Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR: An easy certification for new buildings
The PDF can be downloaded through the link at the bottom of this article.
Introduction
Most people in the US have heard of ENERGY STAR. From the stickers on devices ranging from TVs to appliances to light bulbs, the ENERGY STAR name, created by the US Government, is synonymous with energy efficiency. It’s also common to walk into a commercial building and see an ENERGY STAR logo on the entrance.
However, a lesser-known aspect of ENERGY STAR is the Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR designation (Designed to Earn). This article provides an overview of this program so individuals and companies involved in commercial construction can be informed on how to achieve this cost effective, simple certification and give recognition to their energy efficient building.
Designed to Earn Overview
In contrast to the more common ENERGY STAR certification for buildings, which requires at least 1 year of operation before the award can be given, Designed to Earn is a certification awarded during design or construction for a building’s anticipated energy efficient performance.
The awarded building receives an ENERGY STAR decal similar to the normal ENERGY STAR one. This provides building owners and design/construction teams alike an opportunity for positive press and recognition about their new project.
Process
The process of achieving Designed to Earn is simple and cost effective, especially for projects already utilizing energy modeling for any aspect of their design process. The full process can be found on ENERGY STAR’s website, but the following steps are a simplified explanation:
1) Decide to apply and have an eligible building type
Like all accomplishments, the first step with Designed to Earn is the decision to pursue it. However, not all building types are eligible. The link above lists the eligible building types on the first page.
ENERGY STAR uses their Portfolio Manager (PM) to accumulate building data, and from this database, the PM tool generates a ‘score’ that compares a subject building to comparable buildings accounting for size, location, and other factors. Not all building types have enough data to produce a reliable score which is a primary reason ENERGY STAR excludes certain building types.
2) Estimate the energy use of the design
Estimating the energy use of the design should ideally be done with the use of an energy model, which could be concurrently used as part of other scopes for IECC compliance, LEED certification, utility incentives, design evaluation, or any number of other applications. A good, comprehensive spreadsheet or similar tool may also be capable of estimating the annual energy of the new building.
However it is calculated, the expected energy use of the final design should be entered in PM in the Design Project section. Once this is done and other property info is entered into PM, the online tool will produce a score for the building. If the score is 75 or above (likely soon to be 80), the property is eligible for the award!
3) Apply for the award
Once a project has a qualifying score, PM will provide a link to the application for Designed to Earn certification. The application is mostly generated from the PM building inputs and will need to be signed by the owner and architect. The major information needed is the building description and type of decal.
The application will also need to be signed and stamped by a registered engineer or architect as the ‘verifying professional’. This is ideally the individual that performed or oversaw the energy calculations.
After the application is signed, it’s a simple process to submit to ENERGY STAR and await the approved result. Once approved, projects can also apply for the ENERGY STAR design challenge for additional recognition.
In Summary
1. Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR is a lesser-known certification for energy efficient buildings that can be applied for in the design or construction phase.
2. Getting certified is simple with a qualifying building type and a method to estimate the building’s energy use, like an energy model.
3. If the anticipated energy use yields a good enough score (currently 75) from ENERGY STAR portfolio manager, the project qualifies for the certification.
What about your project?
Contact us if you would like your project to receive the Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR certification. Current G2 clients can receive this certification for no added cost on any energy modeling project!
Contact G2 Energy Solutions today for a quote!
About Craig Green
Craig Green is the managing principal at G2 Energy Solutions, an energy engineering consulting firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the last decade, Craig has helped several projects receive their ENERGY STAR certification and worked on hundreds of other projects that could have!
For questions on the article or to discuss working with G2 Energy Solutions, please contact Craig at 480-637-7900 or craig.green@g2energysolutions.com.
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