We are all familiar by now with the “Energy Star” certification for appliances but did you know that the certification can be extended to buildings too?

For building certification, you might be more familiar with the LEED certification. LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED recognizes performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Initiated in 1999 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), the ENERGY STAR program for buildings was developed to help businesses improve energy management through recognition of energy efficiency and cost-effective measures. Much like LEED, the intent is to spur all parties involved in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings to work together to find energy solutions that are both financially beneficial yet minimize negative impact on the environment.  Offices have been eligible for ENERGY STAR certification since the program began, and since then many commercial facilities and manufacturing plants have been added to the eligibility list, including schools, hospitals, supermarkets and auto assembly plants, to name just a few.

The certification process for an ENERGY STAR certification starts with the use of Portfolio Manager, the EPA’s system helping you track and improve energy efficiency across your entire portfolio of buildings.

Portfolio Manager tracks and assesses energy and water consumption over a 12-month period and determine a building’s level of energy efficiency. The building is then rated by the EPA’s Energy Performance Rating System (EPR) which provides a simple metric to show relative performance based on a 1 to 100 scale. The building is compared to statistically representative models from the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a national survey conducted by the DOE’s Energy Information Administration. Buildings in the upper 25th percentile are eligible for an ENERGY STAR label. The remaining step is to have the building inspected by a third-party, licensed professional engineer, who will verify the building’s energy profile and determine if it meets additional requirements that include air quality, thermal comfort and minimum lighting that meet or surpass current U.S. standards.

By the end of 2009, the number of buildings that have earned the Energy Star label were about 9,000.

Have you or do you know anybody who’s used the Energy Star certification for their building? How long did it take to get certified and how was the process?