Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Energy performance

Better Buildings Challenge Partners strive to decrease portfolio-wide source energy use intensity (EUI) and to increase the percent improvement compared to a set baseline. Massachusetts' portfolio consists of 65 million square feet from 43 separate state agencies.*Massachusetts has improved energy performance by 25% from a 2009 baseline. Energy consumption during 2020 was significantly lower than a typical year since COVID-19 disruptions resulted in temporary building closures and reduced occupancy for much of the year. Prior to 2020, energy savings have been achieved through a host of strategies, including large-scale efficiency projects targeting HVAC and weatherization improvements; small-scale efficiency projects targeting lighting and equipment upgrades; the design and construction of more than 90 high-performance buildings; and the implementation of real-time metering to help track building performance and target operational efficiencies. During the COVID-19 shutdown, energy projects and high-performance construction continued, while real-timing metering assisted state partners in identifying and adjusting building schedules to accommodate reduced occupancy. 

Looking at the percent improvement in energy performance across all departments can provide insight into how an organization is saving energy. Massachusetts has achieved energy performance improvement between 2% and 10% within 11 departments and improvement of over 15% within 22 departments. In all, 35 of the 43 agencies have seen energy reductions from the baseline, demonstrating that energy reductions are broad and have occurred across the majority of the state's portfolio.

Department-level energy performance metrics, including EUI and percent improvement to date, are critical to track progress over time and identify opportunities for additional energy savings.