Green is the new black for the commercial real estate market in the coming year. With global warming making headlines and high energy costs straining budgets, facility managers are revisiting their environmental responsibility and energy management strategies.

It’s no wonder. Energy represents 30 percent of a typical office building’s costs and is a property’s single largest operating expense. It also leaves a significant carbon footprint, contributing 20 pounds of CO2 per square foot.

Reducing that footprint by better controlling energy costs can have a significant impact on an organization’s bottom line, not to mention its public image. But going green means more than simply retooling existing energy management plans, which often are based on outdated assumptions and technologies.

A fresh take is required; one that considers the current business climate, the latest best practices and advances in technology. And as 2008 unfolds, three trends – roof management, Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) and Energy Management Systems (EMS), and lighting retrofits – have emerged as the hottest approaches among facility owners and managers who want to go green.

Roofing problems are a given. Every structure faces possible damage from wind, water, corrosion, animals, insects and so on. But the degree of structural damage, and the resulting energy loss, expense and repair costs, can be mitigated when an organization adopts a comprehensive management program as opposed to a limited maintenance program.

Roof maintenance is just a small portion of a well-planned roof management program. Roof management goes beyond simply issuing an open-ended purchase order that establishes a contractor as the go-to party for repairing leaks. Rather, it’s the planned, budgeted, proactive means of extending the roof’s life.

A properly implemented solution can save 40 percent of all roof-related expenditures, according to the American Society of Testing Materials. It also reduces landfill debris by extending roofs’ performance lives, and cutting back on construction-related waste. Moreover, it lowers energy consumption and cost by minimizing leaks that allow heated or cooled air to escape, or intemperate outside air to flow in.

In addition to regular inspections, a roofing contractor should perform proactive maintenance and preventative upgrades on roofs every six months. This will identify common issues, such as clogged drainage openings or loose flashing screws, before they become bigger problems.

They will also leverage new technology, such as infrared aerial fly-bys, which use infrared cameras to detect heat loss. This can save a tremendous amount of time and money, detecting leaks unseen by the human eye and long before a roof replacement would be required.

Another crucial component is a roof leak service agreement (RLSA). All manufacturers’ roof warranties require that a trained professional maintain the roof system, typically a minimum of twice a year, to keep the warranty valid. The RLSA ensures that in the event of a warranty claim, the property owner can provide evidence that the warranty’s maintenance requirements were upheld.

A comprehensive RLSA also gives customers access to a Web-based service center and historical databases. There, property owners can pull up detailed warranty information, problem reports, work orders and histories, and billings for any number of sites, all in real time. This helps them track expenses and better manage their budgets.

Other components to look for in a roof management program include:

• Standardized emergency service pricing and procedures for unexpected damage. Many providers find the closest subcontractor in the area to deal with emergencies, which leads to double price markups. In contrast, standardized service guarantees one of the provider’s staff works directly with the client to keep price low and quality high.

• Preliminary documentation of the roof’s problems to ensure quality and fair budgeting. This includes AutoCAD drawings of each building, condition analysis, photo documentation and a repair/replacement budget.

• Condition reports conducted upon installation, and updated annually. This allows minor and inexpensive problems to be tracked, anticipated and repaired proactively.

• Insulation improvement that keeps buildings warm in winter, and cool in summer, while reducing energy expenditures year-round. Providers can do spot treatment using infrared cameras to detect wet or weak spots in roofing insulation, and then conduct a thorough analysis to decide if an entire new insulation system is needed.

• Partnering with the property owner on new construction to properly address roofing considerations at the front end. Design-build firms are ideal, providing a single point of responsibility for quality, cost and schedule adherence.

Solutions and Service

Another hot trend: Facility managers are folding HVAC systems into energy management system (EMS) monitoring. This is a big change from a reactive, maintenance-only approach to proactive HVAC management.

According to a case study done by Roth Bros., a retail organization with 800 nationwide locations, concluded that adopting an HVAC management program saved them $1.9 million in a year, of which $618,000 in capital cost savings was attributed to extended equipment life. It’s just one case, but it illustrates the potential for organizations of any size.

As with roof management, that approach to HVAC goes beyond simple “break-fix” and open-ended maintenance POs. A properly designed program takes a long-term view, and makes the service provider fully accountable for all aspects of the combined HVAC and EMS equation. These include:

• Planned, preventative maintenance designed to prolong the life expectancy of HVAC equipment and ensure it operates at maximum efficiency. This should include a commission process, where the service provider inspects every piece of HVAC and EMS equipment, and addresses systems not up to spec.

• Secure electronic monitoring and control of all EMS, around the clock, from the provider’s central operations center. This automatically sets, enforces, and manages operational thresholds on a national or even global basis from the remote center. The system also centrally logs, analyzes and reports operational data. Trends can be acted upon and alarms can be investigated and remediate in real time. It also identifies outliers more easily, and brings them into compliance with the facility manager’s goals.

• Optimal temperature set points that can be established and automatically maintained to reduce energy use and minimize costs, yet maintain comfort levels for employees and customers. Usage patterns can be adjusted seasonally, geographically, by facility type and so on.

• Equipment audits that gather a wide range of information, from component condition to SEER value. The provider should then use the information to develop individual analyses for possible improvements that can garner safety, repair, capital and energy savings.

• Partnering with the property owner to ensure new construction properly addresses HVAC and EMS considerations, and assuming responsibility for installing HVAC and EMS in new sites.

• Savings targets that vary depending on the client’s needs. Individual solutions might comprise basic HVAC construction or service, or add plumbing, electrical, signs, glass, gates, janitorial, landscaping and commercial duct cleaning. In any scenario, facility managers are left with zero overhead costs related to HVAC activities. This includes approving quotes, monitoring alarms, and schedule changes. HVAC capital investment and expenses are capped, and budgetary certainty is assured.

The sum effect of a proactive, integrated approach to HVAC and EMS is to reduce energy use, which drives savings and cuts carbon emissions. It also standardizes facilities’ specifications for equipment and installation, making it easier for owners to benchmark environmental and financial performance going forward.

Lighting Retrofit

Lighting retrofits are the low-hanging fruit of a greener approach to energy management. Still, the process requires certain best practices that facility managers might not have on tap. Partnering with a qualified service provider will ensure a solution meets an organization’s efficiency and lighting-quality requirements.

Output should include lighting layout designs, ROI and cash-flow analysis, financing options, and prepared utility rebate applications. Optimally, the provider will custom-design and build reflectors to maximize fixture photometrics at a facility and then install them. A properly executed lighting retrofit program can reduce a building’s electrical use by more than 60 percent.

Certain retrofit solutions can also qualify organizations for tax deductions under the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPACT). A tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot is available to owners or designers of new or existing commercial buildings that save at least 50 percent of a building’s heating and cooling energy, according to American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards.

In addition, partial deductions of up to 60 cents per square foot can be taken for measures affecting any one of three building systems: the building envelope, lighting, or heating and cooling systems. The credits are available for systems placed in service from January 2006 through December 2008.

For example, to meet the EPACT guidelines, a company could replace T12 fluorescent lighting with new high-tech fluorescent lamps, and replace fixtures with the latest electronic ballasts. The fluorescent lamps are maintenance-free for two years, emit less heat, and reduce power consumption by 50 percent over the ASHRAE standard.

These trends are gaining traction among facility managers because they deliver a potent one-two punch. They reduce the property owner’s carbon footprint by driving down energy use, which in turn cuts energy, maintenance, and repair costs, often dramatically.

Better still, when facility managers partner with experienced energy management service providers, they’re freed from routine maintenance concerns, and can instead focus on ‘big picture’ strategies for building new sites or serving customers. In this way, organizations can keep earning sheets and the earth healthy, and can look forward to growing their business in 2008.