Both public and private sectors continue to progress on policies and strategies that support ecological and economic goals.

In fact, more than 28 billion square feet — about 40 percent of the country’s inventory — now monitor and report energy performance. LEED-certified properties in the U.S. and 130 other countries topped the 2 billion-square-foot mark this summer, and the U.S. Green Building Council notes that another 2 million square feet is certified each day. On the public-sector side, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced plans to reduce energy by 20 percent at state-occupied buildings.

Here are five trends, according to GreenBiz.com, that will help companies and governments take energy and sustainability to the next level.

1. Renewed interest in resilience
Resilience in the sustainability world can take many forms. Cities and companies look at it as their own ability to bounce back after a disruption in resources.

For instance, the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy is causing many coastal cities to re-examine their ability to bounce back after a disaster, while cities across the country grapple with the increasing frequency of floods, drought and/or power outages. And companies increasingly consider these issues in their supply chain strategies. The more time and money public- and private-sector leaders spend on recovery contingencies, the more they will come to value strategies that minimize environmental threats.

2. Energy measurement and disclosure
In 2012, Philadelphia joined several other U.S. cities in passing a requirement that large buildings use Portfolio Manager, the Environmental Protection Agency's energy management tool, to measure and report energy performance. It is expected that other cities will adopt similar rules in 2013, as the requirement costs building owners nothing and is likely to lead to improvement. ENERGY STAR notes that 35,000 buildings that have measured performance over three years have reduced energy by an average of 7 percent.

New York City became the first city to make performance data public this fall, revealing higher scores at vintage buildings like the Empire State Building than at some recently constructed LEED buildings. As Class A buildings with below-average ratings compete for tenants, landlords will be highly motivated to increase their scores. This increasing focus on transparency can also be seen in the ever-greater depth of carbon and sustainability reporting expected from corporations and governments. Buildings have lagged in the area of transparency, but with measurement and disclosure laws, they are catching up.

3. Smart grid investment
The federal Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) program matches utility expenditures on electric transmission and distribution and sub-metering to the tune of $7.9 billion in total investment, mainly between 2011 and 2013. By April 2012, projects totaling $4.4 billion were complete or under way, with 10.8 million smart meters (8 percent of electric customers) and 270 networked phasor measurement units installed to date. Although the program is still in progress, the Department of Energy has already reported positive results on early installations, including decreased frequency and duration of outages and more efficient power management in many cases.

4. Smart building investment
Most owners are still reluctant to make big investments such as whole-building retrofits and large solar PV installations, but many are willing to spend a lesser amount on automated systems that pay for themselves in as little as a year through savings on energy and other operational costs. The opportunity to tap into smart buildings has gotten a boost in recent years by the emergence of several technology trends, such as the ability of cloud computing to collect and analyze millions of data points each minute. Even more important is the advent of technology that can translate data from many different automated systems, allowing a facility management team to remotely monitor entire portfolios.

The near-term benefits of smart buildings and portfolios include energy savings of 15 to 20 percent and, more importantly, the ability to find faulty equipment before it fails and potentially causes a disruption in operations. When combined with a smart grid, however, smart portfolios will gain additional benefits, from more effective demand response opportunities to the ability to sell excess power generated on-site to utilities.

5. Acceptance of renewable energy
The solar energy business has taken some hard knocks, but in the past few years, the industry has managed to grow exponentially while cutting per-kilowatt-hour generation costs virtually in half. As smart technology in buildings and infrastructure grows, solar power may play an expanded role. For example, a smart grid allows two-way transmission of energy, so excess on-site power generation such as a solar or wind installation may be sold to the utility rather than going to waste due to a lack of storage options. With the renewal of the wind energy tax credit at the start of 2013, we can expect to see more turbines going up across the country as well.

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