ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
The ENERGY STAR program offers a number of benchmarking tools for facility owners and managers. For design phase energy use goal setting, the Target Finder program is used. For existing buildings the Portfolio Manager program is utilized to document building energy performance. This data is compared to national building performance metrics in the Department of Energy’s Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) database. The Portfolio Manager program is the entry point for documenting and managing the energy and water consumption within one building or across a portfolio of facilities. Among the facilities encouraged to benchmark using Portfolio Manager include (but are not limited to) government, healthcare, higher education, hospitality and entertainment, industrial buildings, K-12 schools, multi-family residences, retail, and wastewater plants.
The Portfolio Manager program requires 12 consecutive months of energy data. Utility bills and/or sub-metering data is collected for each fuel type and entered into the system. Once benchmarking of the building(s) consumption is established, the ENERGY STAR rating can be determined. An award is given for buildings that score a 75 or better. Awards are also given for showing general energy performance improvement.
The program aims to elevate facility manager education and awareness about energy and water consumption in order to reduce overall building water and energy usage. The Portfolio Manager program is also able to calculate the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the building energy use.
RATIONALE
By documenting the energy usage of a facility, the end user is able to gauge the operating efficiencies and inefficiencies of a building as compared to a database of similar buildings across the nation. Building owners and users are often unaware if the facility is performing poorly. By establishing a benchmark for the facility’s energy use, energy improvements can be addressed and implemented.
EFFORT REQUIRED
The building owner, facilities manager, or energy manager will collect and input at least 12 months of energy data into the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager website once a profile has been set up. Attendance at an online training is not mandatory, but is encouraged in order to train the end-user on how to use the Portfolio Manager program. In order to qualify for awards within the ENERGY STAR program, the project must meet or exceed an established benchmark and an engineer must verify that the data entered is accurate.
Establishing an energy efficiency program and incorporating energy efficiency measures requires planning and implementation on the part of the facilities manager and buy-in on the part of the building owner and users. “Low hanging fruit,” or low-to-no cost items, are usually incorporated into energy efficiency planning. Some measures to save energy, such as new appliances or fixtures or weatherization projects, will require capital expenditures.
There is no cost to utilize the ENERGY STAR tools or Portfolio Manager. These tools are available for free online.
BENEFITS
Awareness about energy efficiency is increased. Free resources are available online for energy conservation. Implementation of energy efficiency measures (EEMS) will result in a reduction of energy use. Some level of “competition” can be encouraged between facilities in order to exceed another facility’s ENERGY STAR score – thus encouraging increased energy conservation. Increased energy efficiency will reduce facility operating costs.
Additional resources: A carbon footprint-Greenhouse Gas Emissions calculator is available through the Portfolio Manager program along with the ability to track progress made through energy efficiency improvements. Some level of investment prioritization is available as well through the program.
RISKS
The data entered into Portfolio Manager is not available for public use unless allowed by the account holder. If a facility receives a low ENERGY STAR score the facility manager may not want to share this information with the building owner and-or building users as it may have a negative connotation.
A barrier to applying for ENERGY STAR awards is the need (and cost) to have a professional engineer verify ENERGY STAR compliance.
ACTION AGENTS
- Building owner
- Facility manager
- Energy manager
- Engineer
COSTS
There are no costs associated with the access and use of the ENERGY STAR tools and resources as they are available online for free. There is internal time and management required to input utility data into the Portfolio Manager program.
When applying for ENERGY STAR awards, there may be a cost to have a professional engineer that the energy use is accounted for accurately, building characteristics are properly reported, the building is fully functional in accordance with industry standards, and the ENERGY STAR indoor environment criteria have been met.
