Step 6: Complete the ENERGY STAR lifecycle

By now, your commissioning expert has confirmed that everything in your new building is working properly and according to the design intent. But don’t get too comfortable.

It’s critical to ensure that you’re operating your building efficiently over the next 12 months in order to earn ENERGY STAR certification. Hopefully, by now you’ve created an account in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, EPA’s online energy management and tracking tool. Here, you’ll enter basic building and operating characteristics, then input your monthly utility bill data. Through regular energy benchmarking, you can stay on top of your building’s performance, identify problems, and verify improvements.

Learn more about ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Earn ENERGY STAR certification

Once your building has been occupied for one year, and you’ve entered 12 complete months of energy bill data, Portfolio Manager calculates a 1 – 100 ENERGY STAR score for your building. The score measures your building’s energy performance relative to similar buildings nationwide. A score of 50 is the median.

To be eligible to earn the ENERGY STAR, your building must score 75 or higher. If your building scores lower than 75, use ENERGY STAR resources to learn how to save energy and improve your building’s energy performance. Continue benchmarking your building’s energy performance in Portfolio Manager to track improvements over time.

Find information about how to apply for EPA’s ENERGY STAR in our Existing Buildings section.