What to establish before acting
Collect bills and intervals for all relevant meters and map tenant, common-area, and landlord-controlled loads. Record actual occupancy, cleaning, security, HVAC schedules, and major equipment. Hybrid work can change people present without proportionally changing building operation. Benchmark consistently and use qualified review for ventilation and controls. A lease extension, fit-out, electrification, or tenant change can affect expected load and supply terms. A landlord’s blended cost allocation is not automatically a competitive rate available to a tenant.
Illustrative decision boundary
An illustrative office is half occupied on Fridays but runs the same air-handling and lighting zones as other weekdays. Investigate zoning and scheduling with qualified staff while preserving required conditions. Fewer occupants alone do not prove an equal percentage of energy can be removed.
Documents for a useful review
- Meter and lease boundary map with complete fuel and billing records.
- Actual occupancy, tenant, cleaning, security, and HVAC schedules.
- Tariff, supply terms, planned changes, and qualified control-review scope.
Questions & answers
Can tenants choose a supplier independently?
Only where they control eligible utility accounts and have the necessary rights and authority. Shared service and lease allocations can limit direct procurement options.
Is after-hours energy automatically waste?
No. Security, computing, cleaning, tenant work, and building protection can be legitimate. Match intervals with actual schedules before identifying avoidable use.
Should an office benchmark use only electricity?
Label that metric clearly. Whole-building EUI should address relevant fuels and complete boundaries; site and source energy also differ.
Will occupancy controls always lower demand?
Not necessarily. They can reduce energy hours while leaving the billing peak unchanged. Model the relevant tariff and verify both quantities separately.
What should the supply request disclose?
Planned occupancy changes, tenant turnover, lease horizon, equipment additions, and other material load changes, along with accurate meters, dates, and component requirements.
Can vacant floor area distort intensity?
Yes. Occupancy, conditioned areas, tenant boundaries, and service hours affect interpretation. Keep the floor-area definition and operational context consistent rather than attribute every ratio change to equipment performance.
Sources & scope
Primary references reviewed October 15, 2026. These sources support the stated concepts; actual tariffs, program rules and signed agreements govern the account. Decision examples and operational worksheets are original educational analysis.
- ENERGY STAR: Analyze benchmarking results
Peer comparisons, performance tracking, and score interpretation. - ENERGY STAR: What is energy use intensity?
Annual energy per area and property-type comparison. - DOE FEMP: Light commercial heating and cooling
Equipment sizing, installation, economizers, and control requirements. - DOE FEMP: Evaluating your utility rate options
Demand, ratchets, time-of-use rates, coincident peaks, and standby charges.