Analyst, Energy & Sustainability Analytics

Working for Equity Residential (EQR), a leading multi-family real estate investment trust (REIT), means being part of a community and striving to provide the best in apartment living, speaking boldly about new ideas for innovation, and inspiring creativity in the ways we work together. Our portfolio of high-quality properties in urban growth markets – New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles – provides homes where people most want to live, work and play. We've got the best people in the business, and our experience shows in our dedication to our residents and in how much we value each other as colleagues. That’s why our employees say they are proud to work at Equity, a company that gives our residents a place where they can Live Remarkably, and offers a culture where our employees have the opportunity to make their mark.

Under the direction of the VP, Environmental & Climate Adaptation, you will be a key contributor to the Company’s sustainability, energy and resilience programs. As an Analyst, Energy & Sustainability Analytics your primary goal is supporting Equity Residential’s (EQR) overall sustainability, energy and resilience initiatives, leveraging data and technology to measure and monitor performance (e.g, usage, billing) for energy, water, waste and resilience. This position is responsible for measurement & verification (M&V) and operations & management (O&M) of key energy assets ensuring data and insights are disseminated to key stakeholders on a timely basis. The analytics team develops sustainability- and resilience-related data models, reports and visualizations; partners with internal accounting, facilities, property management and investments teams to resolve utility and energy variances, completing utility bill rate review and oversight, supporting new climate technology (i.e., climatech) pilots and implementations, supporting corporate climate risk resilience programs, and supporting energy efficiency and sustainability projects.

WHO YOU ARE

• Analytical and Creative. You like thinking outside the box while coming up with effective solutions to complex challenges. Comfort around asking critical questions, challenging the status quo, proposing actions from the owner’s point of view, and responding to changes in the marketplace.
• Organized and Confident. You are flexible, composed, and able to prioritize multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously while confidently interacting with individuals across all levels of the organization.
• A Strong Communicator. Your writing and speaking skills are clear and effective, helping you connect well with others.
• A Solution-Oriented Team Player. You are united with teammates and follow through on commitments.
• Motivated. You invest extra energy to achieve your goals.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Lead or participate in other energy efficiency and sustainability projects as needed. Review utility bill rates. Explore and assist with climatech pilots. Support the Company’s participation in industry organizations (e.g., ASHRAE, ACEEE, AEE, NMHC, ULI).
• Responsible for measuring, verifying, monitoring and enhancing EQR’s sustainability initiatives (e.g., solar panels, common area lighting retrofits, cogen systems, demand response systems, smart irrigation controllers) under the guidance Manager, Energy & Sustainability Analytics.
• Ensure compliance with the various state and local energy disclosure requirements by managing Equity Residential’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager account. Support the execution of our strategic plan for managing the increasingly stringent requirements by conducting data quality assessments on a per asset basis. Manage all records associated with energy benchmarking submissions.
• Conduct annual energy benchmarking of EQR’s properties. The Analyst will complete these exercises and/or work with outside parties to conduct the benchmarking.
• Collaborate with Energy Accounting, Property Management, Facilities, Operations staff (e.g,. RUBS), Investments and external parties (e.g., utilities, vendors) to identify and resolve variances.
• Prepare utility budgets to support the acquisitions and development teams. The analyst will respond to data requests from various stakeholders (e.g. Investment Officers, Construction, Facilities, Property Management).
• Support the development and maintenance of automated dashboards and reports, including developing underlying data models, to disseminate data and insights timely to key stakeholders. Examples include BEPS compliance, water usage, information required for public disclosures/ESG report, and portfolio resilience risk assessments.

REQUIREMENTS

• Developing and using visualizations in PowerBI (or similar such as Tableau, Looker or Google Data Studio), Rest APIs, Energy accounting, Energy auditing (e.g., ASHRAE Level 2 audits), Greenhouse gas emission calculations, IoT and business automation/management systems, Building, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems, Water management, Renewable energy, Financial modeling concepts to calculate ROIs or paybacks of capital projects
• Must have excellent analytical and technical skills including programming in Python, T-SQL and Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets. Must be proficient with Energy Star Portfolio Manager and/or have experience in utility bill auditing.
• Bachelor's Degree required in Environmental Science, Engineering, Energy Management or equivalent. Must have one to three years of professional experience in energy, sustainability, utilities management and/or commercial building systems. Must have a strong interest in applying sustainability principles and concepts to real-world problems.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive working relationships (both one-on-one as well as in a team setting). Excellent attention to detail is a must.
• Ability to influence others and make good business decisions, to think creatively when problem solving for new solutions, to work on numerous projects concurrently while effectively prioritizing workload. Must have excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Familiarity and knowledge of any of the following is preferred: