The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) says that energy efficiency efforts in multifamily buildings potentially can save almost $3.4 billion annually. The report is entitled “Catalyzing Efficiency: Unlocking Energy Information and Value in Apartment Buildings.”

The press release says that almost 38 million people live in buildings containing five or more units in the United States. In total, there are almost 18.5 million households. Overall, the organization found that use of data to drive efficiency investments still is in its infancy. Though benchmarking and transparency laws are followed, the data is not yet being used to improve efficiency and save money. Another issue is that apartment hunters don’t have access to data during their search.

IMT released another report recently. It found that energy managers and the people to whom they report must create a very detailed game plan for use of energy management information systems (EMIS). The report is based on interviews with owners and managers of commercial real estate property, retail offices, multifamily homes, industrial properties, higher education venues and developers and managers of energy management software products.