In a sense, they’re ambitious goals. Reduce energy consumption 30 percent by 2012. Use Energy Star benchmarking. Use an energy audit or retrocommissioning to find low-cost, low-risk, high-return ways to improve energy efficiency. Train staff and take other steps to ensure that buildings are operated correctly.

With these recommendations — and others — the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International has thrown down a gauntlet not only to its members but to all facility executives.

The steps BOMA is calling for are ambitious because they represent a big departure from current practice. And it’s noteworthy that the plan is coming from the commercial real estate industry, where energy efficiency has long been a tough sell. Over the past year or so, BOMA has taken big steps to encourage energy efficiency and other green building practices.

None of the measures BOMA is advocating is new or at all radical. And they’re far from the last word when it comes to saving energy. But they’re not intended to be. Rather, they’re proven steps that any organization can adopt.

To its credit, BOMA isn’t stopping with this plan. Incoming BOMA chair Brenna Walraven promised at the association’s annual conference that there’s more to come. Stay tuned.