Sustainable Facility Management Begins with Having and
Using Utility Bill Management Software
By Michael Arny

Getting and using utility bill management software is one of the foundations of green building management.  Utilities are already being measures so the question is, “Are you capturing the benefits this information can provide?”  Utility bills represent a direct opportunity for benchmarking and tracking many of the fundamental components of sustainable building operation – energy use, water use, waste disposal, etc. The usage and cost data included in a utility bill is immensely valuable when used effectively. In addition, utility bills provide a real opportunity to reduce building operating costs in the near term and can also guide owners of multiple buildings on the planning and prioritization of cost saving improvements in their building portfolio.  

Utility costs are a significant portion of overall building operating costs, but bills are usually viewed as an unavoidable expense and therefore simply accepted and paid without analysis. Even though the metered values for fundamental building sustainability metrics are already provided regularly by the utility company, most organizations miss this opportunity by simply sending utility bills to the accounting department for payment and then filing them away without looking at the valuable information contained within.

Utility bill management software helps organize, analyze, and make sense of the data contained within those documents. So if your organization does not already have utility bill management software, get some and put it to work. If you already have this type of software, make sure you are marketing the use of this key sustainability metric across your organization and fully promoting recognition of its cost saving benefits.

Energy Utilities – Examples of Cost Reduction Benefits of Utility Management Software

• Identify dysfunctional meters and get retroactive return of overpayments
• Identify buildings with short term and long term energy usage problems so they can be addressed
• Review rate schedules to make sure buildings are in best rate schedules

Key features to look for in utility bill management software:

• Ease of uploading your electronic utility bill data into the program – check what electronic formats are available from you utilities, and make sure any software you buy can accommodate these formats
• Alarms for out of range utility bills
• Weather normalization – so you can compare bill year to year in a meaningful way in spite of weather variations year to year.

I’d like to hear from you—please let me know how utility bill management software is or is not working for your organization. You may email me at: michaelarny@leonardoacademy.org

About the Author:
Michael Arny is frequently called the "Father of LEED-EB." He founded the Leonardo Academy in 1997 and has guided the growth of this organization to the present. He has worked on energy and environmental issues his entire career. After earning a BS and MS in mechanical engineering and a BA in Psychology and Russian language at the University of Wisconsin, Michael was on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission staff for 14 years. He was the chair of the State of Wisconsin committee that developed the State of Wisconsin Greenhouse Gas emissions inventory; emission reduction cost analysis and the economic benefits analysis for emission reductions.He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Wisconsin and a LEED® Accredited Professional, and currently serves as the Chair of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) Committee.

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