Commercial and residential buildings account for more than 30% of global CO2 emissions. Due to our size and influence FirstService is in a unique position to improve sustainability in the built environment. We consider this our responsibility and are committed to it. As part of this commitment we have set a goal to reduce energy use and cost across our portfolio by 25%. In New York City, we have established a timeline to accomplish this by 2013.
On average, utilities account for 15% of our clients' operating costs. Since energy costs are expected to increase at a greater rate than other operating costs, this is an increasingly important component of our clients' budgets. A 25% reduction in energy costs is significant, and it's an excellent place to begin reducing overall operating costs.
FirstService is in a unique position of influence with our clients and our responsibility includes advising them on the benefits of energy reduction and making recommendations on comprehensive energy reduction strategies.
In 2008, FirstService launched FS Energy to execute on our energy reduction commitment. FS Energy has invested in creating a unique and proprietary database that contains historical energy use data for the 450 high-rise buildings we manage in New York City. This extensive database enables us to benchmark our properties against each other, ranking them by energy efficiency. FS Energy presents this data and the benchmarking results to our clients along with comprehensive energy usage and cost reduction recommendations. The database is currently being developed for several of the larger US cities in which we operate and we expect substantial additional opportunities to develop in 2011.
To facilitate the broad adoption of energy reduction plans that may include retrofit projects, FS Energy has partnered with top tier US financial institutions to create a unique Energy Retrofit Financing Facility. This provides loans for energy retrofit projects on a timely and streamlined basis directly to the managed property for which an energy retrofit project has been approved. These loans are serviced and retired only from the energy cost savings generated from the energy retrofit projects. Once completed and repaid, these projects and the associated energy savings will yield significant cost savings to our clients each and every year into the future.
So far FS Energy has benchmarked 450 buildings and introduced comprehensive energy reduction plans that contributed to 15 significant energy retrofit projects. FS Energy is well on its way to achieving its 25% energy reduction commitment in NYC within the next three years and is aggressively planning and investing in other major centers towards achieving its commitment globally.
Keeping Our Commitment
- Launched FS Energy in 2008.
- First Global Partner with the World Green Building Council.
- FirstService currently has more than 200 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited professionals, with an additional 100 currently seeking accreditation.
- Certified ISO 14001 in the UK, the leading international environmental standard, for our premises management practices.
- Benchmarked 450 New York City buildings and introduced energy reduction plans that contributed to 15 significant energy retrofit projects.
- Partnered with top tier US financial institutions to create a unique Energy Retrofit Financing Facility.
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