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San Francisco 24x7 Energy Challenge For Commercial Buildings

The Mayor's Office is looking to identify and celebrate the most energy efficient buildings in the city as well as properties that make the greatest gains in performance. Mayor Gavin Newsom will publicly recognize owners and managers of highest scoring buildings as leaders in energy conservation but all win by participating!

San Francisco 24x7 Energy Challenge
Learn More and Get Help
24x7 Energy Challenge Contest Details

The 24x7 Energy Challenge

Mayor Newsom calls upon commercial buildings to track and improve their efficiency. The San Francisco 24x7 Energy Challenge is a contest which will celebrate the most energy efficient buildings in the city, as well as properties that make the greatest gains in performance throughout the next year. Leaders in energy management will be publicly recognized, but we all win by participating! To take the San Francisco 24x7 Energy Challenge:

1. Assess energy performance - Enroll your property in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to calculate and track building energy use online. Get an unbiased benchmark of your energy performance compared to similar buildings in the area: www.energystar.gov/benchmark.
2. Automate energy tracking - Enable PG&E’s no-cost Automated Benchmarking Service, which will keep your Portfolio Manager records updated: www.pge.com/benchmarking.
3. Improve your annual energy performance - by any means - and receive prizes and recognition!

All partners will receive publicity for participating. Prizes and special public recognition from Mayor Gavin Newsom will be awarded to:

• The most energy efficient buildings in the city, and
• Facilities that make the greatest gains in performance

Benefits of Taking the Challenge

• Recognition! Your participation will be advertised and promoted.
• Reduce energy costs! Energy dollars go straight to the bottom line.
• Bonus – Early compliance! By 2011, disclosure of benchmarks will be required in California real estate transactions.
• LEED EBOM! – Benchmarking is a step toward LEED for Existing Buildings certification.

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Learn More and Get Help

Help with Portfolio Manager
Both the US EPA ENERGY STAR program and PG&E regularly offer free classes on the Portfolio Manager tool.

Live Webinars
Go to http://energystar.webex.com to find upcoming online webinars that explain how to set up Portfolio Manager to benchmark your facility.

Local Classes
At local classes PG&E provides a computer lab and personal assistance. By the end of the class, you will have finished setting up Portfolio Manager and the Automated Benchmarking System to benchmark and manage energy use in your facility. Visit www.PGE.com/energyclasses for announcements of upcoming classes.

Do-It-Yourself Support
The ENERGY STAR website provides step-by-step help to setup Portfolio Manager to track and assess energy consumption in your building(s): www.energystar.gov/benchmark.

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24x7 Energy Challenge Contest Details

Prize Categories 
Recognition and free advertising will be awarded to leaders among each category:

• Office
• Hotel
• Retail
• Hospital
• Medical office
• Supermarket
• School

The Kilowatt Cup
Jury-awarded trophy recognizing superior achievement in energy management, overcoming unique obstacles, and emphasizing energy savings through no- and low-cost practices.

Greatest Improvement
Awarded for the greatest percentage gain in Energy Performance Rating in one year.

Most Efficient
Awarded to buildings with the highest Portfolio Manager energy performance rating.

General Recognition
All participants will be awarded certificates of participation and receive promotion in San Francisco media.

Judging
Awards will be determined by data from the final Energy Performance Rating generated by Portfolio Manager. Applicants for the Kilowatt Cup must also submit a narrative explaining their achievement and obstacles overcome.

Privacy
Building energy data will remain private between building owners, PG&E, and EPA’s confidential Portfolio Manager. Eligibility for prizes requires confidentially sharing energy information with contest organizers for verification. Only winners, trends, and anonymous rankings will be shared publicly. Note that state law requires disclosure of energy benchmark data in all commercial property transactions as of January 2011, including sale, building lease, and lending. (California Public Resources Code 25402.10 – enacted from Assembly Bill 1103.)

The Fine Print
To be eligible for awards, properties must meet the following requirements:

• Located in San Francisco.
• Benchmark the building’s energy use in Portfolio Manager, ENERGY STAR’s free online tool: www.energystar.gov/benchmark.
• Participants must enter energy use data for 24 consecutive months. The easiest way is to enroll in PG&E’s Automated Benchmarking  Service, which will enter utility information for you from 2003 to the present, and keep your Portfolio Manager records up to date from now on. www.pge.com/benchmarking.
• Within one year, participants will be required to submit Energy Performance ratings using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager “Share” feature.
• All meters for a building must be entered into Portfolio Manager. Building owners and operators may enter multiple buildings, but each building must be entered as a separate facility within your Portfolio Manager account.
• Contest organizers will be allowed to verify submittal data and inspect properties to confirm results of winners.

24x7 Energy Challenge partners include:

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