The energy inside the Colorado Convention Center was decidedly green Monday at the Building Owners and Managers Association International Conference.
Amid sessions on “green” buildings and increasing energy efficiency, BOMA and the Clinton Climate Initiative unveiled an Energy Performance Contract Model to help existing buildings with energy retrofits.
The model, vetted by real estate and energy-service companies and attorneys, should allow owners or tenants to cut down on legal negotiations to focus on the price and scope of their retrofits, said BOMA chairwoman Brenna Walraven.
Under the model, assets within a building are used as collateral and capital costs are paid with guaranteed energy savings, Walraven said.
The contract is in the final stages of pilot projects in Richmond, Va., and Sacramento, Calif., Walraven said, adding that the case studies from those projects should tangibly show the program’s benefits.
Arah Schuur, the Clinton Climate Initiative program director, said the retrofit goes beyond changing light bulbs.
“The idea is that you’re not identifying components of saving energy; you’re identifying investment criteria and a goal,” Schuur said.
For example, when incandescent bulbs are changed to compact fluorescent, less heat is generated, which means owners can buy smaller chillers and so on.
BOMA spokeswoman Lindsay Tiffany estimated that total attendance at the conference, which ends tonight, will be close to 5,000, including exhibitors and those at the trade show.
One exhibition stood out among the 450 on the trade-show floor — a 20-by-50-foot mock-up of a rooftop garden by ValleyCrest Design Group, with turf-laid benches lined with mailing tubes and plants.
Though the initial cost is double the standard, the gardens can be used as an employee amenity that extends roof life, reduces water runoff and insulates the building.
“The concept has been around for a long time. It’s just gaining traction now,” said Chuck Perkins, a ValleyCrest business developer.
Alex McCarthy: 303-954-1381 or amccarthy@denverpost.com
