In today’s volatile energy landscape, proactive energy demand management is becoming essential for commercial real estate operators seeking to control costs and improve operational efficiency. Menkes Developments and Menkes Property Management Services Ltd., a leading Toronto-based real estate developer, owner, and manager, has developed a longstanding focus on operational excellence and energy management, sought to further enhance its ability to manage peak energy costs across its office portfolio. Following changes to Ontario’s Class A Global Adjustment (GA) program that made more buildings eligible, Menkes was required to pivot as they required accurate day-ahead forecasting to equip its site teams with notification protocols in order to accurately, efficiently and effectively implement curtailment strategies tailored to each building’s specific operational needs.
Peak Power’s GridPredict™ software complemented Menkes’ existing processes to deliver on those needs. The solution offered highly accurate day-ahead and day-of peak event forecasts and easy onboarding, giving each site team the ability to respond swiftly minimizing disruption while maximizing impact during peak events. By providing additional forecasting tools to support building-specific curtailment strategies, GridPredict™ helped Menkes teams better coordinate across sustainability and operations, enhancing the energy cost savings already being realized.
In addition to providing cutting-edge technology, Peak Power serves as a trusted advisor in navigating the complexities of Ontario’s GA classification system. Each year, Peak Power works with Menkes to analyze historical energy demand and consumption across their portfolio and subsequently provides recommendations on the registration classifications each site would benefit more from. For Class A-eligible sites, this includes an annual assessment of performance during the province’s top five peak demand hours to estimate potential GA savings. However, in cases where a building’s curtailment capability or load profile suggests it would be more cost-effective to remain in Class B—where GA charges are based on monthly consumption—Peak Power provides tailored guidance to support optimal decision-making.
Through this combined approach of software-enabled insight and deep energy market expertise, Menkes has gained the clarity, control, and flexibility needed to strategically manage and optimize energy spending across its portfolio.
Menkes recognized an opportunity to complement its existing monitoring tools with a system that provided greater advance notice of peak demand events. Requiring advance notice of peak demand events allows for the Building Operation teams to plan for and adjust operations seamlessly. With multiple metering setups per building and variable building load profiles, GridPredict forecasting and notifications armed its teams with the necessary information to make the energy curtailment decisions that best suited their building needs.
Notifications are delivered the day before and day of predicted events with a probability ranking, leaving control in the hands of Building Operation teams. For late-day peaks, systems can be ramped down. For earlier peaks, teams can adjust lighting or pre-cool buildings. This flexibility helped Menkes develop a collaborative, team-led curtailment strategy across its portfolio.
GridPredict’s straightforward onboarding process made it easy for Menkes to implement. A central contact list is created and dynamically updated to manage notification delivery via SMS and email, and is tailored to each team’s preferences. Delivery of notifications ensures that key stakeholders receive timely alerts regardless of their location or device. Adjustments are made as teams change, reinforcing engagement and ownership at each location.
GridPredict was implemented for Menkes in May of 2023, providing them with a full GA season of forecasting and notifications. They began seeing those savings on their bills in 2024.
GridPredict supported Menkes’ ongoing efforts to align the sustainability and operations teams under a shared objective—continuously lowering energy costs through smarter site-level planning. Building-level teams collaborate on creative curtailment strategies, such as “kill switch” BAS modes and dimming schedules tailored to each building’s unique profile.
Internally, GridPredict also helped drive energy literacy. Across the commercial portfolio, teams developed a deeper understanding of their load profiles and which systems contribute to GA cost drivers. Collective reviews at the end of each summer allow teams to assess results, share insights, and refine curtailment strategies for future seasons.
The cost savings achieved went beyond reducing operational expenses; they also elevated the importance of sustainability within the company, enabling Menkes to explore other sustainability and energy savings initiatives.
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“Peak Power is more than a software provider; they’re a trusted third-party partner that contributes to our ability to assess and understand the financial impact of specific energy decisions. GridPredict has made it easier for our teams to plan curtailment strategies, collaborate effectively, and achieve meaningful energy cost savings.”