Energy Conservation and Sustainability at Adobe Systems Incorporated

The purpose of this case study is to analyze a successful sustainability program run by an owner that has invested $23 million, received rebates of $10 million, accrued over $9 million of savings and has won top scores in LEED and Energy Star. This case study is based on project information supplied by the owner and structured interviews with the operational team. The project drivers are identified and analyzed based on payback characteristics. Finally, the case study puts Adobe Systems’ results within the context of the industry by matching it to the challenges identified in other reports.

The results show: (1) 40% of projects are initiated by operation management personnel; (2) the projects with the biggest savings are supported by third-party incentives; and (3) only 10% of projects are evaluated by simulation and account for 12% of annual savings. Performance benchmarking, using Energy Star, is a crucial step to determine the potential and priority of energy improvements and should be run annually. LEED EB is a valuable certification process when expanding conservation efforts beyond energy aspects to sustainability.

Building owners can incorporate the methodologies applied to evaluate these successful projects into their buildings. Facility managers can leverage the findings to present the advantages of recertification and commissioning.