EnergyRM is an organization with a mission to unlock deep energy efficiency and investment in commercial buildings. However, that begs the question: What is deep efficiency, and how do building owners and investors generate favorable returns from energy efficiency projects?

Deep energy efficiency vs. conventional energy efficiency

Conventional approaches to funding energy efficiency, while they should be celebrated for their accomplishments, have hardly scratched the surface. Utility customer- and taxpayer-funded incentives have helped owners justify shallow retrofits and lighting upgrades. Energy performance contractors have primarily focused on single interventions that they can guarantee, also resulting in shallow savings. Justifying energy efficiency beyond the low hanging fruit has been a massive challenge for building portfolio owners, financial investors, and tenants.

In comparison, deep energy efficiency retrofits are more comprehensive in nature and scale. Deep retrofit focuses on reducing the energy consumption of the entire facility and acknowledges that individual energy conservation measures interact with each other, often to create the best possible outcomes for the building. Focusing on isolating the effects of individual measures, as is true with conventional approaches, becomes unnecessary with a whole-building approach. Paired with the right energy efficiency transaction structure and metering technology (like the DeltaMeter), deep retrofits can reduce energy consumption in buildings by 30-50%.

Financing approaches to deep energy efficiency

Owner and tenant relationships usually complicate capital investments as they don’t share the costs and benefits of retrofits equally. Existing approaches depend on the building owner to make the investments, while the savings from lower energy bills flow to the building’s tenants. Few owners are willing to invest in energy efficiency if the financial returns all flow to someone else. Moreover, tenants are reluctant to make significant investments in buildings they don’t own. In owner-occupied buildings, current owners tend to limit their investment to those that will pay back during the period where they hold the building.

To overcome these obstacles, EnergyRM offers an energy efficiency metering and transaction platform that aligns the interests of all parties – building owners, utilities, ratepayers, tenants, and investors. EnergyRM’s software, paired with an energy efficiency transaction structure, unlocks the value of deep energy efficiency for all parties, resulting in deep energy efficiency outcomes and favorable financial returns for those who fund projects.