Cook County, IL: Energy performance

Better Buildings Challenge Partners strive to decrease portfolio-wide source energy use intensity (EUI) and to increase the percent improvement compared to a set baseline. Cook County's portfolio consists of 40 buildings and 15 million square feet. *Cook County has improved energy performance by 23% from a 2013 baseline. Energy consumption during 2020 and 2021 was lower than a typical year since COVID-19 disruptions resulted in temporary building closures and reduced occupancy for much of the year. Energy savings have been achieved prior to 2020 and during COVID-19 from lighting, fan, and VFD upgrades, installing demand-controlled ventilation and steam traps, pipe insulation, and implementing an energy-saving challenge for our building engineers to implement no-cost energy savings while maintaining occupant comfort at 8 of our large facilities. Some of the operational savings due to COVID-19 from telecommuting on a part-time basis will continue to persist as savings measures in years to come.

Looking at the percent improvement in energy performance across all properties can provide insight into how an organization is saving energy. Cook County has achieved energy performance improvement of greater than 10% at 20 of its properties. There are 6 properties that have experienced an increase in Source EUI. These properties have been targeted for future energy efficiency improvements.

Property-level energy performance metrics, including EUI and percent improvement to date, are critical to track progress over time and identify opportunities for additional energy savings. Cook County's portfolio consists of properties with a wide range of baseline EUI values, most of which are from 100 to 300 kBtu/sq. ft. The majority of properties have shown energy improvement since 2013. The properties located near or below the 0% axis may present good opportunities for further savings.