The UMVRDC has recently been involved with assisting public entities apply for Office of Energy Security grants. It is a requirement that the entities participate in the B3 Benchmarking system. The turn-around time for these grants is very short and entering the data into the B3 Benchmarking system can be very time consuming, so it is advantageous to have this task completed when funding opportunities do arise.
The B3 Energy Benchmarking system provides the ability to manage your existing building’s energy consumption with simple reports using your monthly utility billing information and some basic facility data about your building. This allows you to easily identify which of your building sites are:
- Consuming more or less energy than expected – the Benchmark view
- Consuming more or less energy than in a previous year – the Baseline views
Knowing which building sites use more energy than expected identifies which buildings are cost-effective candidates for energy retro-commissioning or retrofit projects.
We will continue to share funding opportunities and will be conducting workshops on the B3 Benchmarking system. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Michelle Bouta at 320-289-1981.
You can also click here to visit the Minnesota B3 Benchmarking website.
