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How To Put Your Building To Work

How to Put Your Building to Work

By: Maria Fields

February 12, 2019

Small and medium-sized Businesses – CA needs you!

CA’s ambitious climate and economic development goals touch every aspect of the state’s energy system. The good news for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is that the state is getting serious about engaging an oft-overlooked part of the commercial building market.

How? You ask.

With economic “carrots and sticks” that deliver significant value.

As data and control add intelligence to the electric grid, SMBs can upgrade their facilities to achieve solutions that create a win-win for the State and business owner alike. The result is an opportunity for SMBs to do well by doing good, and the California Green Business Network is playing a pivotal role in delivering these solutions to local businesses and communities.

Opportunity – you bet. So, why are “smart” buildings a rarity in the SMB market?

The small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that enrich communities all over California are emblematic of the national building stock, where 97.5% of U.S. commercial buildings, and 60% of energy use, fall into that category. The vast majority of these buildings, a full 90% of them, lack the “intelligence” that is the gateway to a whole host of benefits. Large class A offices have known this for some time and have taken advantage of smart building technology for over a decade now. They have the advantage of dedicated facility staff with expertise in energy management. Owners of SMBs, on the other hand, wear many hats and often lack the time and technical expertise required for decisions related to energy-efficient upgrades. More importantly, they are reluctant to divert resources from core business growth, and understandably so.

Tech to the rescue

The good news is that the technology that has been a staple of facility management for top tier buildings for over a decade, can now meet the economic and functional needs of SMBs. These solutions and the cloud-based control and communication technology they rely on act as a “central nervous system” for buildings, providing automation and data that has multiple benefits for SMBs. The result is that you can monitor and manage your building’s systems, including lighting and HVAC, as if you had outsourced facilities manager—which one could argue that small businesses need just as much as corporations do—and delivers deep and persistent energy and financial savings.

In the hands of a firm with energy management expertise, these deep and persistent savings can “put your building to work for you”, creating an indispensable service. When financing aligns with these benefits, energy saving equipment can be installed at no upfront cost to the building owner and repaid through guaranteed performance.

CAGBN is bringing the benefits of building intelligence to you

CAGBN has launched a pilot partnership with a company called, JouleSmart Solutions, that provides such a package. JouleSmart Solutions is the industry leader in truly intelligent building solutions for SMBs and franchise owners, helping companies transform their underperforming buildings into intelligent, productive, efficient, and comfortable facilities.

Click here to learn more and we encourage you to contact JouleSmart directly to see if your building qualifies for this leading-edge solution.

The views and opinions express in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the California Green Business Network or any other agency or organization. 

This blog post is made available by the California Green Business Network for educational purposes only, to provide general information, not to provide specific financial advice.

The California Green Business Network is a nonprofit focused on sustainability. We partner with local governments and utilities to help businesses meet and maintain an aggressive set of environmental standards. Once they are recognized, we promote Certified Green businesses throughout the State to connect them with conscientious consumers and raise the market visibility of our collective efforts around sustainability.