Unico benchmarks entire portfolio

The FAA building in Renton

Unico Properties says it benchmarked the energy usage of all of the commercial properties in its 10 million-square-foot portfolio. 

Seattle-based Unico used Environmental Protection Agency’s Portfolio Manager to take baseline readings of the energy use in its buildings. The work revealed that Unico’s average Energy Star score throughout its portfolio is 85, exceeding EPA’s qualifying score of 75 by 10 points. Since the benchmarking initiative was launched in 2007, the company estimates that it has lowered energy consumption by 12 percent in its portfolio by retrofitting, re-commissioning, and upgrading the mechanical systems and building operations.

Although there are a number of benchmarking tools available on the market, Unico chose to go with Portfolio Manager because it comes with the credibility of being associated with a federal agency and it’s “user friendly,” according to Brett Phillips, Unico’s sustainability project manager. “For our staff and engineers, it makes sense to go with something easy to use but also comprehensive enough,” he says.

The benchmarking effort revealed a wealth of unexpected energy savings, Phillips says. At the Key Center in Bellevue, Wash., a minor flaw in the building’s energy management system was uncovered, leading to an upgrade of the software. What Pihillips descirbes as a "low-cost” project yielded about 2 million kilowatt hours of energy savings annually. That translates to about $200,000 a year, he says. Overall savings from the entire benchmarking project haven’t been calculated yet.

Now that the company’s buildings are benchmarked and energy savings are being realized, the company is able to identify the buildings in its portfolio that are “relatively underperforming” and focus its efforts there, Phillips says. It is also moving its entire portfolio toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. In 2009, Unico became the manager of the largest portfolio of LEED-Existing Buildings in Seattle.