CHARLOTTE, NC – Northwood Office is proud to announce that it has received the 2021 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Earning the Partner of the Year Award is a big win for Northwood," said Paul Cattieu, director of sustainability, Northwood Office. "Our team continues to explore opportunities to strengthen Northwood's sustainability efforts and support the ENERGY STAR program. Saving energy is just one example of our steadfast commitment to protecting the environment and public health, both today and for future generations."

Each year, the ENERGY STAR program honors a group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment through superior energy achievements. ENERGY STAR Award Winners lead their industries to produce, sell, and adopt energy-efficient products, services, and strategies. These efforts are essential to fighting the climate crisis and protecting public health.

"ENERGY STAR award-winning partners are showing the world that delivering real climate solutions makes good business sense and promotes job growth," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "Many of them have been doing it for years, inspiring all of us who are committed to tackling the climate crisis and leading the way to a clean energy economy."

On average, ENERGY STAR-certified buildings and plants use 35 percent less energy, cause 35 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and are less expensive to operate than their peers — all without sacrifices in performance or comfort.

To earn the ENERGY STAR certification, Northwood Office took the following actions:
  • Through the inputting of electric, gas and water consumptions into Portfolio Manager, Northwood has been able to identify underperforming buildings, show improvements of building performance upon completion of HVAC work, such as BAS/strategic building logic/controls and major lighting projects, as well as to detect water leaks or failed meters.
  • Prioritizing enrolling all North American and European assets into Portfolio Manager for monitoring energy efficiency.
  • Partnered with a waste vendor with scales on its trucks to better audit buildings' waste and recycling production and identify areas to reduce pickup frequencies, leading to cost savings.
  • Adjustments to building start times via staggered starts to reduce peak demands, optimal starts, setpoints for reduced operating costs.
  • HVAC Preventative Maintenance contracts in place for all properties – serviced by top-rated mechanical contractors with well-vetted, systematic and detailed criteria that service all major equipment 3x/year. Any deficiencies or issues are promptly addressed, ensuring all equipment runs at top performance and increases systems' longevity.
  • Use of VFDs to control motors to help gain more efficient energy use; these are in place for the air handling units, pumps and other HVAC equipment.
  • All LEED-certified buildings use TPO white membrane roof systems to prevent heat absorption, keeping each building cool during summer months to reduce cooling loads.
  • Installed Tridium and Tracer Ensemble, an aggressive energy management system, in most of its buildings to examine the energy usage of outlets, lighting and core/shell HVAC energy using separate meters; monitoring enables us to make localized adjustments to conserve energy.
  • Use of energy-efficient building glass to minimize heat transfer into each building from direct sunlight while allowing maximum daylight to enter to reduce the load on lamp fixtures.
  • Occupancy sensors are used to control lighting in restrooms, janitor's closets, telephone rooms and other areas.
  • In 2019, Northwood committed to only use LED lamps, further reducing our energy consumption down to 14W by 50%.
  • HVAC filtration media routinely replaced.
  • Regular discussions with electric utility provider to ensure we are on the best rate schedule, contract demand as well as:
    • Energy Management Cloud-Based software – Measurabl 2019
    • Critical zone resets
    • Water/Air side economizers
    • Training/Education of Northwood Energy Services Team
    • Best Practices Trips – Duke Energy Building, Cooling Tower, SWUD Units Modular Replacements

Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners. For a complete list of 2021 winners and more information about ENERGY STAR's awards program, visit energystar.gov/awardwinners.

Northwood Office also has received ENERGY STAR certifications for 45 properties owned and managed in Charlotte. The firm’s latest commercial building, Overlook, has been recognized as Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR, meeting strict energy efficiency design targets and intended to create fewer greenhouse gas emissions and save money on energy bills over the lifetime of the building.

Author

Jenna Wines