Cancellation of Energy Star could upend energy tracking across commercial real estate

With the Energy Star program reportedly slated for discontinuation, commercial and some residential real estate owners may lose a valuable tool for energy tracking.

The program includes a software platform that many owners use for energy tracking across commercial real estate portfolios. The EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool connects utilities to landlords and then to dozens of state and municipal governments that rely on it to uphold their energy and climate policies. Many of these policies include tax breaks and financial subsidies.

Landlords rely on Portfolio Manager data to adhere to state and municipal regulations and to compare energy performance of buildings and decide which ones need upgrades including new HVAC and lighting systems. The tool was used by more than 330,000 buildings last year, or nearly 25% of all commercial building floorspace in the U.S., according to the EPA. Seven states, 48 local governments and two Canadian provinces currently rely on the program and its software for their energy benchmarking and transparency policies.

The EPA announced massive job cuts and restructuring in early May, and numerous reports, citing EPA documents, say ending Energy Star is part of the plan.