Energy Star – What is it and how do you get certified?
by Al Spinelli

Energy Star is a United States government program originally designed to identify and promote energy efficient products. The Energy Star label is now an international symbol of energy efficiency. Since its inception, the program has expanded to include homes and buildings. Buildings are evaluated using a national energy performance rating system on a scale of 0 - 100. A score of 50 is the national average, and a score of 75 or more may qualify a building for Energy Star recognition, depending on its specific characteristics.

Currently, only the following types of buildings are eligible:

• Bank/financial institutions
• Courthouses
• Hospitals (acute care and children's)
• Hotels and motels
• Houses of worship
• K-12 schools
• Medical offices
• Offices
• Residence halls/dormitories
• Retail stores
• Supermarkets
• Warehouses (refrigerated and non-refrigerated)
• Data centers
• Senior care facilities
• Wastewater facilities

Mixed use buildings are also eligible provided their predominant use can be categorized as one of the space types above. The building must operate for a minimum of 30 hours per week (does not apply to hospitals or hotels) and contain at least one worker on the main shift (does not apply to Houses of Worship). All buildings must be at least 5,000 square feet with the following exceptions:

• Houses of worship and banks can be 1,000 square feet.
• Data centers have no minimum square footage requirement.
• Hospitals must be at least 20,000 square feet.

All the building spaces must have energy use data for a minimum of 12 consecutive months. Other specific operating characteristics apply depending on the space type and can be found online on Energy Star’s website.

Rating is done using EPA’s web based Portfolio Manager Software. Here, building owners or their representatives can enter the building’s physical and operational characteristics, including the following:

• Year the building was built
• The building’s address and block/lot number
• Gross floor area
• Space types in the building
• Number of workers
• The space’s weekly operating hours
• Whether or not the space uses air conditioning

Portfolio Manger utilizes the address of your facility to gather weather data for the area, and it determines the building’s power producer. These are used to normalize buildings of the same space type across the United States so that they can be compared for a rating. Portfolio Manager also aggregates the energy data, input by the user, for all the forms of energy that enter the facility. Portfolio manager will accept the following forms of energy:

• Electricity
• Natural gas
• Propane
• Fuel oil
• Kerosene
• Coal
• Wood
• District steam/hot water
• District chilled water
• Green power purchases

Portfolio Manger converts the various fuel types to a source energy value that accounts for the different energy content of each fuel and the conversion/delivery inefficiencies in getting the fuel to the site. This allows for an accurate comparison of multiple buildings.

Once it has been determined that the building has met the minimum requirements, and the required information has been input into portfolio manager, a rating can be generated. If your building receives a rating of 75 or greater, it is eligible for an Energy Star label the following year. The Energy Star application must be submitted (electronic and hard copy) to the EPA, along with the Statement of Energy Performance signed and sealed by a registered design professional. Applications must be submitted within four months of the period ending date on the application. The EPA will review the application and either approve it or ask for more information. If the application is approved, the owner can expect the Energy Star decal within a week, and it can be prominently displayed for one year. The building is eligible to reapply the following year.

If the facility is not in the top 25 percent, there are measures that the owner can take to increase the Energy Star score. These measures include the following:

• Retro-commissioning to boost base building system efficiency and thereby reduce energy consumption.
• Upgrade inefficient lighting.
• Upgrade dated HVAC units with more efficient Energy Star labeled units.
• Replace old fuel oil boilers to modern condensing natural gas boilers.
• Purchase Green Power from certified power producers.

Specific upgrades must be evaluated on a case by case basis and should be implemented based on their economic impact. These upgrades can be reviewed before implementation to gauge their effectiveness in improving the facility’s Energy Star score.

The benefits of being or becoming an Energy Star rated building are numerous for all stakeholders.

• Increase in marketing and public relations value.
• Buildings in New York City that are Energy Star labeled for two of the previous three years are also exempt from the energy audit portion of Local Law 87 – Energy Audits and Retro-Commissioning of Base Building Systems.
• Energy Star buildings, when compared to their equivalent national subset, were found to consume 40% less energy. When converted to a monetary basis, this figure can be around $0.50/SF per year!
• Higher occupancy has been noted to be positively correlated to Energy Star labeled buildings. It is believed to be because Energy Star buildings generally have advanced energy management and controls systems which help to improve occupant comfort and overall satisfaction.
• Increased productivity and reduced sick days.
• Reductions in annual operating costs and increases in occupancy have been observed by real estate managers and these have a positive effect on the building’s net operating income potentially adding millions of dollars in value to buildings!

Copyright © 2011 EP Engineering. All rights reserved.

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