ENERGY STAR Certification Comes to Multifamily Buildings

The popular ENERGY STAR certification system has been customized and redesigned for use in multifamily buildings. A new report from Fannie Mae and the EPA, Transforming Multifamily Housing: Fannie Mae's Green Initiative and Energy Star for Multifamily provides insight into the ENERGY STAR rating system for multifamily properties. The scores will range from 1-100, with the score representing a property's percentile ranking compared with similar properties. Any building that scores above a 75 is eligible to apply for ENERGY STAR certification. The report not only lays out the groundwork for the new rating system, but also showcases the ENERGY STAR Portfolio manager tool as valuable for multifamily building owners to help pinpoint energy saving and efficiency improving potential upgrades. 

Also included in the report is the results of a 2011 survey conducted with the EPA, covering over 1,000 multifamily facility owners and managers about energy and water use. Key findings of the survey include the fact that less efficient properties may spend up $165,000 more on energy than similarly sized efficient buildings, with the less efficient properties using up to three times as much energy and six times as much water per square foot as their efficient counterparts.  Also mentioned in the report is that if an average, 100,000 square foot property could save even 15% on water and energy costs, the building’s asset value would increase by nearly $400,000.