Building managers are always looking for ways to market their structures. A proven way is to become ENERGY STAR certified.
ENERGY STAR is a known label throughout the United States, and maintaining certification is a great way to be recognized for being a high-performing building. According to energystar.gov, certified buildings have lower operating costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased occupancy rates. In the past 25 years, ENERGY STAR has helped businesses and families save more than $450 billion on their utility bills.
But it’s tougher than ever to earn the designation. In August, the EPA updated the ENERGY STAR baseline metrics from CBECS 2003 to CBECS 2012 data. As a result, we’ve seen an average drop of 16 points in buildings’ ENERGY STAR ratings, which has prompted several to be out of range for ENERGY STAR certification. Although 2019 ENERGY STAR certifications are pending, we recommend you pursue one of the options mentioned below to improve the energy efficiency of your building.
ESD provides a range of energy efficiency services that may lead to an increased score:
- Monitoring-Based Commissioning (MBCx)
ESD will assist in identifying energy savings with fault detection and diagnostics software that can detect when building systems are not operating optimally.
- Retro-Commissioning (RCx)
ESD will perform a site visit to identify no- and low-cost energy savings and short-term payback capital measures that can have an immediate impact on energy savings.
- Energy Audits
ESD will discover no- and low-cost operational improvements as well as larger capital projects to substantially improve your building’s energy performance in both the short and long term with a comprehensive energy audit.
Certifications are a great way to prove your building is top-notch. And with the ENERGY STAR baseline metrics becoming more stringent than ever, the value of certification has never been stronger.