CREJ

Page 4 — Property Management Quarterly — July 2018 www.crej.com Regulatory WE’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF SAVING MONEY FOR YOUR BUSINESS © 2018 Xcel Energy Inc. Xcel Energy has a ton of ways to help you save energy and cut your operational costs, with rebates for things like upgrading your lighting or HVAC system, on-site energy audits, studies, and a whole lot more. Every time your business saves money, you gain a competitive advantage. Learn more a t xcelenergy.com/Business or call one of our energy ef ciency specialists at 855.839.8862. T he Energy Star Portfolio Manager metrics are being updated this summer, and scores are expected to drop by approximately 12 points for office properties, as discussed in the May 16, 2018, edition of Col- orado Real Estate Journal. If maintaining your current score is a priority for 2018, it is very important to apply for the 2018 Energy Star before the July 26 dead- line. Typically, buildings must wait at least 11 months to apply each year, but there is a one-time allow- ance for all build- ings to earn the 2018 Energy Star early. All scores will change on Aug. 27, when the metrics are updated. We recommend contacting your mechanical engi- neer immediately, as these professionals will likely be flooded with Energy Star renewals up until the July 26 deadline. To keep your score history, the Environmental Protection Agency recommends downloading a State- ment of Energy Performance and/ or Data Verification Checklist for all prior years, which can be done on the reporting tab in Portfolio Man- ager. On Aug. 27, all prior scores will change to the new metrics. This will allow buildings to com- pare current performance to past performance accu- rately. It is important to understand that all building scores will be adjusted for the 2019 round of Ener- gy Star. After the score changes at the end of August, it may be worth considering a ret- rocommissioning study or ASHRAE Level 2 energy audit to find ways to improve build- ing performance. There still are rebates available from Xcel Energy to help offset these costs. To stay eli- gible for future rebates, make sure to implement the findings from the study. Instead of “cherry picking” only the findings with the lowest paybacks, consider implementing all findings for maximum sav- ings and a reasonable full payback period. Notify your building ownership, coworkers, interested occupants and leasing agent about this change. It may be important for your owner’s GRESB applications or sustainability reporting. The EPA has been emailing notifications to contacts in the Portfolio Manager tool, but that may not filter up to your asset manager. Any buildings applying for LEED should guarantee that all details are accurate for the 2018 Energy Star application. If there are major changes to vacancy, occupant or computer counts that weren’t accurately reported during your Energy Star renewal, you may not be able to use the higher score achieved for 2018 for your LEED application. Please note that LEED v4.1 does not use Energy Star, neither does the Arc Performance Path. The U.S. Green Building Council is using its own metrics for energy scores in the Arc platform. So, for anyone using Arc to renew LEED certifica- tion each year, you do not need to worry about changes to your energy score. There is more information and communications available on www. energystar.gov/updates regard- ing why and how this change is occurring. s New Energy Star metrics are coming next month Amanda Timmons President, Ampajen Solutions LLC