ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager: Who, What, Why, How

What is ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager? 

ENERGY STAR  is a rating system backed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that provides consumers with unbiased information about the energy efficiency of products they are purchasing. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is an online benchmarking tool that helps track and measure your water and energy consumption. To get started, all you need is your energy bills and some general information on your property.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager provides a score from 1-100 which is meant to represent a building’s percentile energy efficiency ranking with respect to similar buildings nationally.  The score is based on comparing your submitted energy data to the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) dataset used in ENERGY STAR. 

What does your ENERGY STAR score mean?

The ENERGY STAR score provides a comprehensive snapshot of your building’s energy performance. It assesses the building’s physical assets, operations, and occupant behavior. Your ENERGY STAR score is on a scale of 1 – 100. The score is a screening tool that helps you assess your building’s efficiency performance. With sustainability being of increasing importance to investors, consumers, and employees, it is important for your company to demonstrate its commitment to environmental sustainability by prioritizing energy-efficient buildings. Because of the notoriety of ENERGY STAR, receiving high ENERGY STAR scores on your buildings is a great way to prove that your company is committed to sustainability.

However, the 1 – 100 ENERGY STAR score does not explain why your building is performing in a certain way or tell you how to improve your building’s performance or score.  We’ll go more into what you can do below.

Why is the ENERGY STAR score relevant?

The scope of ENERGY STAR is massive, and the majority of Americans recognize and choose ENERGY STAR products over competitors. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners have helped prevent 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. Nearly 840 utilities, plus state/local governments and nonprofits leverage ENERGY STAR in their efficiency programs, reaching roughly 95% of households in all 50 states.

How is the ENERGY STAR score calculated and how can I raise it?

The ENERGY STAR score calculation is relatively straightforward. First, you enter basic information about your building into the system. Then, the score’s algorithm will estimate how much energy your building would use if it were performing at its best, at its worst, and at other levels in between.

How WatchWire Can Help You Improve Your ENERGY STAR Scores?

It is important to note that an ENERGY STAR score cannot explain why your building is performing in a certain way or tell you how to change your building’s performance for the better. It also cannot add up the energy used by each piece of equipment in your building or credit specific technologies with an aspect of performance. That’s where WatchWire comes in.

WatchWire is a market-leading, energy and sustainability data management platform that uses cloud-based software to collect, automize, analyze, and audit utility, energy, and sustainability data metrics. WatchWire offers automated utility bill management and real-time monitoring which help you pinpoint exactly when and where your operational inefficiencies are occurring (and what efficiency projects to implement). Additionally, WatchWire offers measurement and verification (M&V) for efficiency projects, so you’ll know for sure if the efficiency and sustainability fixes you instituted are working. Finally, WatchWire uses visualized invoice data to identify utility account level and aggregate property level trends in consumption, demand, and costs. This data is used to benchmark your properties against each other to prioritize sustainability and efficiency opportunities with the quickest payback and largest impact (based on KPIs such as kWh/ft2, watts/ft2, etc.).

To learn more about WatchWire and its capabilities, you can visit our website, blog, or resource library, request a demo, or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Twitter to keep up-to-date on the latest energy and sustainability insights, news, and resources.