Use Energy Design Guidance

EPA's Energy Performance Rating. Also referred to as an "EPA rating," an "ENERGY STAR rating," or simply "the Rating" is a seamless, standardized national benchmark that helps architects and building owners assess energy use relative to similar buildings. The estimated energy use of building designs and the actual use of existing buildings are compared to data from the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), which is conducted every 4 years by the U.S. Department of Energy. This database provides EPA with the means to compare estimated and actual energy use against the energy benchmarks from the survey of existing buildings.

EPA's energy performance rating is based on a scale of 1 to 100—with 100 the most energy efficient—which provides a quick comparison of the building's estimated or actual energy use to that of similar buildings throughout the United States. EPA's rating is deployed through two no-cost, online tools:

• Target Finder, used for setting design targets and rating estimated energy use of design projects
• Portfolio Manager, used for measuring the actual energy performance of occupied and operating buildings.

The EPA rating is achieved by converting (user-entered) site energy into source energy to account for greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy production and transmission losses. The EPA energy performance rating is used to establish and validate goals for industry groups as well as Federal, State, and local governments.