10 November 2011: U.S. and Canada Share Energy Savings Assessment Tool
Environmental protection agencies in the United States and Canada will be using the same scorecard for measuring and assessing energy performance in commercial buildings, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced yesterday. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) will adopt a software tool called Portfolio Manager, the same tool used by EPA in the Energy Star program.
Energy Star is a joint program of the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy that promotes the use of energy-efficient products and practices in homes, businesses and consumer products. Begun in the early 1990s as an energy-use labeling program for consumer products, Energy Star later expanded into commercial building energy-use practices. Energy Star now has a database that includes more than 250,000 buildings, representing nearly 27 billion square feet (2.51 billion square meters) of commercial and institutional building space in the country. The Portfolio Manager tool allows calculations of solid, measurable information from commercial buildings on energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
"This agreement between EPA and NRCan is part of a broad commitment to working together on energy efficiency, an important element of cleaning the air and securing our energy future," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "We look forward to the benefits this new partnership will create for the health of our families, for our economy, and for our environment."
The Portfolio Manager program will be enhanced to include a Canadian-based energy performance scale and Canadian reference data, such as weather, energy and emissions factors and metric units. The tool will be available in both of Canada's official languages (English and French).
The two environmental agencies came to the agreement under the Clean Energy Dialogue (CED), a larger initiative set in motion in 2009 by President Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to strengthen collaboration on clean energy technology and innovation. The CED is envisioned as a mechanism to support the two nations in the transition to clean-energy, low-carbon economies and the creation of energy security.
Another CED project brings the two countries together to design, build and test a lightweight vehicle that is 50 percent lighter than what is considered a light-duty vehicle under current standards, according to an August 2011 EPA press release.
Energy Star has a 20-year history educating the public about energy conservation and efficiency. Through 2010, more than 20,000 organizations have partnered with EPA, achieving significant environmental and financial benefits. Americans, with the help of Energy Star, saved enough energy in 2010 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 33 million cars — all while saving nearly $18 billion on their utility bills.