ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is an online, interactive management tool that allows building owners and managers to track and evaluate energy and water consumption. This tool also allows you to calculate your approximate savings in relation to your building’s overall energy consumption rate. ENERGY STAR is a government entity ran by the EPA with national and state policies that leverage these tools. Agencies having authority may have requirements for building owners to utilize ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and one important policy dictated by the State of California is Assembly Bill 802: Energy and Benchmarking Law. This enforcement requires all commercial and multifamily buildings over 50,000 square feet to benchmark aggregated whole-building energy usage data using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool each year. June 1st, 2019 is the fast approaching date when these buildings’ energy usage data must be submitted to the California Energy Commission.
There are several national voluntary programs that leverage ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The Fannie Mae Green Financing program requires participants to track and report their energy use using the Portfolio Manager tool and share their ENERGY STAR score to Fannie Mae on an annual basis for the duration of the loan. Fannie Mae requires the submission of the ENERGY STAR Score, Source Energy Use Intensity, EPA Water Score, Water Use Intensity, and the Score Date. Certifications such as ENERGY STAR for Single Family and Multifamily, LEED, Passive House Institute Passive House Standard, Green Globes, GreenPoint Rated, and NGBS are all recognized and approved by Fannie Mae, and all projects are required to be benchmarked in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager for the duration of the loan.
VCA Green offers AB 802 Compliance Consulting and Administration as one of our many sustainability consulting services we provide. If your building(s) must comply with this requirement, please contact us today:
Moe Fakih
mfakih@vca-green.com
714-363-4700
Contributing Writer: Devin Green
Image source (www.energystar.gov, 2019)