A building energy strategy must be multi-pronged. Suggestions are to look holistically at the building. I look almost entirely at major expenses that can be reduced and then executed in an environmentally sensitive manner. To recap, CI Works has already in just 4 months reduced our electricity usage to the tune of 9,000 kWh per month on average through our lighting upgrade, recently completed and greatly appreciated by tenant businesses and employees. We are continuing to wor

When CI Works purchased real estate – we looked at building expenses and decided that we had to reduce our operating expenses and felt that it would be a plus to lower the building’s carbon footprint at the same time. We also realized that we now owned a 100+ year old building that looked like it came with lights invented at that time. There also existed the opportunity to improve the working and safety conditions for tenants and their employees. Only problem was – who on

While owners have anxiously waited to execute rooftop solar projects leveraging this innovative approach to lower electricity costs using existing roofs since it was announced by Gov. Baker in 2016, the state continues to shovel shit and get nothing completed - and make no commitments about an actual end being in sight. This seems pretty straightforward to me and is about utilizing solar energy to create a more competitive business environment in MA. I cheated and read the

Chapter 1: For starters, CI Works will be upgrading all of the lighting in the 11 Chestnut St. building we now own. All lighting with be upgraded to LED’s (or light emitting diodes). This technology has been around for years, but not all commercial building owners have taken advantage. The simple math at CI Works is annual electricity savings of $16,000. This begs the question – what owner would not want to have this benefit? I’m certain that many will be able to come up

Commercial PACE is a brilliant concept that conceivably could have great commercial benefit in reducing energy costs in Massachusetts for businesses. It is not an invented program, but an adaptation of an existing national program – successful in other states already. Gov. Baker came up with an interesting adaptation to focus on commercial buildings / businesses exclusively – in 2016. Now, 3 years later nothing has actually been accomplished, or even approved by whatever