Energy costs are typically the second largest operational cost for greenhouses behind labor and these costs are increasing over time. Energy use varies greatly between operations based on their geographic location, type of technology, months of operation, and type of crops grown. Energy benchmarking is a process used for many commercial buildings whereby energy performance of facilities are quantified. The information can be used by operations to better understand their energy use relative to their peers and can help identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements and cost savings. The Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering (GLASE) consortium leads a project with a goal of benchmarking energy use in 40 greenhouse operations in New York State. The process began with implementing a database tool with EnSave’s FEAT (farm energy audit tool) specific to greenhouse operations. The tool allows energy efficiency contractors to enter information from farm site visits on: building dimensions and properties, equipment usage (including HVAC and lighting), past utility bills, crops grown and months of the year they are grown. The database tool outputs a benchmarking report to give operations a clear understanding of energy use (total energy, energy use intensity and on a per square foot production space and per crop unit basis). Through New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), funding was made available for up to 80 greenhouses in New York State to participate. More than 40 operations have now enrolled in the project. Findings will be presented on the initial results. Challenges in reporting include the diversity of types of operations (with different types of products produced) and in many diversified farms there are not specific energy meters relative to greenhouses vs. other diversified farm activities. Nevertheless the results provide a baseline of energy use intensity in New York State greenhouses.
