Consider that the commercial real estate industry spends approximately $24 billion annually on energy, and contributes 18 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. This energy use is the single largest controllable operating expense for office buildings, typically a third of variable expenses.

If only 2,000 buildings adopt the no- and low-cost best practices recommended by the Building Owners and Managers Association over the next three years, energy consumption and carbon emissions will be reduced by 10 percent, resulting in $400 million in energy savings and 6.6 billion pounds less carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere.

It sounds hard, but it doesn’t have to be. BOMA says, energy efficiency is easy, and it doesn’t require significant capital expenditures to make a big difference in your operating expenses. The EPA is even more optimistic, estimating that the commercial real estate industry can reduce energy usage by up to 30 percent simply by improving building operating standards. The EPA says, conserving energy can help increase the useful life of building systems and equipment reliability, reducing the need for unscheduled maintenance and improving comfort levels of tenants and occupants.

The following are ways that maintenance managers can conserve energy and help increase the useful life of their building systems and equipment.

• Check that Equipment Is Functioning as Designed: Regularly inspect all equipment and controls to ensure they are functioning as designed. Double-check EMS programming to make sure that operations are optimized.

• Calibrate Thermostats: Periodically walk through the building and compare the thermostat setting with a hand-held digital thermometer (preferably one measuring to 2 decimal places). Ensure thermostat setting equals actual space temperature.

• Adjust Dampers: Bring in the least amount of outside air necessary to maintain proper air quality. Reduce outside air requirements by adjusting dampers to minimize the need to condition outside air, but be sure to stay within codes requirements.

• Consider Your Cleaning Options: Perhaps your janitors should go through the building as a team floor by floor, and the lighting is turned on/off as they progress through the building.

• Occupancy Sensors—Install motion sensors that will turn lights on when janitors are

cleaning and automatically turn them off when the floor is vacant. This way, cleaning staff doesn’t have to remember.

• Coordinate—Have janitors coordinate with the security crew to walk through the building and turn off equipment that was inadvertently left on by tenants.

• Day Cleaning—Why not have the janitors clean during the day while the lights are already on?

• Enlist Occupants Help: Tenants and other building occupants directly impact the three major energy consumption variables in office buildings: Plug load, HVAC and lighting.

Since many leases require tenants to pay their share of utilities, getting tenants on board with energy savings initiatives should be easy.

• Harvest Daylight: Locate work stations requiring high illumination adjacent to windows. Switch off overhead and task lights when daylight is sufficient.

• Clean Windows and Skylights: Window and skylight cleaning will allow more natural daylight to illuminate work areas.

• Lighting may represent as much as 30 percent of a building’s energy usage, so changes to lighting can mean significant energy savings.

• Change Incandescents to CFL and HID: CFL lights use less energy, have a longer lamp life, and produce less heat, thereby reducing heat load. Also, check the lighting in restrooms, closets, server rooms and some common areas.

Well, maybe it’s not as easy as it sounds, but thanks to the 2005 Energy Bill, lighting retrofits and upgrades that meet energy efficiency requirements may be tax deductible, up to 60 cents per square foot, making them well worth the effort.

Thanks and good luck.