Ask anyone about the term carbon footprint and it is likely to be followed by thoughts on finding ways to reduce the size of it.  A carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person or group. The concept of the carbon footprint compares how much people demand compared to what the planet can renew and was popularized by an ad campaign by BP in the early 2000’s. Today, the phrase is synonymous with energy usage and ultimately energy reduction.

HVAC and Environmental Impact

Increasingly, society is aware of the impacts associated with large carbon emissions. HVAC is the largest energy consumer in the building and systems environment and is directly tied to high carbon emission rates. An energy-efficient and well-maintained HVAC system can have a dramatic impact on lowering the energy use in a community. By phasing out inefficient HVAC units we can make a notable decrease in carbon emissions that would be of immediate benefit from a global perspective.

Motili is now providing the real estate industry with the ability to calculate carbon emissions associated with HVAC operations, providing commercial and multi-family building owners and operators with information that will help them understand the true scale and impact of the carbon emissions that are generated for indoor thermal comfort.

MACI and The Energy Calculator

Earlier this year, the company announced the availability of its MACI (Motili Asset Condition Index) data tool. MACI allows Motili to utilize information about customers’ HVAC assets (age, condition, SEER rating and refrigerant type) to create a strategic plan to revamp HVAC systems over a period of time.

This data can be plugged into Motili’s new carbon emissions and energy efficiency tool, called the Carbon Calculator, to calculate the exact amount of energy and carbon emissions that customers will save by replacing their expired HVAC systems with energy efficient units. This tool is available online on the Motili website where property owners and operators can estimate their energy and carbon emission savings by providing a few statistics about their property or property portfolio and HVAC systems.

The Carbon Calculator – and the insight it provides – means that multi-family and commercial customers can understand the environmental impacts associated with their HVAC unit fleets and then go forward and make informed and strategic decisions to reduce their impacts. The insights from the Carbon Calculator empower Motili customers to inform their investors and build HVAC upgrades into their capital budgets.

It is interesting to analyze the patterns and information emerging from the information input into the Carbon Calculator.  It allows Motili customers to see five separate statistics. These include the energy cost savings per unit and for all units combined over the span of 10 years, the percentage of decrease in energy use, the kilograms of carbon equivalent emissions that can be saved per year, gallons of gas emissions equivalent and the weight of the carbon savings in… elephants. An ROI time is included to reflect the energy savings return versus the equipment and installation costs.

Additionally, the Carbon Calculator can examine the specificity of carbon impacts by noting the “grid mix” of each city in which the HVAC fleet is located. This electricity grid mix is composed of energy sources like coal, natural gas, renewable energy and it emphasizes different resources in different parts of the US.  When taking into account the grid mix, it allows the Carbon Calculator to give each city a score in relation to the emissions that their grid produces. That information is then used to measure the exact impact an HVAC system produces based on its particular location. This helps customers rank their carbon footprint from a global perspective by comparing emission rates to worldwide standards, providing an unprecedented depth of insight and the opportunity for customers to take measures to more closely align their HVAC system impacts with environmental standards.

How Does This Benefit Property Owners and Operators?

Property owners and operators can leverage the information that MACI captures and the Carbon Calculator processes to make informed renovation decisions. The Carbon Calculator can help identify problem properties and inefficient HVAC units that are making the largest environmental impact by evaluating their asset’s conditions with asset tagging and MACI data combo. By using their MACI data, customers receive personal and precise energy and carbon saving statistics. These numbers they can apply for rebates, grants or tax reductions from their cities or states because several jurisdictions are providing incentives to reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions.

How impactful has the Carbon Calculator been for the Motili customers that have engaged with it?

One of the first customers who utilized it said they had been searching for a tool like this because they were unaware of just how much of an impact their properties’ HVAC assets were making.

In addition, the Carbon Calculator calculated Motili customers’ emission reduction for 2019 and helped stop 15.7 million KgCo2e from entering the atmosphere, equivalent to the weight of 232, Boeing 737  jets. Motili also uses the visual of elephants to drive home the point of carbon emission and reduction. The connection to a visual descriptor such as elephants or jumbo jets provides tangible examples to otherwise abstract statistics, helping Motili clients connect to a story and the level of their impact, rather than a statistic.

The long term cost savings associated with the information provided by MACI and the Carbon Calculator varies from client to client but is always significant enough to be impactful, to both the bottom line and to the carbon emissions emanating from our planet’s occupants.

Sound interesting? Learn more about the energy calculator, and try it out for yourself here.