given this afternoon:
- Unico Properties received the Energy Management Award in recognition for their work upgrading the HVAC and damper systems in 250 Tower following a Rocky Mountain Power wattsmart Business audit.
- City Creek Reserve received the Recommissioning Award for their work in optimizing the energy performance of the HVAC system at the KeyBank Tower.
- The Energy Project of the Year was given to Intermountain Healthcare for a variety of upgrades, including new air handling units and LED lighting retrofit, at Primary Children’s Hospital.
In her remarks to the awardees and guests, Mayor Biskupski referenced the UN Civil Society Conference on inclusive and sustainable cities which recently concluded in Salt Lake City.
“By considering your building’s carbon footprint, each of you are doing your part to help address our region’s air quality problem, and the threat of climate change,” said the mayor. “You are proving what the international community and the UN said over and over just last week: that Salt Lake City is a model for how communities can work together to help build inclusive and sustainable cities.”
This year’s awards also coincide with the first reporting requirement of the City’s Energy Benchmarking & Transparency Ordinance which was adopted in 2017. The ordinance requires all commercial buildings above 25,000 square feet to benchmark and report energy consumption to Salt Lake City on an annual basis, using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The ordinance is rolling out over staggered timelines, with a reporting deadline of May 2019 for buildings over 50,000 square feet. In May 2020, buildings above 25,000 square feet will report their score.
To date, 217 buildings of the 480 eligible buildings for compliance in 2019 have conducted the required benchmarking and reporting. The average ENERGY STAR score of reporting buildings was 63, with 42 buildings reporting scores of 75 or above, making them ENERGY STAR-certifiable.
“The goal of the ordinance is to encourage building owners to take a look at the efficiency of their properties and to find ways to make changes to improve,” said Peter Nelson who oversees the City’s Elevate Buildings program. “Nearly 40% of our local air pollution is caused by buildings and other structures, and in many cases, simple and cost-effective changes can result in large efficiency increases and cost savings for the owners.”
“Intermountain Healthcare is proud to have our efforts of improving sustainability recognized with this award,” said Steven Bergstrom, Intermountain Healthcare Sustainability Director. “The work we have done at Primary Children’s Hospital is a great example of what we are trying to do at all Intermountain facilities. We know helping people live the healthiest lives possible means creating a cleaner environment in the communities we serve.”
Other buildings attending that received ENERGY STAR scores of 75 or above included:
- The Courtyard Salt Lake City Downtown (345 W 100 S);
- The Courtyard Salt Lake City Airport (4843 W Douglas Corrigan Way);
- Bay Pacific American Plaza III, (47 W 200 S);
- One Utah Center (201 S Main)
- Boyer-Madsen Seventh East (675 E 500 S)
Salt Lake City’s benchmarking report for municipal buildings can be found at this link under “Reports”: https://www.slc.gov/sustainability/climate-positive/what-were-doing/
