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Making the EPA's ENERGY STAR Program Work for You
By Brian Dawson, CEO, Calico Energy Services
The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR program is a great way for building managers to save money while helping to protect the environment. The program encourages the adoption of energy-efficient products to measure current energy performance. ENERGY STAR-certified buildings receive significant tax benefits, and typically increase in value by an average of 16 percent – not to mention that certification makes a statement about the building owner's and/or manager's support for environmentally friendly facilities.
Unfortunately, gathering data for ENERGY STAR certification can be a lengthy and difficult procedure. The process of collecting, submitting and validating energy usage data can quickly turn into an administrative headache, particularly for multi-tenant commercial buildings.
That's where software management tools can help. Such tools facilitate the submission of building-wide energy usage data to the ENERGY STAR program, and they can radically simplify the process of categorizing, analyzing, managing and submitting energy usage data.
Building managers should look for software that connects back-end utility data systems with ENERGY STAR's online Portfolio Manager, and provides automated submission of energy usage reports to comply with the EPA's monthly reporting requirements. Usability is also important, so features such as dashboard interfaces and ease of deployment are key. Software tools should also include the ability to:
- protect confidential customer data,
- quantify the impact of energy efficiency projects on energy usage, and
- provide automated access to building-wide energy usage data.
Brian Dawson is the CEO of Calico Energy Services, a Seattle-based company offering software that utilities can deploy to enable their building manager customers to submit energy usage data directly to the EPA's Portfolio Manager tool.
For more information: Lindsay Stril, VOXUS, Inc., lstril@voxuspr.com, 253-444-5443
