St. Louis BEPS Energy Efficiency and Resilience Roundtable

Posted on September 15, 2026September 15, 2026 by info ERG

Aaron Michels, CEM, Director of Operations at Energy Resources Group, will participate in the BEPS: Energy Efficiency & Resilience Roundtable presented by the Missouri Gateway Green Building Council tonight, September 15. The discussion will examine how building owners, managers, architects, engineers, and other professionals are navigating Building Energy Performance Standards locally and nationally. Panelists will […]

StL has its first CACP approval

Posted on February 5, 2025September 15, 2026 by aaron.michels

A little bit of news, last month (on January 23rd, 2025), at the recommendation of the Office of Building Performance (OBP), St. Louis’s Building Energy Improvement Board (BEIB) approved the first Custom Alternative Compliance Plan (CACP), one we had done for 625 S. Skinker Condo Association. This is a custom application for buildings that cannot […]

EEM Zero – can you afford to ignore it?

Posted on July 12, 2022July 12, 2022 by aaron.michels

If you’ve ever looked at an energy audit, you’ve probably seen a list of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) that looks something like the list above. What’s missing here? The most important ingredient for energy efficiency: the people who operate and maintain the equipment. They’re the ones who make sure the lights are on when we […]

Solving the Split-Incentive Problem

Posted on July 6, 2022July 7, 2022 by Mat Emden

Aaron Michels, ERG’s operations director, will be giving a talk for the USGBC next Tuesday night, July 12th on solving the Split Incentive problem. You can register at this link: https://bit.ly/climateaction12 PROGRAM DETAILS In rental properties, there is a common obstacle to investment in energy efficiency. If the owner invests in efficient HVAC equipment, the […]

The Benefits of the Green Revolving Fund

Posted on April 5, 2022April 5, 2022 by Mat Emden

Did you know that energy efficiency not only pays for itself, but it can also fund future Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs)? When ERG performs energy audits or retro-commissioning, we always find several EEMs that have quick paybacks – less than one or two years. Later, building managers fold those savings back into the general fund […]

How HVAC Makes a Lighting Upgrade Fail

Posted on November 9, 2021March 21, 2023 by aaron.michels

Sometimes we come across a new client who has been burned when doing a lighting upgrade. They didn’t see the savings they were promised. LEDs use so much less energy than older lighting technologies that they are thought to be an easy win for a building. So how can a lighting upgrade go wrong? Most lighting […]

10 Steps to Existing Building Energy Optimization

Posted on July 16, 2021July 12, 2022 by aaron.michels

These are the steps that Energy Resources Group, Inc. (ERG) recommends as the ideal sequence for energy optimizing of your building(s). Depending on your site and urgency, many of these steps may be omitted or condensed. ERG provides services, consulting, or other assistance for all steps laid out below. 1. Set Scope and Financial Parameters […]

St. Louis’ Building Energy Performance Standard

Posted on June 8, 2021July 16, 2021 by Mat Emden

In May of 2020, the City of St. Louis Board of Alderman and Mayor Krewson unanimously passed the City’s first Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS). This standard will require many large buildings in the City to hit specified energy-efficiency targets. The standard is based on information gathered from the City’s Benchmarking Ordinance that went into […]

Air Vs Water-Cooled Equipment

Posted on May 3, 2021January 25, 2022 by Mat Emden

One of the recommendations we frequently make to our clients is to move from air-cooled to water-cooled compressors. Air-cooled is the most common type of cooling equipment out there, serving spaces from individual residences, apartment buildings, and large commercial buildings. In the buildings we work on, we see it most commonly in the form of […]

Achieve Net Zero Cost-Effectively

Posted on February 24, 2021May 3, 2021 by Drew Hagin

The time has come! The price of renewable energy has dropped year by year, and new renewables are now cheaper than conventional carbon-based sources of energy. The term Net Zero has been around for a while, and it has commonly been seen as the domain of small and expensive demonstration buildings. Well times change, and now there is nothing holding buildings back from reaching for and achieving net zero […]

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