Energy Star Qualified Buildings
An ENERGY STAR qualified facility meets energy performance standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by using less energy and emitting fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a majority of its peers. To qualify for the ENERGY STAR designation, a building must score in the top 25 percent based on the government's National Energy Performance Rating System. To determine ratings, energy use is compared to other, similar type facilities in the database and scored on a scale of 1-100; buildings that achieve a score of 75 or higher may be eligible for certification.
The national energy performance rating is a type of external benchmark that helps energy managers judge how efficiently their buildings use energy, relative to similar buildings in the U.S. The rating system’s 1–100 scale makes it easy to determine how a building is performing — a rating of 50 indicates average energy performance, while a rating of 75 or better indicates top performance. Buildings achieving a rating of 75 or higher are eligible to apply for the ENERGY STAR designation.
Energy Star certified buildings can use promotional tools and resources from the EPA to help them promote their achievement including communications templates and a label to display on the building.
A building being submitted for ENERGY STAR certification must be verified by a licensed building professional to ensure qualification requirements such as energy use are accounted for accurately and that the building characteristics have been properly reported. The building must also be fully functional and operated in accordance with industry standards.
Evaluation, Benchmarking and Verification
CRITERIUM-LeTellier ENGINEERS can evaluate your facility’s energy usage and benchmark its performance against similar buildings in your industry. As licensed professional engineers we can verify eligibility qualifications for Energy Star and certify your application. We can also help you assess your building’s energy performance, establish a plan for energy management and recommend improvements to help improve your building’s energy efficiency.
The ENERGY STAR designation is awarded for one year at a time. A building owner that has earned this recognition becomes eligible to reapply one year after the last energy data submitted as part of the previous year's application. We can perform the annual assessments and verifications in order for you to maintain the certification for your facility.
How it works
Phase I: We will meet with you to talk about the process and collect your utility bills for 12 to 24 months along with other specifications and data about your facility. Using a formula established by the EPA, we’ll tabulate your data against that of peers in your industry and determine what the rating would be for your building. This step is refered to as benchmarking.
Phase II: If your building’s rating is 75 or higher one of our engineers will perform a verification walk-through to ensure qualification requirements are accurate and that building characteristics have been recorded correctly so that you can submit for ENERGY STAR certification. Phase I and Phase II are performed and billed separately. If we complete Phase I for your facility and it does not produce a rating of 75 or higher, you are not obligated to complete Phase II. In addition, you will qualify for a discounted rate on further evaluations as you strive to improve performance and achieve an improved rating.
Whether you qualify for an ENERGY STAR rating or not, we’ll point you to valuable tools and resources such as EPA's Guidelines for Energy Management to help you develop a strategy for energy management based on successful practices of other ENERGY STAR partners.
