Building Upgrades

The ENERGY STAR Building Upgrade Manual is a practical guide that helps you plan and achieve profitable improvements to your building.

A staged approach to building upgrades will help to increase the financial and environmental benefits realized. The stages recommended by the EPA account for the interactions among all the energy flows in a building and produce a systematic method for planning upgrades. Each stage includes changes that will affect the upgrades performed in subsequent stages, so when they are performed sequentially they set up the overall process for the greatest energy and cost savings.

Step 1: Retrocommissioning

Identify underperforming equipment, determine which equipment should be replaced, and review operational tips to improve building performance.

Step 2: Lighting

Improve your lighting systems to reduce lighting energy use, improve the visual environment, and affect the sizing of HVAC and electrical systems.

Step 3: Supplemental Load Reductions

Improve heating, cooling, and electric loads in your building to reduce the size and cost of equipment upgrades.

Step 4: Air Distribution Systems

Upgrade or adjust your fan systems to maximize energy efficiency.

Step 5: Heating and Cooling Systems

After implementing the steps above, you may be ready to upgrade to a new, properly sized system, or to retrofit your existing system to optimize operation, reduce noise, and reduce the amount of required maintenance.

In addition to the steps above, you can learn about benchmarking, investment analysis, financing, and unique facilities such as K-12 schools.

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