Recently in Energy Star Buildings Category

The number of commercial and industrial organizations joining ENERGY STAR almost tripled in 2008, accounting for more than 2,000,000,000 (2 billion!) new committed square feet. By the end of 2008, there were more than 2,400 organizations that have committed to adopt continuous energy management practices.

Partnerships between EPA and organizations such as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industrial trade association in the U.S., have signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) to work together to improve the energy efficiency of their sectors of the U.S. economy.  NAM helps  educate U.S. manufacturers that they CAN and SHOULD  strategically manage energy in their operations.  The savings make this a win-win message and contributes significantly to the total reduction of energy use in the U.S.

If you would like to partner with EPA to improve your energy efficiency, visit: www.energystar.gov/joinbuildings

For the first time, EPA released a list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy efficient buildings in 2008 that have earned EPA's Energy Star. The list is headed by Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Washington, D.C.,

Additional top achieving  cities include:

• Dallas-Fort Worth
• Chicago
• Denver
• Minneapolis-St Paul
• Atlanta
• Seattle
• Boston
• New York
• Austin
• Detroit
• milwaukee
• San Antonio
• Philadelphia
• Charlotte
• Portland
• Grand Rapids
• Sacramento
• Phoenix
• Miami
• Riverside, CA
• Madison

These top cities are those whose schools, hospitals, office buildings, courthouses, grocery stores, retail centers and auto assembly plants have earned the EPA's ENERGY STAR.

To label your building, go to www.energystar.gov/eslabel.
To label your industrial plant, go to www.energystar.gov/plants.

Buildings earn the ENERGY STAR by achieving a score of 75 or higher on EPA's energy performance rating system and meeting relevant requirements for indoor air quality.


More than 6,200 top performing buildings earned the ENERGY STAR rating through 2008 for being energy all-stars. Total labeled floor space topped over 1 billion square feet for the first time, an increase of more than 55% over 2007.

Industrial Sector:  45 plants have also qualified for the ENERGY STAR since that recognition became available in 2006. They include

• 15 auto assembly plants,
• 19 cement plants,
• 3 wet corn milling plants, and
• 8 oil refineries.

According to Energy Star calculations, the 2008 achievements in Energy Star labeled buildings and plants reflected an overall annual utility savings of more than $1.7 billion and prevented greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of more than 2 million cars a year.

Ten major industries participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focuses to pool ideas and work toward energy efficiency improvements.

Industrial Focuses provide an opportunity for companies within each single manufacturing industry to network with peers and share industry-specific energy management tools and resources.

The goal of each industrial focus is to:

• Improve energy efficiency of the industry
• Create momentum for continued improvement
• Provide energy guides to uncover energy efficiency opportunities
• Encourage sharing of ideas
• Develop an energy performance indicator to evaluate the energy efficiency of their plants relative to the typical efficiency levels of their industry and to recognize the high performers with the ENERGY STAR label.

Industries that participate in Energy Star's Industrial Focus programs include:

• Cement Manufacturing
• Corn Refining
• Food Processing
• Glass Manufacturing
• Motor Vehicle Manufacturing
• Petrochemical Manufacturing
• Petroleum Industry
• Pharmaceuticals
• Pulp & Paper
• Steel

EPA's online tool Portfolio Manager enables building owners and managers to rate their individual commercial buildings on a scale of 1 to 100 against similar buildings, track energy performance over time, and target investments in energy efficiency.

States and local government agencies, professional associations, and vendors offer training, expertise, and networking opportunities to make benchmarking buildings easier for their constituents, and they are tapping into ENERGY STAR to accomplish this task.

This partnership has resulted in continued growth across the country, reflecting a 50%  increase in rated floor space from over 7.5 billion square feet in 2007 to more than 11.5 billion square feet in 2008.

Regular Assessment Becoming SOP
 
About 60% of this space is being repeatedly rated for its energy use, which indicates that regular assessment is becoming a standard practice for many.

Benchmarking By Building Type

EPA's energy performance rating system is now available for 11 specific building space types that account for around 60% of the carbon emissions resulting from commercial buildings.

• Offices
• K-12 Schools
• Retail Stores
• Hospitals
• Hotels / Motels
• Supermarkets / Grocery Stores
• Banks / Financial Institutions
• Warehouses
• Medical Offices
• Courthouses
• Residence Halls / Dormitories

By building type, offices and schools experienced the largest increases in benchmarking in 2008. Offices close to doubled the number and floor space rated; rated schools increased by almost 80% with floor space almost doubling.

According to the study, "Does Green Pay Off?," ENERGY STAR rated commercial buildings have sale prices 30% per sq. ft. higher than traditional buildings.

Compared to traditional buildings, owners and managers of ENERGY STAR rated buildings can expect

• $2 per sq. ft. greater rents,
• 2% higher occupancy rates and
• $0.54 per sq. ft. lower energy-related operating costs

Operating expenses from energy costs varied with Energy Star-rated buildings running $1.27 per square foot per year for energy in 2006 and non-Energy Star-rated buildings running $1.81 per square foot.

Survey results are based on findings in a study released last week. Norm Miller, a professor at the University of San Diego, and Jay Spivey and Andy Florance, the research director and CEO respectively with CoStar. They compared 223 ENERGY STAR rated Class A office buildings of at least 200,000 sq. ft. with 2,077 non-ENERGY STAR buildings of the same class and size.

Buildings with the ENERGY STAR label are among the 25% most efficient of similar buildings nationwide.

Technical Specs for Energy Star Qualified Homes

Homes built under 2001 T-24 code had until December 31, 2006 to complete construction.

All homes completed on or after January 1, 2007 must be 15% more energy efficient than the latest T-24 code (2005 T-24). Homes that were enrolled in a utility rebate program by December 31, 2005 had until January 1, 2007 to be qualified using the old ENERGY STAR guidelines. All homes enrolled in a program after January 1, 2006 must be qualified using the new guidelines and have a Thermal Bypass Checklist inspection. However, for the period January 1, 2007 to June 30, 2007, homes in this category will not be denied the ENERGY STAR label due to non-compliance with requirements of this additional inspection. As of July 1, 2007, these homes must pass the Thermal Bypass Inspection to earn the ENERGY STAR label.

The current ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes guidelines require that homes be 15% more energy efficient than the code under which they are permitted and be inspected by a CEC certified third party HERS rater. Sampling is allowed and shall follow the CEC HERS protocols.

Energy Star Qualified Homes Guidelines

The ENERGY STAR Qualified Homes guidelines requirements also include:

• Verification of adherence to the EPA ENERGY STAR Thermal Bypass Checklist/CEC Quality Installation Insulation merged protocols.
• All cooling equipment shall be sized according to the latest editions of the ACCA Manuals J and S, ASHRAE 2001 Handbook of Fundamentals, or the equivalent computation procedure.
  • Maximum oversizing of air conditioners is 15%.
  • Equipment oversizing calculations shall use 99.0% and 1.0% outdoor design temperatures as published in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals for most representative city. However, a prevailing outdoor design temperature used by the local HVAC industry that can be documented with available weather data is an acceptable alternative. The Indoor temperature shall be 75ºF for cooling and 70ºF for heating.
  • Infiltration rate shall be selected as tight.
  • Indoor and outdoor coils shall be matched in accordance with ARI standards.
• Ductwork leakage must be less than 6 cfm to outdoors per 100 square feet of conditioned space, though duct leakage tests can be waived if ducts and equipment are located in conditioned space and the home's envelope leakage is less than 0.25 CFM 50 per square foot of building envelope. (Meeting T-24 tight duct standard of 6% or less leakage of total air flow satisfies this requirement.)

Additional requirements bulleted above can be used to achieve the 15% performance margin. EPA also recommends, but does not require, that ductwork be located in conditioned space with a minimum of R-4 insulation to prevent condensation and moisture problems. Updated on February 28, 2007

FURTHER INFORMATION:

California Building Performance Contractors Association

CBPCA trains and certifies contractors for a better approach to energy efficiency, safety, comfort, and value. California Building Performance Association is a non-profit organization supporting energy efficiency and the residential contracting industry.

Utility Company Programs for Energy Star Ratings

Advanced Home Program by Southern California Gas Company

Performance Programs. Projects qualify when they exceed 2005 Title-24 compliance by 15%. California Energy Star® New Homes Program SoCal Gas Company

Advanced Home Program by San Diego Gas & Electric

The California ENERGY STAR® New Homes Program is a performance based program designed to encourage builders to construct single family and multi-family buildings that are energy efficient. San Diego Gas & Electric

SoCal Edison

California Energy Star New Homes Program Recognized as a National Leader in building conservation. SoCal Edison

PG&E ENERGY STAR® Qualified New Homes Program

PG&E works with builders to ensure that ENERGY STAR New Homes exceed California's rigorous energy efficiency PG&E

Energy use in commercial buildings and manufacturing plants accounts for nearly half of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 50 percent of energy consumption nationwide.

For more than a decade, EPA has worked with businesses and organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through strategic energy management practices. Today, there are Energy Star qualified facilities in every state across the country.

Energy Star Rated Buildings

To qualify for the Energy Star, a building or manufacturing plant must score in the top 25 percent using EPA's National Energy Performance Rating System.

Nearly 4,100 buildings and manufacturing plants have earned the EPA's Energy Star through the end of 2007, with the addition of more than 1,400 in 2007 alone. They include about 1,500 office buildings, 1,300 supermarkets, 820 K-12 schools and 250 hotels. Also, more than 185 banks, financial centers, hospitals, courthouses, warehouses, dormitories, and - for the first time - big-box retail buildings earned the Energy Star. More than 35 manufacturing plants such as cement, auto assembly, corn refining, and - for the first time - petroleum refining are also being recognized.

These award-winning commercial buildings and manufacturing plants have saved nearly $1.5 billion annually in lower energy bills and prevented carbon dioxide emissions equal to the emissions associated with electricity use of more than 1.5 million American homes for a year, relative to typical buildings.

Commercial buildings that have earned the Energy Star use nearly 40% less energy than average buildings and emit 35 percent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, offering a significantly smaller carbon footprint.

About 500 Energy Star buildings use 50% less energy than average buildings.

Many of these buildings excel due to good energy management practices such as routine energy efficiency benchmarking.