Washington,

Washington , D
D.C.
D..C. Building Energy Performance
Benchmarking
Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010

Introduction
Resource Media has been working closely with the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) to identify
opportunities to garner positive media coverage of building energy performance benchmarking, disclosure
and labeling, an essential but under-reported suite of policies to advance energy efficiency at the local,
state and national levels.

On Dec. 21, 2009, Resource Media issued a news pitch to more than 200 reporters and bloggers on D.C.’s
new building energy performance benchmarking requirements for large commercial properties. We
targeted national and D.C.-based journalists covering energy efficiency, environment, business, green
building and commercial real estate, and conducted follow-up calls with more than three dozen reporters
who have covered building energy benchmarking and/or labeling in the past.

More than 10 outlets ran the story, including influential trade, traditional and online publications such as
National Public Radio, The Washington Post,Climate Wire, and Environmental Leader, and we expect
more follow up coverage (see Clips below). We also repurposed the pitch into a standard press release
format upon a request by Contractor Magazine to post on its Web site. Despite the complexity of the
subject and the timing of the pitch near the holidays, when many newsrooms are understaffed, coverage
was widespread.

Following is an analysis of coverage, lessons learned, a compilation of media coverage and the verbatim
pitch sent out to media on December 21st.

Coverage Analysis
Coverage was overwhelmingly positive and included our messengers, key messages, links to reports, and
in many cases used our pitch language word for word. The best original coverage came from Climate
Wire, which characterized the law as the city’s “New Year’s Resolution” and a “leading effort among
local governments that want to make their buildings more energy efficient.” The story continued in a
positive vein, noting that “there is a growing impression that ‘benchmarking’ buildings’ energy use and
publicizing it could be effective.” The reporter quoted IMT’s Cliff Majersik twice on the benefits of
benchmarking for the real estate market, and characterized D.C. building owners as “already tuned in to
the benefits of energy efficiency” and widely participating in Energy Star benchmarking, according to the
Apartment and Office Building Association.
Ironically, the strongest voice in opposition came from Jeffrey Harris of the Alliance to Save Energy, who
referred to benchmarking as “not necessarily a tried and true path” and one that “remains to be tested” -
similar to the way Harris characterized benchmarking in the New York Times’ coverage of New York
City’s Greener, Greater Building Law.

In all cases, IMT and our commercial building spokespeople did a great job focusing on economic and
marketing benefits and making the case for building owners, operators and tenants to embrace
benchmarking. In a WAMU-FM (local NPR affiliate) radio story, Cliff Majersik focused on tenants’ rights
to know building energy use because they are the ones paying the bills. In a Clean Skies TV report, Kathy
Barnes of Akridge said that energy is the largest single manageable expense of building ownership and if
owners are not actively managing energy use, they will price themselves out of the market.

The Washington Post and Clean Skies TV reporters mischaracterized the law at times, confusing Energy
Star benchmarking with Energy Star ‘certification’ or labeling (Clean Skies TV) and implying that the law
requires disclosure of monthly energy bills and that disclosure begins this year (Washington Post). The
Post reporter also wrote that the goal of the law is “to motivate property owners to adopt energy-efficient
technologies by making their monthly power bills a matter of public record,” which may be perceived as a
heavy-handed, top-down approach.

Following the well-worn “he said, she said” journalistic format, The Post story also included a quote from
the Cato Institute – a group that had no involvement in crafting the law and has no stake in its
implementation – which called it “something else that will make it more expensive to live in Washington
or run a business in Washington.”

Despite the Post reporter’s apparent confusion over the law and inclusion of opposing voices, the quotes
were 3 to 1 in favor of the law and included Jack Beuttell of Hines who called benchmarking an
“increasingly important marketing tool in recent years… there’s a vast mainstream awareness of these
issues now.”

Lessons Learned

Strong trade press and blogger relations critical for positive coverage
We have been monitoring news coverage, blogs and tweets on building energy efficiency, benchmarking
and labeling over the past several months. This has allowed us to develop a thorough knowledge of the
key trade press journalists and bloggers regularly covering these topics, and which trade stories are picked
up by traditional press. More than 50 of our contacts that received this pitch have covered building energy
efficiency, benchmarking and labeling in some form or another. This highly targeted pitch work (we also
sent a 140-character pitch to about a dozen journalists and bloggers on Twitter) resulted in a higher than
average success rate on the number of clips generated. Trade press also often repurpose press releases and
pitches, keeping the story within our positive message frames.

Washington DC Building Energy Benchmarking Page 2 of 8

Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
Focus on practical and economic benefits key to success
The pitch zeroed in on the practical and economic benefits of energy efficiency and benchmarking,
matched with credible messengers who spoke first hand to those benefits. It’s probably no accident that
references to climate change were completely absent from the pitch. We also provided extensive
background, including recent studies that support our messages and demonstrating the growing trend of
benchmarking policy in other parts of the country.

Reporter education needed

Reporters were generally appreciative of the extensive background information we provided, a necessity
given the complexity of the story. However, we could be doing more and finding new ways to educate
journalists on benchmarking - in particular, metro and business reporters who will likely cover this policy
as it unfolds in various municipalities. For example, while the Washington Post story was positive overall,
it also demonstrated that mainstream reporters’ lack of familiarity with benchmarking, disclosure
and related policies is a challenge we need to address moving forward.

Clips

The Washington Post

Dec. 31, 2009
Energy costs for D.C. commercial buildings to go online
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/31/AR2009123102781.html

WAMU-FM (NPR affiliate)

Dec. 22, 2009
New Energy Efficiency Rules For D.C. Buildings Take Effect In 2010
http://wamu.org/news/09/12/22.php#31120

Climate Wire (*Link password protected. Please see full story on Page 9)
Dec. 22, 2009
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Your building may soon be tested
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2009/12/22/4

Clean Skies TV
Dec. 22, 2009
D.C. Creates Building Efficiency Law
http://www.cleanskies.com/videos/dc-creates-building-efficiency-law

Consulting Specifying Engineer

Dec. 21, 2009
Capital's buildings get greener
http://www.csemag.com/article/441289-Capital_s_buildings_get_greener.php

Environmental Leader
Dec. 22, 2009
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Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
Washington, D.C., Requires Building Energy Use Metrics
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/12/22/washington-d-c-requires-building-energy-use-metrics/

Building Energy Performance News

Dec. 22, 2009
Washington, D.C., Requires Building Energy Use Metrics
http://www.bepinfo.com/ViewArticle.aspx?aid=091224001&from=gateway&cce=18836

Clean Currently
Dec. 22, 2009
DC Law Requires Commercial Buildings to Track Energy Use
http://cleancurrently.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/dc-law-requires-commercial-buildings-to-track-energy-
use/

Facilities Manager
Dec. 30, 2009
Institute for Market Transformation applauds D.C. energy disclosure law
http://www.fmlink.com/Home/News/news.cgi?catid=4&display=article&id=26834

Center for Environment, Commerce and Energy

Jan. 1, 2010
Commercial Buildings in D.C. Can Compare Energy Bills
http://cenvironment.blogspot.com/2010/01/commercial-buildings-in-dc-can-compare.html

ICLEI USA
Jan. 4, 2010
New Energy Efficiency Rules for D.C. Buildings Take Effect in 2010
http://www.icleiusa.org/news-events/new-energy-efficiency-rules-for-d.c.-buildings-take-effect-in-2010

Other confirmed outlets planning on covering the story include: Contractor Magazine
(contractormag.com), Engineering News-Record (enr.construction.com), Green Building Law Update
(www.greenbuildinglawupdate.com) and Energy Priorities (energypriorities.com).

Pitch Letter

Dear ___________,

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, Wash. D.C. building owners will begin measuring the energy use of commercial
properties under a new law aimed at reducing energy use and costs for building owners and tenants. The
new law directs all commercial buildings to measure their energy use with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. Building owners and managers already
measuring energy use say it helps them make low-or-no-cost improvements and gives them a competitive
edge in this tight real estate market.
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Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
“It doesn’t necessarily take a big investment in new technology or equipment to increase building
efficiency. A lot of value in real estate can be unlocked with low and no-cost building operations
improvements,” said Jack Beuttell, Global Sustainability Manager for Hines, a global commercial real
estate investment, development and property management firm with 10 buildings in D.C. that are
measured using Energy Star.

Buildings consume more than 70 percent of the electricity used in the District and energy is a major
expense of commercial building owners and tenants. Realizing the enormous energy savings potential in
buildings starts with measuring energy use. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure,” says Cliff
Majersik, Executive Director of the Institute for Market Transformation, the Washington, DC-based
nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the energy efficiency of buildings. “We applaud Mayor
Fenty and the City Council for their leadership to slash energy waste and reduce energy costs for building
owners and consumers.”

Building owners can slash energy costs significantly with low-cost energy saving measures such as fine-
tuning heating and cooling systems, replacing lights and installing motion sensors.

“Energy costs are the highest single expense of property ownership and management with the exception
of real estate taxes,” said Kathy Barnes, Senior Vice President for Akridge, a D.C.-based property
development, ownership and management firm. “Energy spending is the one expense you have the most
control over. If you are not watching that and managing energy use, you are going to get priced out of the
market.”

Akridge is currently redeveloping the historic Homer Building at 601 13th Street to dramatically slash
energy waste.

Under the new law, passed in 2008, building owners will publicly disclose energy ratings starting in 2012,
which will give prospective tenants and buyers an easy-to-understand way to compare the energy
consumption and operating costs of buildings.

“You want to start measuring energy use now so you have time to improve your ratings before you have
to disclose them publicly,” said Beuttell. “Energy Star Portfolio Manager is a free, online tool and the
EPA is a hugely cooperative organization that is genuinely interested in partnering with and recognizing
property owners that are working to measure and manage building energy use.”

See below for more information and profiles of D.C. building owners and managers and other contacts,
and additional background information on the D.C. law. and similar policies in place or taking shape
across the nation.

I hope you find this information helpful and please feel free to contact me anytime.

Sincerely,
Debbie Slobe
Washington DC Building Energy Benchmarking Page 5 of 8
Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
Resource Media
720-564-0500 ext 16 (w)
303-229-8294 (c)
Debbie@resource-media.org
Follow my tweets on building energy efficiency news: twitter.com/DebSlobe

BUILDING OWNER/MANAGER PROFILES:

Kathy Barnes, Senior Vice President - Property Management, Akridge: (202) 624-8632;
kbarnes@akridge.com - Akridge is a D.C.-based comprehensive real estate firm that has been in business
for 35 years. Akridge’s portfolio includes eleven Energy Star buildings and the company’s overall goal is
to reduce energy use throughout its entire building portfolio by 5 percent. Akridge has been measuring
energy use through Energy Star and managing building energy use for several years, and is currently in
the progress of pursuing LEED-Existing Buildings certification for buildings in their portfolio. According
to Barnes, “Energy costs are the highest single expense of property ownership and management with the
exception of real estate taxes. Energy spending is the one expense you have the most control over. If you
are not watching that and managing energy use, you are going to get priced out of the market.”

Gary Le Francois, Senior Vice President Director of Engineering, Mid-Atlantic Division, Transwestern;
703-749-9443; 703-9064115 (cell); Gary.LeFrancois@transwestern.net - Transwestern is one of the
largest privately held commercial real estate services and development firms in the United States. Its D.C.
property portfolio includes 1889 L Street NW, a 27-year-old building that Transwestern recently
transformed from an energy rating of 47 to 91 with low-cost operational improvements such as fine-
tuning heating and cooling systems and replacing old motors. The building is now eligible to earn the
Energy Star label and Transwestern is in the process of applying for the accolade.

Jack Beuttell, Global Sustainability Manager, Hines; 713.966.7777; Jack.Beuttell@hines.com - Hines is

a global real estate investment, development and property management firm that operates in more than
100 cities in 17 countries. Hines’ portfolio includes 172 LEED certified, pre-certified or registered
buildings (93 million square feet) and 138 buildings (76 million square feet) that have qualified for the
Energy Star. Hines has 10 buildings in D.C. that are measured using Energy Star Portfolio Manager,
including 1900 K Street, which was rated at 28 before Hines was retained as property manager in 2000.
By 2002, Hines was able to increase its rating to a 75—almost exclusively through operational
enhancements—earning the building’s first Energy Star. According to Beuttell, “It doesn’t necessarily
take a big investment in new technology or equipment to increase building efficiency. A lot of value in
real estate can be unlocked with low and no-cost building operations improvements.” Beuttell advises
property owners that are not already measuring building energy use to get started now. “Energy Star
Portfolio Manager is a free, online tool and the EPA is a hugely cooperative organization that is genuinely
interested in partnering with and recognizing property owners that are working to measure and manage
building energy use. You want to start measuring now so you have time to improve your ratings before
you have to disclose them publicly.”

ADDITIONAL INTERVIEW SOURCES

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Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
Cliff Majersik, Executive Director, Institute for Market Transformation: Cliff@imt.org; (202) 328-5149

Sean Madigan, Communications Director, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic
Development, District of Columbia; sean.madigan@dc.gov; (202) 727-470

Maura Beard, Director, Strategic Communications Energy Star Commercial and Industrial Buildings,
US Environmental Protection Agency: Beard.Maura@epamail.epa.gov; (202) 343-9991

BACKGROUND

Energy Ratings Can Make Properties More Profitable

According to new academic research, energy-efficient buildings have higher occupancy rates, fetch higher
rents and sell for more than comparable but less efficient buildings.

• According to a March 2008 national study by the CoStar Group, rental rates in Energy Star-
labeled buildings command a $2.40 per sq. ft. premium over similar non-labeled buildings and
have 3.6 percent higher occupancy rates. Report authors also found Energy Star buildings are
selling for an average of $61 per square foot more than their peers.

• A 2009 national study by University of California at Berkeley found that buildings with the
Energy Star label sold for 16 percent more than identical buildings without such labels.

• A November 2009 study by the University of San Diego of the 154 buildings under CB Richard
Ellis Group’s management found that Energy Star buildings have 3.5 percent lower vacancy rates
and 13 percent higher rental rates than the market average.

Building Energy Rating and Disclosure Policy in D.C. and Beyond

In 2008, Washington, D.C. passed the Clean and Affordable Energy Act requiring public and commercial
buildings to annually measure, also called “benchmark” building energy use through EPA’s Energy Star
Portfolio Manager tool and disclose ratings publicly. The requirement started with public buildings
greater than 10,000 sq. ft. and those buildings began benchmarking in October.

Benchmarking of commercial buildings greater than 200,000 sq. ft. begins January 1, 2010 with
disclosure of energy ratings starting January 1, 2012. The requirement rolls out on a graduated schedule
so that by 2015, all private buildings greater than 50,000 sq. ft. will be benchmarked annually and ratings
made public.

Energy Star Portfolio Manager is a free online tool that allows building owners and operators to track and
assess energy consumption of one or more properties and rate building performance on a scale of 1 to 100
(100 being highest; 50 being the national average) against a national dataset. Buildings that earn a rating
of 75 or more - meaning they perform at least 50 percent better than the national average - qualify to earn

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Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
the Energy Star Energy Star label. Currently, Washington D.C. ranks 4th in the nation for the number of
Energy Star labeled buildings (136), and 1ist for the number of Energy Star labeled buildings per capita.

Washington D.C. is one of only a handful of municipalities and states with similar policies enacted
including California, Washington and most recently in New York City. More information on these efforts
can be found on the Institute for Market Transformation’s website.

A voluntary national building energy performance rating and labeling program is also included in the
American Clean Energy Security (Section 204) and American Clean Energy Leadership Acts (Section
281) pending in Congress. A side-by-side comparison of ACES and ACELA building energy efficiency
proposals is available on the Alliance to Save Energy’s website. A national building energy rating and
labeling program is also a priority of the Obama Administration, which recently announced an inter-
agency effort to develop a home energy performance rating system and label.

Building Energy Use: The Elephant in the Room

Residential and commercial buildings consume 70 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S. and
generate 40 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Department of
Energy.

Americans know exactly how much energy their cars are using, yet they know little about how much
energy their buildings are using – or wasting. Building energy performance rating and labeling would
make building energy use as apparent to consumers as the miles-per-gallon ratings stickers on cars and
help unlock the vast potential for energy savings in buildings across the U.S. Numerous studies have
shown lack of consumer information on energy use is a key barrier to unlocking the energy savings
potential in buildings.

• A lack of public awareness about energy use and waste in buildings is a major barrier to reducing
U.S. energy consumption, according to a 2009 McKinsey & Company report. The report
recommends labeling buildings to increase public knowledge of energy use and waste.

• “Poor availability of information for consumers about their energy consumption” is a key reason
for the “lack of a thriving nationwide marketplace for energy efficiency products and services,”
according to a 2009 Center for American Progress report. The report also states, “Deep building
retrofits can cut energy use by 20 to 40 percent with proven techniques and off-the-shelf
technologies.”

• Building codes and standards for energy efficiency in new buildings will only get us so far, as
only about 3 percent of the U.S. building stock is newly built or renovated each year. About
three-fourths of the buildings that will exist in 2030 are already standing today, according to the
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Washington DC Building Energy Benchmarking Page 8 of 8

Media Coverage Report and Analysis
January 6, 2010
 December 22, 2009

Energy Efficiency: Your building may soon be tested

By SAQIB RAHIM, E&E REPORTER

When 2010 arrives, building owners in Washington, D.C., will begin to keep their city's New
Year's resolution: measuring and sharing how much energy they use.

On Jan. 1, Washington will put into effect its Clean and Affordable Energy Act, requiring
commercial building owners to gauge their properties' energy performance and eventually publish
it in an online database.

It's a leading effort among local governments that want to make their buildings more energy
efficient, but not solely through mandates. With many cities and states taking a second look at
building codes and other efficiency laws, there is also a growing impression that "benchmarking"
buildings' energy use and publicizing it could be effective, as well.

"This is an effort to address some market failures -- that real estate markets don't know how
energy-efficient buildings are," said Cliff Majersik, executive director of the Institute for Market
Transformation, an advocacy group that lobbied the D.C. government to require benchmarking.

The issues are oft repeated by efficiency advocates. Energy may be a building's top cost, but
managers often don't know how inefficient the structure is. Renters may seek a space that will
save money and green the company reputation, but they lack a standard way to compare
buildings.

The energy-conscious tenant may choose to reduce energy use, but if the tenant's suite doesn't
have its own meter, the tenant has to share the utility savings with the rest of the building.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took one approach when he unveiled a plan requiring
commercial building owners to get energy audits and make efficiency investments. But earlier
this month, facing pressure from building owners who saw the costs as too burdensome in a
recession, Bloomberg dropped the requirement.

Energy hogs face exposure by 2012

Even so, Majersik said, governments can get a long way in energy efficiency just by helping
consumers tell which buildings are energy hogs and which are misers.

"Once you address those market failures, we believe the market will take over, and you'll see a
much greater investment in energy efficiency because the returns are so high," he said.
He said Bloomberg still managed to pass an important policy -- requiring commercial buildings to
get meters for their individual tenants.

Under the D.C. law, the largest commercial buildings will be the first to start "benchmarking"
their energy performance in 2010. Each year after that, the requirement will expand to smaller
and smaller buildings.

The benchmarking is done through a U.S. EPA online tool called the Portfolio Manager. It asks
for information about the building and its energy use, rolling them into a rating on a 100-point
scale. A building performing better than 60 percent of the stock would receive a 60.

While building owners will know their scores as early as 2010, they don't have to share the
number publicly until 2012. In the meantime, they are free to make efficiency investments in
advance of the disclosure date.

The Apartment and Office Building Association, the group representing commercial building
owners in Washington, had input on the new city law. Marie Tibor, an AOBA spokeswoman, said
Washingtonians are already tuned in to the benefits of energy efficiency -- a trait made clear by
the District of Columbia's healthy market for LEED buildings (those fulfilling the requirements of
the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program) and
wide use of EPA's benchmarking tool.

That allows them to reject the argument that "green" building is too costly, she said, but they
remain uncertain of the new law's effect.

A test for government agencies, as well

"Will it hurt their business? No," she said. "Will it be beneficial? We're not sure."

Tibor pointed out that the Washington market has more government tenants than anywhere else in
the country -- and thus, one of its main customers generates much of the demand for saving
energy. She said in recent years, the chief concern of AOBA's membership has been rising utility
costs.

"I think D.C. has a sophisticated real estate community who are on the cutting edge, in many
ways, of many of the environmental initiatives under way throughout the industry," she said. "So
I think our buildings are pretty much on board already."

There are other efforts to make energy use more public. Climate legislation on Capitol Hill
includes language on energy labels, which could show in a simple illustration how much energy a
building uses, compared to both its optimal performance and the larger building stock.

The White House is also developing a label as part of its campaign to do millions of retrofits in
old buildings, which compose the vast majority of the stock.

Jeffrey Harris, vice president for programs at the Alliance to Save Energy, a leading pro-
efficiency group, hoped that benchmarking would improve efficiency but said it's not necessarily
a tried-and-true path.
"I do think that rating and disclosing the energy performance of a building can have a significant
effect on market decisions by owners/sellers, buyers, lenders, tenants, etc.," he said in an e-mail.
"But that's a hypothesis that -- other than a few interesting anecdotes -- remains to be tested."