Ranking Your Dormitory's, Fraternity's, or Sorority's Energy Performance

To rate your building, use the national plot below:

  1. Locate your building's annual total energy use intensity on the x-axis.

  2. Move up vertically to the curve and then left to the y-axis for your rating -
    the percent of similar buildings in the nation less efficient than yours.

Energy use intensity distributions of U.S.
grocery stores/food markets by region
(cumulative histograms)

The lower your percentage rating, the higher your building's potential for energy use and cost reductions. If your building ranks below 30%, there is often large energy cost savings available through improved energy management or building/system upgrades. Substantial opportunities are also often achievable for buildings rating between 30 and 50%. Recognize that a high rating does not always guarantee high savings potential. If your building has significantly longer operating hours, higher occupant density (people/sq. ft.), or lots of computers in comparison to its peers, it may appear inefficient (low rating). In most buildings, however, these types of situations are not significant enough to make a dramatic difference in the percentile rating for an individual building.

Using your energy use rating, you can estimate your energy use and cost reduction potentials from the link: