Southface Launches BIT Building, Putting Sustainability and Operational Savings Within Reach

Southface Institute, a sustainability nonprofit, has officially launched BIT Building ? a program designed to improve the operational efficiency of any type of existing building or tenant-controlled space. BIT Building equips users with the tools necessary to reduce energy, water, and waste consumption and provides verifiable recognition for those efforts via third-party certification.

Federal, state, and local governments are increasingly mandating higher building performance standards to meet climate targets. Companies are centering their sustainability efforts on buildings too. Yet only 25 percent of buildings on the market today qualify to even begin working toward popular sustainable operations and maintenance certifications.

BIT Building is unique to the market because it was developed to make sustainable operations and maintenance, and the associated cost savings, more accessible.

• It can be implemented by in-house building operators rather than teams of consultants
• The program scales across diverse global portfolios of facilities performing at different levels
• BIT certifies improvement over a building's own baseline, eliminating prohibitive performance thresholds

The soft launch phase of BIT Building attracted high-profile early adopters like Google, Adobe, and The Chicago Housing Authority.

By 2023, buildings and office spaces in 14 US cities and 13 countries were implementing BIT Building's Best Practices across a total of 12 million square feet, achieving an enormous cumulative impact:

• 25 million KBTU of energy conserved
• 959,000 gal. of water conserved
• 842 mt of CO₂ emissions avoided
• 228,000 lbs. of solid waste diverted
• $24,000 in utility cost savings

BIT Building drives measurable results as a standalone certification, and it can also serve as a stepping stone to other, more challenging existing green building certifications. Pricing is set competitively at $1,500 per project for businesses and $1,200 per project for nonprofits, with bulk discounts available. Plus, BIT Building's new online platform integrates with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Southface President James Marlow remarked, "We're proud to deliver on our mission with a simple, low-cost solution to operational challenges that works for everyone, no matter how much room for improvement you have. BIT Building is here to meet you where you are and help you operate smarter."

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qG18pwqfJc

About Southface Institute

Southface Institute is a sustainable building nonprofit based in Atlanta, with a satellite location in Sarasota, Fla. Since 1978, Southface has collaborated with other nonprofits, businesses, builders, developers, universities, government agencies, and communities to deliver sustainability and resiliency solutions that work for everyone. Learn more and join Southface in building sustainably for life at southface.org.