Fifth Third Bank DeWitt was Awarded for the 2022 Michigan Battle of the Buildings Competition in the Financial Institution Category

The history of Fifth Third Bank dates back to June of 1858 with the establishment of The Bank of the Ohio Valley in Cincinnati, Ohio. Between that time and 1920, multiple other banks were opened and closed in the Fifth Third Family Tree. In 1927 two such banks, Fifth-Third National and The Union Trust Company, consolidated to become The Fifth Third Union Trust Company. By 1928, the bank operated 14 branches. Most were concentrated in downtown and nearby neighborhoods. Today Fifth Third Bank has more than 20,000 employees with 1,100 banking centers in 11 states. 

Fifth Third Bank DeWitt is being awarded as the 2022 Michigan Battle of the Buildings Winner in the Financial Institution Category! The 2,400 sq ft establishment is located at 13007 South U.S. Highway 27 in Clinton County, Southeast of Downtown Dewitt, Michigan near retail establishments. The facility reduced their energy consumption by 32.05% through their Building Management Systems (BMS) connectivity program which looks to improve building performance through real-time monitoring and advance notifications of potential problems. They are currently working on upgrading their BMS across 930 locations. At the DeWitt branch, they were able to successfully upgrade their BMS and optimize their equipment. In 2022 they had 613 BMS sites that provided utility consumption savings and achieved 20.8% overall, exceeding their initial goal of 20%. Fifth Third began this project with the goal of connecting stakeholders with proposers and vendors to ask questions, by buying into the program. They wanted to allow these stakeholders to understand the goal of the project and get answers upfront. Fifth Third piloted a proof of concept at three locations in three different climate zones and moved forward enterprise-wide following that.

The DeWitt branch accomplished their optimization project in early/mid-summer. They noticed that the savings they began to monitor were not to the expected level, which pushed them to dive deeper into why the performance was not at what they believed it should be. They found that their HVAC equipment was not optimized, meaning if they had a 5 ton AC system they were not getting 5 tons of cooling. During their search to remedy this and optimize their equipment, they found a software tool, called DIGIMET, that guarantees that the equipment was operating to its full potential. They use this software tool via technicians and vendors to make sure equipment is optimized. The project cost was

$6,700 to install at this location with a $120 rebate for gas from Consumers Energy. Their return on investment is 40 months. This solution allows them to diagnose issues by making adjustments remotely, before occupants even know there is a problem, maximizing their savings overall.

One of the most interesting pieces with this project is that they are starting to use their buildings as labs. This means that they are learning how the system responds to different temperatures, allowing them to work with the equipment and the building to figure out the best comfort and airflow and maximize energy savings. 

As for future plans Fifth Third DeWitt plans to extend their BMS connectivity program, installing a base system and control of HVAC systems. Their next plan is to take on lighting- integrating what is already in the building, and implement circuit transformers on incoming power to see what the building is doing in real-time. They have instituted the DIGIMET optimization software tool and are now employing it across their entire footprint, continually maintaining their systems performance, giving them the ability to extend the life of the equipment. Active monitoring of data analytics.Additionally, Fifth Third is planning on doing more active monitoring of data analytics with their living laboratories. They have already been able to find that it has been proving to be quite an exciting opportunity in some markets. Fifth Third does a full annual GHG inventory across scope I and II and majority of scope III site by site with electric and gas inventory. They continue to monitor their emissions, with their BMS program as the top driver of energy reduction.

We were excited to celebrate Fifth Third Bank DeWitt’s accomplishments in energy efficiency at our annual Michigan Energy Summit on April 18, 2023 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they were awarded in the Financial Institution Category!