The BIT Building Program

Southface Energy Institute, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, manages BIT Building and is the third-party certifier for validated performance improvement claims. The program was developed in cooperation with hundreds of sustainable real estate professionals, including founders Dan Ackerstein, Jenny Carney, and Sundee Wislow.

Program objectives

Starting in 2013, a group of sustainability and real estate professionals began a conversation about the ideal framework for accelerating the uptake of green operations and maintenance (O&M) best practices across real estate portfolios.

At that point in time, green building and energy-efficiency certifications that recognized top performance were achieving significant progress in codifying best practices. But many building portfolios were becoming bifurcated when it came to unleashing sustainability investment and pursuing formal sustainability certifications. Buildings that were already top performers were receiving additional investment and attention, while lower performing buildings were often getting left behind. Further, the return on investment for certifications was proving somewhat limited in smaller buildings or those not located in competitive real estate markets.

BIT Building's development team was interested in addressing several questions:

• Could a simplified framework help set a standard for green O&M best practices across whole portfolios, while helping underperforming facilities take the first steps towards continuous improvement?
• Would focusing tightly on the performance metrics that are meaningful and measurable (e.g., energy intensity, water intensity, and waste production and diversion) better align with corporate and portfolio-scale reporting like GRESB or CDP?
• How could community and workforce development opportunities be centrally positioned within a green building program?
• How could the first decade of lessons learned from pioneers in sustainable O&M be disseminated to a broad audience to bolster our chances of taking meaningful climate action across the built environment?

BIT Building is the culmination of exploring those questions, and endeavors to provide a cost-effective set of industry standards that can be implemented in all commercial, corporate, municipal, and multifamily facility types, regardless of current performance. Leased spaces can also participate in BIT Building.

How it works

BIT Building contains 16 industry best practices, structured for facility managers to undertake on their own schedules. Each best practice helps move the needle on improved resource efficiency, reduced operating costs, and enhanced occupant wellbeing. The ultimate objective is for facilities to improve from their own baseline, with third-party validation and recognition for achievements of 10+% improvements in energy, water, and waste metrics.

To keep BIT Building affordable and accessible, participation costs are kept within the range of discretionary facility operations budgets. Registered facilities pay an annual participation fee (currently $500 or less per year, depending on organization type), in addition to fees for third-party validation of best practice implementation and performance improvement status.

BITuser provides resources for enrolled buildings

BIT Building works on the premise that every step toward sustainability hinges upon the efforts of dedicated and empowered people. To that end, BIT Building continuously expands resources for training, education, and workforce development. Enrolled buildings primarily access implementation tools through BITuser, an online clearinghouse developed in conjunction with BuildingGreen.

BITuser resources include:

• How-to videos that quickly provide an overview of green O&M techniques
• Technical guides and other implementation tools such as example documentation and templates for standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• FAQs
• Forums for practitioners to ask questions and share lessons learned

Tips for getting started

• For portfolio managers, consider selecting a few facilities for pilot enrollment in BIT Building to evaluate which building typologies within the portfolio will get the most benefit.
• Though the 16 best practices can be implemented in whatever order is chosen by the team, establishing performance baselines (BP01) and completing evaluations and planning for efficiency and performance improvement projects is a common approach (BP02, BP03, BP04, BP05, and BP06) for the initial focus.
• Teams are encouraged to work toward implementing the best practices at a realistic but steady pace. While it’s possible for all 16 to be implemented within a single year, many facilities will take longer.