Something to look into...

NYSERDA Offers a Free
Energy Benchmarking Service
How energy efficient are your schools? Would you like to find out? Well, now you can…for FREE!
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), through TRC Energy
Services, analyzes and ranks the energy performance of K-12 schools in New York State. Already close to 800
schools — 30% of all eligible K-12 schools in the State — have taken advantage of this FREE service. In fact,
some of these schools have taken steps based on our recommendations to become more energy efficient and
have already begun to see SAVINGS!
Since this Benchmarking program began in 2003, the price of natural gas has increased by 123%, the price of
fuel oil has increased by 107%, and the price of electricity has increased by 32%. As you know, it is becoming
increasingly hard to maintain a reasonable budget. But there is hope! Schools that have participated in the
Energy Benchmarking Program have shown a decrease in overall energy use of over 20%.
If you believe you are already energy efficient, you might belong to the top 25% of schools nationwide that can
qualify for and receive the ENERGY STAR® Label, certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to
display in your school and demonstrate to everyone how efficient your building is. Additionally, school districts
demonstrating outstanding district wide improvement in energy efficiency can qualify for the ENERGY STAR®
Leader award.
Participation is completely voluntary, confidential, and FREE! All you have to do is:
• Fill out the attached Building Data Request Form for each building and
• Send us at least 12 consecutive months of electric and heating fuel bills (natural gas, fuel oil, or propane) for
each building; preferably 36 months if you can do so. Be sure to include the monthly usage as well as the
delivery and supply costs if they are separate. You can e-mail the data to us in a spread sheet or as a PDF
file, or you can mail us paper copies. If you send us a spreadsheet, please include electricity kW Demand.
Fax to: 518-348-1194
E-mail to: NYSchoolsBenchmarking@trcsolutions.com
Mail to: TRC Energy Services, 10 Maxwell Dr., Suite 200, Clifton Park, NY 12065
We will run your school’s information through several models and analyze the results. Then we will use these
results to evaluate your buildings’ performances, compare your buildings to each other, and compare them to
other New York State K-12 schools. Each school will receive a report that includes a graphical representation of
the building’s performance as well as a detailed explanation of each of the indicators used to rank the building.
The building’s “carbon footprint” is included. The report will also contain recommendations as to how you
might proceed to improve the energy efficiency of the building. Finally, we will include recommendations of
which NYSERDA programs are most appropriate to help you financially and technically.
We know how hard it can be to create a cost-effective action plan to address inefficient aspects of your energy
usage. That’s why we always recommend the most general and least expensive forms of analysis first so that
you can systematically focus your improvement efforts, little by little. That way, you can invest your limited
time and resources in the weakest aspects of your district’s energy performance first. We will continue to work
with you for as long as you wish in order to find out exactly what your energy goals are and how NYSERDA’s
programs can help you achieve them.
If you have any questions, or would like to request more information about this FREE energy benchmarking
service or other available services, please don’t hesitate to call us toll-free at 1-877-442-9181 or e-mail us at