EPA Announces New ENERGY STAR Initiatives

As impacts from climate change intensify and global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, it is critical that we work to lower our environmental impact. One large portion of the world's carbon footprint is commercial and multifamily building energy consumption, making up 19 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Because improving these buildings' efficiency is an essential part of combatting climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its ENERGY STAR® program have announced new initiatives to assist building owners in improving their building performance and encourage the adoption of effective building performance policies.

The ENERGY STAR® program is well known for certifying appliances and products that meet varying energy efficiency criteria, making it easier for consumers to find products that will help reduce their environmental footprint. In addition to identifying efficient products, ENERGY STAR® also provides helpful tools, resources, and support to help businesses identify cost-effective approaches to managing energy use in their commercial buildings.

One of these resources is ENERGY STAR’s® Portfolio Manager, an online energy measurement and tracking tool that building owners and operators can use to benchmark the energy use of any type of building. Nearly 25 percent of U.S. commercial building space is already actively ‘benchmarking’ in Portfolio Manager, making it the industry-leading benchmark tool.

Portfolio Manager Enhancements

These new initiatives from EPA will implement enhancements to the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool. In February 2022, there will be a new web-based tool that allows building owners to use their energy benchmark data to estimate emissions under local building performance standards. Known as the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager Building Emissions Calculator, this tool will also project the impact that changes in a building’s efficiency, fuel mix, renewable energy use, and emissions factors will have on its emissions over time.Additionally, EPA will provide greater data transparency in Portfolio Manager. Later this year, a new tool will provide access to aggregated, anonymized energy data from the buildings in Portfolio Manager, enabling policymakers, building owners, and others to quickly understand how energy use varies based on the type of building, its location, its uses, and other factors.

Guidance for Local and State Governments

EPA is also issuing new policy guidance to help in developing effective building performance policies. This policy guidance includes analysis and recommendations of metrics, best practice resources (including the Benchmarking and Building Performance Standards [BPS] Policy Toolkit), and peer networks. EPA is also providing a framework for selecting metrics and setting performance levels for building performance standards. The guidance will highlight approaches that are aligned with multiple community objectives such as energy and housing affordability and will help policymakers establish baselines and performance levels that achieve efficiency and emissions goals feasibly and equitably.

About ENERGY STAR®

ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR® and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $450 billion in energy costs and achieve 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions. More background information about ENERGY STAR® can be found at: https://www.energystar.gov/about.

About EPA’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program

EPA’s State and Local Climate and Energy Program offers free tools, data, and technical expertise to help state, local, and tribal governments achieve their environmental, energy, equity, and economic objectives. The program helps stakeholders develop emissions inventories, discover best practices for emissions reductions, and analyze the emissions and health benefits of energy strategies. Learn more at: https://www.epa.gov/statelocalenergy