I live in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and our electricity provider rolled out a different way to bill residential customers this year. I kept hearing friends gripe about how Consumers Energy is increasing rates by 50%. As a professional who nerds out about energy, I was excited to hear others digging into electricity rates.

First thing I remind anyone trying to understand LEVEL Certification is that it is a sustainable product certification. By LEVEL’s definition, a product certification is not a sustainable building certification like LEED or sustainable company certification like B Corp; the scope of a product certification includes a product, building and a company.

Sustainability is a business model that has taken more prominence in the business world recently. Investors like Larry Fink at BlackRock have identified sustainability as a "new standard for investing" to manage and minimize business risk. There has been a lot of buzz around defining, structuring, and organizing this new business model. At Foresight, we have been asked by many CEO, CFOs, and Vice Presidents of Sales, "Where do we start?"

What you aim for… matters. Even if you aim at nothing, you still get what you aim for! Better to aim carefully. Energy use in a facility is “modeled” in a computational environment (i.e., software). It is a prediction of facility energy use and, just as importantly, energy cost.

I’ve been providing sustainable building design consulting services for almost two decades. Most of this time has been directly collaborating with designers, engineers, contractors, and building owners. Over the years, I’ve noticed two dominant yet elusive opportunities for meaningful, amplified impact within the life cycle of any given building…

In my recent conversations with businesses leaders and manufacturers, one question has been repeated: What is the difference between Sustainability and ESG? While both terms have been around for a decade-plus, their infiltration into the marketplace is just now hitting a tipping point for companies of all sizes.

Back in the day, design architects and engineers were involved “cradle to grave” with new building construction. They designed the building, negotiated with the contractors, visited the site numerous times during construction, and conducted or supervised testing of everything to confirm proper installation and operation. That was the norm 50 or more years ago. But things have changed since then…

Our energy engineers discuss the final step of the Energy Management Pathway: Make Your Own.

We know that - without attention - everything will eventually degrade. The same is true for facilities.

Demand charges can be a large portion of your utility bill. Do you know how to optimize them?

Occupancy controls allow HVAC and lighting to work alongside the normal rhythms of your facility, but won't be beneficial without optimizing them to your facility's needs.

Once you've figured out how to Use Less energy, the next step is to Use Smarter! Learn about occupancy and demand controls.

Learn from our engineers about what can be done to optimize your existing HVAC system.

Learn from our energy engineers about what tools can detect early leaks and equipment malfunctions to save you time, energy, and frustration.

In manufacturing, compressed air can be the most expensive utility spend. It's used in all sorts of processes throughout your facility, but how do you keep it running optimally?

The first step of the Energy Management Pathway is to Use Less. Here's the lowest hanging fruit.

We first learn about Ryan's relatively helpful superpower and then... a much weirder one.

Energy management shouldn't be overlooked in commercial facilities. Here's how to do it with excellence.

Energy management shouldn't be overlooked in commercial facilities. Here's how to do it with excellence.

Disclosing your ESG efforts to your stakeholders builds trust. Mechanisms like certifications, standards, and sustainability reports provide a framework for sharing your values, efforts, and goals with your stakeholders.