Annual Facility Benchmarking Program

Join our annual benchmarking program for utility companies

This benchmarking program was started by SRP in the 1990’s for the IFMA Utilities Council, and is designed for those who manage facilities for energy utility companies. Over 50 companies from the United States and Canada have participated sine the program started. All energy, communications, water, and sewer utilities are welcome in this benchmarking program.

This program is different from the periodic benchmarking studies by IFMA because it is specifically for utility operations, provides more detailed metrics, and includes additional networking and shared practices beyond IFMA and the IFMA Utilities Council.

 

The value of benchmarking your utility facilities

Leading facility managers use facility benchmarking as straightforward way to document and improve performance:

  • To Quantify How They Stand – Benchmarking can demonstrate your facility operating performance is competitive or reasonable. Results are based on actual performance (not models), and therefore show what is reasonable and achievable.
  • To Cut Through the Data Noise – Benchmarking will identify areas that need attention, and those that don’t.
  • Because it is Easy and Understandable – Benchmarking does not take a lot of time or effort and the results communicate well.
  • To Learn and Share – Participants discuss issues of concern in the industry and share best practices and lessons learned with peers at other leading organizations.

 

The utility facility benchmarking program includes comparison of metrics and practices

The annual benchmarking program includes a report with quantitative comparison of various facility-related metrics, an annual workshop, shared practice meetings, and personal support as described below.

The Benchmarking Report

The benchmarking report is an interactive, online report in the Microsoft business intelligence system. Sections include quantitative comparison of metrics on space, asset condition, capital, operating costs, utility usage, sustainability metrics, facility practices and technology. Five year trends are included along with the ability to filter charts based on selected criteria. The illustrations above show examples of a Quartile chart (for Energy Use Index) and a Practices chart (for cleaning). Dozens of metrics are available such as:

  • Capital Renewal per Gross Area
  • Cleaned Area per Custodial Worker
  • CO2E per Gross Area for FM Scope 1 & 2
  • Custodial Cost per Cleaned Area
  • Energy Use Intensity
  • Facility Condition Index
  • KWH per Gross Area
  • Maintenance Cost per Gross Area
  • Percent Planned Maintenance
  • Total Cost of Occupancy per Gross Area
  • Training Hours per Maintenance Worker
  • Utility Cost per Average Daily Occupant

Excel data templates are provided to make it easy to assemble and submit your data. Help guides are available with tips on data entry, how to use the interactive reports, and how to use the results.

Networking and Shared Practice Meetings

The IFMA Utilities Council typically meets spring and fall, and the benchmarking group typically has winter and summer meetings in addition.  These are smaller groups that meet at a host utility in the eastern and western US.

We also have monthly shared practice meetings on topics of interest to participants on MS Teams. All staff from benchmarking organizations are invited to these, as are members of the Utilities Council (some meetings restricted to only benchmarking participants). These meetings are one hour and start with a review of the shared practice survey of the month, a short presentation (if one is included), and general discussion on questions/topics raised by attendees.

Join the mailing list for monthly notification of these meetings and associated shared practice surveys.

Personal Support & Input

In addition to program documentation and help guides, each participant receives phone and email support as needed. There are also monthly Steering Committee meetings where all participants can suggest changes and additions to the program.

 

More Information

The benchmarking program has an annual subscription fee, with discounts available for small organizations and affiliated organizations (multiple affiliated operating companies benchmarked separately). Additional customized support services for benchmarking and facility metrics are also available.

Read more about the utility facility benchmarking program and related options, or download a short PDF overview of it.