A Do-It-Yourself Green Building Audit for Existing Commercial Facilities
Adopting green practices doesn’t have to be difficult, or require major renovations or LEED certification. Most of these common sense approaches will save your business money by reducing consumption of energy, water, and other resources.
In honor of Earth Day, here are ten simple, cost effective ways to evaluate current practices and implement small changes with big impact.
1. Benchmark your building’s energy usage with Energy Star Portfolio Manager
Benchmarking your building’s energy performance is a key first step to understanding and reducing energy consumption, water consumption and a building's carbon footprint. Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager is a free tool that allows building owners to enter data about their facility to assess its overall performance in comparison to national averages for similar building types.
2. Review your landscape maintenance practices
Landscape maintenance includes the monetary costs of labor & equipment and irrigation, as well as the environmental costs of pollution and noise. Mowing costs can be reduced by planting native wildflowers on more expansive areas of the site. A narrow mowed grass border can encircle the plantings for a cleaner look. Plantings can include native plants and turf requiring minimal irrigation, and the use of perennials as opposed to annuals cuts down on plant costs in years to come.
Rain gardens are another attractive way to green your building as opposed to using concrete storm water structures. A rain garden is a planted depression that absorbs rainwater run-off from impervious areas like roofs, driveways, walkways, and compacted lawn areas. They can also be an attractive addition to the landscape.
For planted areas requiring supplemental watering and irrigation, adding a flow meter to the irrigation system can help monitor water usage; adding a rain sensor will turn off the sprinklers when natural rainfall provides sufficient water.
Non-plant alternatives include decorative river rock over weed-resistant filter fabric, which provides a low-maintenance ground surface.
3. Test for water leaks
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Sense Program offers a primer on checking for and repairing leaks around the home. Many of the suggestions are applicable to commercial properties as well.