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Climate Action for a Resilient New Orleans | Mayor's Office of Resilience and Sustainability

Saving energy = Saving money!

It’s time for New Orleans properties to start saving money and saving energy!  Buildings can be more competitive and increase their bottom line by better managing their energy use.  

Building owners, operators and managers are invited to join a friendly contest among peers to start measuring and monitoring energy data.

The NOLA Energy Challenge will engage local buildings in the first steps towards reducing utility bills – that translates into cost savings, improved equipment function, fewer maintenance issues, greater occupant comfort, and higher property values. 

With technical support and free training provided, participants can improve their bottom line while competing for prizes and awards.

What is the Challenge?

The NOLA Energy Challenge is a friendly, voluntary competition amongst all buildings in New Orleans to help them understand their energy use and save energy.  These types of Energy Challenges have helped buildings lower their utility bills in cities as diverse as Atlanta, Chicago, Salt Lake City, and many more.

Who is eligible?

Whether your building is a large or small commercial structure, a hotel, a retail establishment, a condo or apartment development, you can join the NOLA Energy Challenge to become more energy efficient.  All Orleans Parish properties are eligible, except single-family residential and doubles. 

How does it work?

The mere act of measuring has an impact on raising awareness.  If we track the performance of a building like we track the miles per gallon on a car, we gain power that impacts our economic decisions.

Benchmarking is the monitoring and measuring of energy use, which gives building engineers and facilities operators valuable information about how the air conditioning, heating, lighting and other systems are functioning. 

Participants in the Challenge will track their energy use starting in 2019, using Portfolio Manager – the free online database that is the national standard for calculating ENERGY STAR scores.  This creates an opportunity for intervention, including equipment upgrades, building automation system tweaking, and other energy efficiency improvements.  The end result is energy savings and lower monthly expenses – all based on the power of information!

At the close of the contest period, leaders in each sector (and special innovators!) will be recognized, with opportunities for further engagement.

What are the benefits and rewards?

Buildings can lower their operating expenses and increase their bottom line by better managing their energy use.  Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective way to make buildings more competitive.  By reducing expenditures on energy, buildings can allocate those dollars towards other expenditures or longer-term investments.

Energy efficiency is also good for the local economy, as is creates quality jobs that can’t be outsourced.  All these benefits translate into a win-win for building operators and owners.  

Who won the 2018 Challenge?

The first challenge was the “Downtown NOLA Energy Challenge”, which was a competition for downtown properties to benchmark and reduce their energy usage. We had 40 buildings participate in the 2018 Downtown NOLA Energy Challenge, encompassing more than 17 million square feet. It was such a success in helping large buildings benchmark their energy use, we decided to do it again! 

Congratulations to our first Energy Challenge Winners:

  • Best Energy Star score: Edward Hebert Federal Building (General Service Administration)
  • Greatest Energy Reduction: US Custom House (General Service Administration)
  • Greatest Energy Reduction Plan: 400 Poydras Tower (Hertz Investment Properties)
  • Greatest Tenant/Occupant Engagement Program: Tulane University downtown campus
  • Overall Sustainability Champion / Leader: New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center

Register for the 2019 Challenge here. There is no charge to participate.

What training is offered?

Challenge participants will be provided with ongoing support throughout the competition, including lunch-and-learns, webinars, one-on-one technical assistance, site visits, certification options, and other forms of training.  All building managers, owners, engineers, agents, investors and supervisors are invited to attend.  Below are some FREE upcoming trainings, with links to register. 

  • May 30 – Energy Smart incentives: learn about how Entergy New Orleans’ cash incentives can help you with your energy efficiency upgrades (register here)
  • June 5 – ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager 101 webinar – gain insights into how the free, online platform from EPA can help you manage your building’s energy use (register here)
  • June 13 – Energy audits: find out how to work with a third party to identify energy savings opportunities in your building (register here)
  • June 19 & 20 – GPRO Green Professional course: a 2-day instructor-led comprehensive overview on operational efficiency and sustainable building, leading to exam-based certification (register here)*
  • June 25 – NOLA Energy Challenge Orientation: get all the details about how to take advantage of everything the competition has to offer (register here)

* There is a registration fee for this course.

Later in the year, you’ll have access to topics such as:

  • Building automation systems / building troubleshooting: low and no cost methods to address energy waste
  • Retrocommissioning: identifying and implementing operational / maintenance improvements in a building
  • Energy efficiency financing: how to pay for longer term energy efficiency investments
  • Tenant engagement: strategies to educate your building’s tenants on how to help you achieve your energy savings goals

Stay tuned for upcoming trainings, which will be advertised here and are open-registration.

Sign Up To Join The 2019 Challenge Today

Please fill out a form for each building that will participate.

(For questions, please contact EnergyChallenge@nola.gov or call (504) 658-8697.)

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