MGE recently completed a first-of-its-kind study of multifamily buildings in our service area to benchmark actual metered energy use. The study was based on electricity and natural gas consumption and cost histories for the period September 2004 to September 2005.

Annual total electricity and gas costs (sorted by lowest to highest overall cost per square foot) [PDF - 54 KB]

Findings from 66 properties:

• Total energy costs per square foot of floor space per year varied greatly—from about 60 cents to $1.80 per square foot.
• Heating costs varied from 11 cents to 62 cents per square foot. There is great potential for improvement, especially in newly designed buildings.
• Forced-air heating sites had the best average heating costs. CWLHP (closed water loop heat pump) sites averaged second best. The hydronic category had the worst and the best individual site heating costs per square foot. The age of CWLHP buildings averaged the newest and hydronic averaged the oldest in the study.

When comparing one HVAC class to another, it may be prudent to look at a few of the best buildings in each HVAC class and the decade built.

For more information

E-mail Mark Faultersack at MGE.

	Annual energy costs by site (sorted by heating-system type, decade of construction and number of stories) [PDF - 188 KB]
	Weather-normalized estimated annual space-heating costs by site (sorted by heating-system type, decade of construction and number of stories) [PDF - 133 KB]
	Weather-normalized estimated annual space-cooling costs by site (sorted by cooling-system type, decade of construction and number of stories) [PDF - 111 KB]
	Weather-normalized estimated annual space-heating and cooling costs (combined) by site (sorted by heating-system type, decade of construction and number of stories) [PDF - 174 KB]
	Study group characteristics [PDF - 35 KB]