APPA

We have publicized the fact— in recent issues of Facilities Manager and Inside APPA, as well as on the APPA website—that APPA and the Sustainable Endowments Institute (SEI) have launched a partnership that provides all APPA mem- bers with free access to the SEI's Green Revolv- ing Investment Tracking System. Since the October 19, 2015 announcement, more than 180 institutions have signed on to use the GRITS tool, for a total financial savings to date of more than $66 million. GRITS is a project-management Web tool that allows users to track and analyze the energy, financial, and carbon savings data from their energy- and resource- efficiency projects, as well as access a library of more than 1,400 projects com- pleted by other GRITS users across the U.S. and Canada. With this free version open only to APPA member institutions, users can: • Access the GRITS Dashboard, which shows a snapshot of your project port- folio's energy, financial, and carbon savings • Access the Project Details page to track project-specific details, includ- ing project type, cost, relevant trans- actions, performance, and measure- ment and verification • Utilize the Project Overview feature to see all projects you have entered that have been completed, current, or proposed for the future • View a limited version of the GRITS Project Library, which allows for fil- tering through projects from other in- stitutions by project type, project cost, payback period, region, and more • Track up to 20 projects and create two user accounts Following are some of the preliminary findings gathered from data submitted by APPA members as of the first week of March. • 182 total GRITS sign-ons (34 are from the 2015 pilot program) • 815 completed projects entered (for which there is complete data) • Total-to-date financial savings: $66,013,574 • Total-to-date energy savings: 1,663,257 MMBTU • Total-to-date emissions savings: 179,589 metric tons CO2e • Total project investment: $59,641,514 • Average annual financial savings: $15,336 • Average payback period: 4.6 years • Median annual return on investment: 27.6% SEI also offers an option to upgrade to GRITS Unlimited at a special highly discounted rate for APPA members. To be clear, APPA members who sign up for GRITS will receive 60 days of GRITS Unlimited at no cost. After 60 days, your account will be transitioned to the free GRITS-APPA version, unless you choose to upgrade to GRITS Unlimited. You will not be charged unless you opt to upgrade your service. For more information about the GRITS partnership and to view a video on how the program works, visit www.appa.org/ grits.cfm. To sign up for your free access to GRITS under the SEI-APPA partner- ship, please complete the brief form at http://bit.ly/gritsappa. And if you have questions about this new partnership or GRITS, send an e-mail to grits@ endowmentinstitute.org. GRITS Update: Energy Projects are Saving Money and Reducing Carbon Output 4 MARCH/APRIL 2016 FACILITIES MANAGER from the editor | by steve glazner President Peter Strazdas, Western Michigan University Executive Vice President E. Lander Medlin, lander@appa.org Editor Steve Glazner, steve@appa.org Managing Editor Anita Dosik, anita@appa.org Design & Production www.touch3.com Printing Corporate Press, Inc. Editorial Office 703-542-3837 Fax: 703-542-3782 Advertising and New Products Gerry Van Treeck, 847-347-7851 gvtgvt@earthlink.net www.appa.org/facilitiesmanager Facilities Manager (ISSN 0882-7249) is published six times a year (January, March, May, July, September, and November). Send editorial submissions to steve@appa.org. A portion of APPA's annual membership dues ($53) pays for the subscription to Facilities Manager. Additional annual subscriptions cost $66 for APPA members, $120 for nonmembers. Contact the editorial office for article reprints. Copyright © 2016 by APPA. Contents may not be reprinted or reproduced in any form without written permission. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of APPA. Editorial mention of companies or products is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an endorsement, actual or implied, by APPA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Facilities Manager, 1643 Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-2818. About APPA APPA promotes leadership in educational facilities for professionals seeking to build their careers, transform their institutions, and elevate the value and recognition of facilities in education. Founded in 1914, APPA provides members the opportunity to explore trends, issues, and best practices in educational facilities through research, publications, professional development, and credentialing. Formerly the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, APPA is the association of choice for more than 13,000 educational facilities professionals at more than 1,500 learn- ing institutions throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad. For more information, visit us at www.appa.org. FACILITIES manager COMING IN MAY/JUNE 2016 ❚ Academic program prioritization ❚ Total cost of ownership

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