PRSM benchmarking data for retail facilities establishes HVAC metrics, best practices

by Brianna Crandall — June 8, 2012—The Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM), the authority on retail, multisite facilities management, has released its first benchmarking report identifying and analyzing heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) costs and best practices for retail, multisite facilities. The PRSM 2012 Benchmarking Report is designed to empower FM professionals to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to improve their HVAC expense line and business practices.

PRSM’s benchmarking data, compiled from a sampling of U.S. retailers, enables the industry to identify retail-specific metrics and the benefits of new servicing strategies, and to validate their data and business practices that have a strong impact on their HVAC servicing and purchasing decisions against other multisite retailers.

Key findings are:

  • 63% of retailers have an Energy Management System in at least 50% of their stores.
  • 77% of retailers have cooling set points within four degrees.
  • A majority (64%) of retailers perform HVAC preventative maintenance on average four times per year.
  • The average cost of retail HVAC repair and maintenance is $.40/sq. ft.
  • $493.00 (USD) is the average cost per service call.
  • Repair and replace costs for condensers, compressors, and other parts can vary widely.

PRSM’s Benchmarking Task Force comprised of retail FM professionals and CMMS technology companies defined the industry’s informational needs and collaborated on an industry project for the last year by gathering and analyzing relevant data from the retail facilities of various store footprints. The task force also garnered policy and HVAC operational practices via survey results as well as data analysis and metrics. All information is available to the PRSM membership.

The PRSM 2012 Benchmarking Report is a member-only benefit and has been distributed to all PRSM members. It is also available on the PRSM Web site in the member-only area. For more details on the benchmarking program, please visit the PRSM Resources page.