Center for Building Knowledge

Working with the NJ Board of Public Utilities and the Sustainable Jersey organization, CBK is helping to create the New Jersey Public Buildings Energy Efficiency Program (NJPBEEP). NJBEEP’s overall objective is to achieve a 20% or greater reduction in energy consumption in local government buildings statewide. New Jersey has a full slate of Clean Energy Programs funded by a Societal Benefits Charge. The programs that cover local public buildings include incentives for building audits and upgrades and various financing options. Despite the variety of offerings, New Jersey has struggled to give out all of the funds it has available. A significant obstacle is that the programs are each operated and marketed individually, and there is no single point of entry, or easily identified best option, for confused local governments. NJPBEEP will create a single point of entry, a simple decision tree that enables local governments to choose a “pathway” best suited for their building portfolio, and an A to Z support system that guides them to an endpoint where all of their building stock has been upgraded to the highest degree warranted by cost benefit analysis. The effort will rely on energy performance contracting combined with State incentives and rebates, to finance deep retrofits.