Anyone Using Energy Star Benchmarking?
To finish off the week at Green Building Law Update, we are going to attempt to answer another reader question with the help of all the readers out there. In a previous post, Anna MacLeod posted the following question:
I need to find some DC-based architect, commercial building development companies, etc… Anyone who would be affected by the requirement described in the article below.
"Washington, D.C., was among the early cities to require privately owned buildings to meet LEED standards. Now, it is requiring the city government as well as private building owners to benchmark their buildings using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool and to submit performance data to the City, which will then publish it for the public.'
If anyone can help me by sending me any contacts or websites it would mean a lot to me.
I am glad Anna asked about this issue because I have been meaning to post on this topic. Back on July 15, 2008, the D.C. City Council unanimously passed The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008. Among the provisions in the Act is a requirement for Energy Star benchmarking:
Beginning in 2010, it would require commercial property owners to generate an Energy Star efficiency "score" for their buildings using free online tools provided by the Energy Star program. That score would be made available to the public by the District Department of the Environment (DDOE).
You may be asking yourself, what is the point of this benchmarking program? According to Cliff Majersik, the program director for the Institute for Market Transformation, the benchmarking program will create “a market-based demand for energy disclosure.” If the D.C. Government’s plan works, there will be increased demand for green buildings. In short, you might want to think twice about developing a non-green building in the District of Columbia.
So can anyone out there help out Anna? If you are currently using the Energy Star benchmarking tool or The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 will affect you, please drop a note in the comment section below with more details and contact info for Anna. Thanks!
Related Links:
- The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 (DC Council)
- In Washington, DC, Energy Star Benchmarking Law Arrives (CoStar Group)
The USGBC site has a data bese that enables you to find LEED APs in any field and in any geographic area. I'm including the link to the proper section of the site below. If you click on "LEED AP Directory" and enter "architects" and "Washington D.C." you'll get hundreds of names. You can also find LEED APs in other fields by using the drop down menu for the area in which you put "architect"
http://www.gbci.org/
California also has passed a similar bill going into effect in January. Our mechanical engineers typically handle this, but any LEED-NC project or LEED-CS project using the performance rating method (1-10 points) for their EAc1 - Optimize Energy Peformance credit is required to provide an EnergyStar benchmark score as part of their submittal.
My understanding is that this is a fairly straightforward process, but I would consider talking more to a mechanical engineer than an architect for help with this issues.
On a separate note, transparent utility usage statistics is vital for providing valuation for sustainable buildings. Unless developers know that energy saving features can give them a quantifiable advantage over their competitors it's difficult to convince them to pay upfront premiums for energy conservation systems.
RealLifeLEED,
First off, you write what is one of my favorite green building blogs (www.reallifeleed.com). Please keep up the great work.
Second, thanks for the response, I will be forwarding it to Susan as this post has slid off the first page.
Thanks for checking in and commenting.
Chris
We use EnergyStar benchmarking for LEED for Existing Buildings, and also strive to have all building stakeholders involved in our organization use EnergyStar to benchmark their buildings.
In addition, when asked, we will use the established median baselines for Energy Use Intensity as a starting point during schematic design. This allows for a reasonable assumption for expected energy demand for a new building, from which we can reduce energy through energy efficiency strategies, passive solar, and other whole-building, integrated design opportunities.
Anyways, while I am not in DC, I am happy to help out in any way I can with respect to EnergyStar benchmarking, energy efficiency, etc.
Ravi Bajaj
ravi@usgbc-sd.org
805-368-7670