With nearly 6 million buildings accounting for 97 billion square feet of floor space, the U.S. commercial sector – including retail, hospitality, commercial real estate, and healthcare industries – is large, diverse, and represents substantial energy savings potential. Businesses are driven to improve their buildings to capture savings and improve their bottom lines, as well as meet the expectations of consumers and employees who increasingly demand better buildings in which to shop, work, and recreate.
Dedicated to bringing you the latest actionable insights on today's energy-savings landscape, the Better Buildings & Better Plants Webinar Series is a chance to explore the topics and trends that affect your organization with industry experts and peers.
There are many different ways to work with DOE through the Better Buildings & Better Plants Initiative. Explore our partnerships to find the best fit for your organization, whether your focus is energy, water, or waste.
Watch all previously recorded webinars in the On-Demand Webinars library sorted by popular topics such as energy data management, waste reduction, and more.
Featured Solutions
JBG SMITH set a goal to hit a waste diversion rate of 60% by 2030.
Columbia Association replaced a large propane water heater with two smaller heat pump water heaters to eliminate a source of on-site fossil fuel combustion and utilize a high-efficiency heat pump technology at one of its community pool facilities.
As energy efficiency in the built environment continues to grow as an industry standard, action plans to mitigate climate change that contain elements such as building performance standard (BPS) policies and benchmarking have become more popular with cities and energy management stakeholders. These resources will help navigate those standards.
LBA Realty implemented a climate risk assessment process to identify, validate, and mitigate confirmed climate risk factors for existing buildings and during the acquisition process. It allowed property teams to produce property-level resilience plans to respond to the identified risks.
Due to the location and student-centric focus, the Student Pavilion was selected to become the first Net Zero Energy building at ASU. The pavilion is expected to achieve 52% energy savings and provides an opportunity to demonstrate and teach Net Zero Energy and Zero Waste practices.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) made headway on their emissions-based goals by installing nearly 1,500 solar panels on several buildings on campus, including the Maurer Center for Public Health, finding 50% in energy savings.
Iron Mountain Data Centers utilized geothermal energy at their data center located inside a former limestone mine finding a total savings of 34% PUE.
H&M improved their store energy efficiency by collaborating with landlords and utilities to apply incentive dollars to retrofit HVAC rooftop units, saving approximately $2,500 per store annually.
Loews implemented energy projects at the Vanderbilt Hotel due to its significant savings potential and outdated facility equipment saving over $325,00 annually. The implemented energy conservation measures resulted in 22% energy savings through upgrades to the cooling system, domestic water system, elevator motors, and lighting.
Kaiser Permanente’s Richmond Medical Center was the first hospital in California to implement a microgrid that connects renewable energy and battery storage to a pre-existing, diesel-fueled backup power system in a hospital — as a result, the center stands to save an additional 2.63 MWh of energy per year, resulting in annual savings of $394,000.
Iron Mountain collaborated with Redaptive in an efficiency-as-a-service product to finance energy efficiency projects, creating a flexible future cost savings program.
Highwoods Properties partners in a program that helps create a pipeline of college graduates trained to control and reduce energy consumption in the built environment.
With nearly all office employees working remotely, the Hawaiian Airlines energy team rolled out a plan for employee engagement activities and produced a video detailing office energy-savings tips.