One building winner is limited per building portfolio. This enables fair and wide recognition
of the energy reduction accomplishments state wide.
WHO CAN ENTER THE COMPETITION?
All building types are welcome! Commercial, industrial, institutional, non-profits, multi-family, education, retail, campus, owners and tenants (sorry, no single family residential at this time). New buildings are not eligible as you must have 24 months of energy data available by the cutoff date. Any organization can enter one or more buildings of any type in the competition as long as the building is located in the state of Michigan.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS TO COMPETE?
Contestants are required to upload complete gas and electric use data for the previous two calendar years into Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM). For a clearer picture of your building energy use, it is suggested to enter energy data as far back as you want to go, but is not required for the competition. After uploading your data into ESPM, share your account with “Michigan Battle of the Buildings.” The platform will give your building’s baseline and current Energy Use Intensity (EUI), or the total energy use per square foot, the metric we use when determining category winners. Gas and electric use data is needed for a complete EUI.
DOES MICHIGAN BATTLE OF THE BUILDINGS SHARE MY DATA?
We value our competitors' privacy. While we do share your energy reduction percentage if you are a winner of the competition and the overall energy reduction of competitors' combined data, Michigan Battle of the Buildings and the Detroit Energy Challenge will not share your individual energy data.
STEP-BY-STEP Instructions
How to Share in Portfolio Manager
HOW IS THE WINNER DETERMINED?
Using the data submitted to Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) or the industrial widget template, USGBC-WM will determine which competitors have shown the greatest energy reduction using each contestant's whether normalized source EUI from January 1st to December 31st. A third-party verification audit will be conducted on winning buildings to ensure the data input into ESPM was accurately reported. Each building portfolio owner is limited to one building win per annual competition. This enables fair and wide recognition of the energy reduction accomplishments state wide.
WHAT IS THE COMPLETION TIMELINE?
You can connect with us and register your building at any time throughout the year, except the months of March and April. Complete energy data is due in March and awards are held annually in April at the Michigan Energy Summit. Specific deadlines for data sharing are announced in the fall of the prior year. Participants may choose to attend any number of Battle of the Building events offered throughout the year.
Competition is open to new and returning contestants. By March 3rd, energy data must be entered into Energy Star Portfolio Manager for the previous two calendar years to be considered for the competition. No new entries or data uploads will be allowed from March 3rd until the summit.
The annual Michigan Energy Summit Hosts the awards for the previous year’s battle contestants (ex: MES 2023 will be the 2022 Battle of the Buildings Awards).
HOW IS THE DATA CALCULATED?
Energy use is measured in kBtu’s. This data comes from utility bills that are entered into Energy Star Portfolio Manager by you (or your representative). Energy Star converts the energy use data (kWh, CCF, therms, etc.) you enter into kBtus and divides the total by the building’s square footage. The result is the building’s Energy Use Intensity (EUI). To calculate the energy percentage difference over the competition year, the weather normalized EUI from the previous year is subtracted from the weather normalized EUI of the current year. The calculated difference is how we determine the biggest losers.
EUI = kBtu’s/square footage
((Current Year – Prior Year)/Prior Year)*100 = % lost or gained
Water use is measured in gallons. This data comes from water bills and that are entered into Energy Star Portfolio Manager by you (or your representative). Energy Star converts the information you enter into gallons and divides it by the building’s square footage. The result is the building’s Water Use Intensity (WUI). To calculate the water percentage difference over the competition year, WUI from the previous year is subtracted from the WUI of the current year. The calculated difference is how we determine the biggest loser.
WUI = gallons/square footage
((Current Year – Prior Year)/Prior Year)*100 = % lost or gained
HOW WILL THE WINNERS BE RECOGNIZED?
Winners will be recognized at the Michigan Energy Summit the following year.
Read examples of past winners and learn about their energy initiatives,
processes, and full stories by following the button below.
Thank you, Visionary Supporters
