The Leader - September 2007 - (Page 43) t r e a dI NG lIGh tly: h oW pr oper ty It sys te ms caN he lp o rG aNI zatI o Ns re trace the I r carbo N f o o t p rINt s The Carbon Trust – a U.K. Government-funded independent company – suggests a Five-Step Process for reducing carbon emissions from buildings: n Mobilize the organization – build the team and determine the scope n Set the baseline forecast and targets n Identify and quantify options n Finalize a strategy and implementation plan n Implement the plan – complete with budgets, targets and success metrics Whichever approach an organization takes to improve its energy efficiency, it is becoming strategically important for them to be able to quantify their eco-footprint and monitor their environmental performance over time – and then communicate this information to the management board and other parts of the organization. This calls for an efficient and accurate means of capturing, calculating and monitoring this information in order to assess an organization’s strengths and weaknesses in this area — and also to compare its CFP and environmental performance against internal targets and external benchmarks. As part of IPD Occupiers’ recent work with the U.K. Government – and a growing number of private companies, including Raindrop Information Systems – IPD has already implemented a set of common environmental metrics to complement its established efficiency indicators in providing a measure of each building’s overall performance. The key performance indicator for building energy efficiency is expressed as kWh per square meter per year, based on a building’s consumption of energy sources such as electricity, natural gas, LPG and oil. Innovative new technologies are being introduced that are able to deliver extra information that can be incorporated into environmental performance benchmarking to OPD standards. But the information related to new metrics – such as CFPs and the utilization and measurement of energy use – has to be gathered from the broader enterprise, not just the property department itself. As a result, we are now seeing the emergence of more collaborative, broader-based systems that can deliver these new kinds of information. New web-based technologies are making this possible. They enable the gathering and delivery of additional information that can help the business as a whole – not just the property or facilities management departments. This means that by putting a growing emphasis on new metrics such as social and environmental factors, property systems like Raindrop’s Manhattan can become a strategic partner — not just a software solution. Raindrop, for example, is using the existing functionality within Manhattan to extend KPI analyses to create unique dashboards that show how a company’s CFP is performing against industry and government benchmarks. The system provides an automated CFP calculator that takes into account the carbon offset at property level. This opens the possibility of rolling values up a hierarchical tree to a level at which organizations wish to set benchmarks and KPIs. The CFP can be broken down by property portfolio, by geographical region, by individual properties, or by energy type. The dashboards and KPIs can even be tailored according to an individual’s role within the organization. They can also be tailored DR-eco-ad.25 6/13/07 4:59 PM Page 1 according to a specific property sector – such as shopping centers. ENERGY. E D U C A T E D. ENTERPRISING. > Powering 30% of Ontario’s energy needs > Building Ontario’s university-driven R & D > Strengthening Canada’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities It’s happening now! Durham Region Ontario, Canada Ajax • Brock • Clarington • Oshawa • Pickering • Scugog • Uxbridge • Whitby Economic Development & Tourism Department www.durhambusiness.ca • 1-800-706-9857 th e le ade r 43 september / october 2007 http://www.durhambusiness.ca http://www.durhambusiness.ca
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