Commercial energy procurement
Commercial Real Estate Energy Procurement Guide
Commercial real estate portfolios combine building operations with tenant behavior. Procurement decisions should account for occupancy, common areas, HVAC schedules, submeters, landlord-paid utilities, and differences among properties rather than treating the portfolio as one generic load.
Typical energy profile
HVAC, ventilation, common-area lighting, elevators, pumps, and building controls can create predictable base and seasonal loads.
Tenant turnover, vacancy, renovations, and lease structures can change consumption without changing the building footprint.
Portfolio owners may have multiple utilities, service classes, meters, and contract expiration dates across properties.
What changes the buying decision
Procurement considerations
Occupancy and lease structure
Determine which meters and energy costs are landlord-paid, tenant-paid, or allocated through operating expenses. Procurement scope should match the actual contracting entity.
Seasonal HVAC demand
Cooling and heating loads can dominate seasonal usage. Compare procurement structures with the property’s weather sensitivity and operating schedule rather than relying on annual averages alone.
Multi-site aggregation
A portfolio can gain operational simplicity from coordinated procurement, but each account still needs utility, meter, usage, and contract validation before it is grouped into a pricing request.
Capital projects
LED retrofits, HVAC replacements, electrification, new tenants, and building automation can materially change future usage. Contract volume assumptions should reflect known projects.
Contract alignment
Staggered end dates can make portfolio management difficult. Where contract terms permit, renewal planning can evaluate whether future expiration dates should be coordinated or intentionally diversified.
Risk allocation
Owners focused on predictable recoveries may prefer different structures than owners willing to accept market variability. Contract selection should match operating-budget and lease economics.
Before requesting pricing
Questions to answer first
- Which properties and meters are actually controlled by the ownership or management entity?
- Are major vacancies, tenant move-ins, renovations, or HVAC projects expected?
- Do contract end dates line up across the portfolio or create repeated procurement cycles?
- Is the procurement objective budget certainty, administrative simplicity, market participation, or a combination?