Buildings account for over 49% of the total energy consumed and 45% of the carbon emissions from Town’s operations. It’s the Town’s policy to reduce energy use, conserve our natural resources and reduce carbon emissions 80% by the year 2030. Benchmarking is an adopted policy of the Town of Bedford that requires the annual reporting of energy used in buildings to allow comparison of energy usage against other buildings and better identify opportunities to cut energy waste. It also helps the Town to make smarter investment decisions, reward efficiency, and drive widespread, continuous improvement to reduce our environmental footprint, reduce operating costs and meet our emissions goals.
The tool the town uses to track energy use from electricity, oil, and gas is called Energy Star Portfolio Manager. As of May 2021, this website shows the two-year summary of energy use of all Town owned buildings over 1000sq feet. The summary includes the Energy Use Intensity of the building, the Energy Costs (if available) Total Green House Gas Emissions Intensity and an Energy Star Score if available for the type of building being evaluated.