City of Portland: Tracking Energy Use, Reporting Results and Making It Real

With 46 buildings to manage and a constrained budget, City of Portland Facilities Services is spread thin. That’s exactly what prompted Wendy Gibson, sustainable operations and maintenance manager, to participate in Strategic Energy Management with Energy Trust. “Over the last few years, we have experienced significant budget cuts,” said Gibson. So she made a recommendation to her division manager: cut $50,000 from the annual utilities budget, and Gibson would generate that much in energy savings through Strategic Energy Management. The risk paid off—Strategic Energy Management yielded estimated savings more than twice her target.