Recent developments report that the ENERGY STAR® program will potentially be terminated later this year. According to the U.S. Green Building Council, the federal government may move to phase out the program before the next fiscal year begins on October 1, 2025. While no final decisions have been announced, this creates real concerns for energy managers who rely on Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) for benchmarking, compliance, and performance insights.
Atrius Energy customers can rest assured: whether ESPM continues unchanged or undergoes significant disruption, your data, reporting capabilities, and benchmarking tools within Atrius Energy are here to stay.
Q: What’s happening with the ENERGY STAR program?
The U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program, long used to score and benchmark building energy performance, may be discontinued based on recent reports. ESPM scores are widely used across real estate, commercial facilities, and government compliance frameworks including LEED, local energy laws, and voluntary ESG programs.
If ESPM is dismantled, the effects will potentially impact energy compliance workflows, reporting systems, and benchmarking standards.
Q: What does this mean for energy managers and compliance teams?
If ENERGY STAR is altered or eliminated:
- Building performance benchmarks may become inconsistent across jurisdictions
- Reporting tied to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM) may need to shift
- Users could lose a standardized method for comparing building efficiency nationally
Organizations in areas that are required to comply with laws like New York’s Local Law 97, Boston’s BERDO, and statewide regulations in California and Washington will especially need to determine additional methods to comply with reporting requirements. Note that countries with existing partnerships with ENERGY STAR such as Canada, Japan and Switzerland may also be impacted.
Q: How does Atrius Energy support ENERGY STAR workflows today?
Atrius Energy currently integrates with ESPM in multiple powerful ways:
1. Automated Reporting to ESPM
Atrius Energy allows organizations to automatically export energy, waste, and water data directly into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. This streamlines compliance with state and local benchmarking ordinances.
✅ Supported regulations include New York’s Local Law 97, Boston’s BERDO, California Title 24, and Washington State’s Clean Buildings law.
2. Automated Reading from ESPM
For organizations already submitting data into ESPM (manually or through an API), Atrius Energy can automatically ingest that data including site-level metrics and ENERGY STAR scores back to dashboards within your Atrius Energy account.
3. ENERGY STAR Score Benchmarking
Atrius Energy visualizes ENERGY STAR scores and Suite EUI across your portfolio, making it easy to view trends, benchmark similar buildings, and spot performance gaps over time.
Q: What happens to existing data in Atrius Energy if ENERGY STAR is phased out?
Atrius Energy has built-in continuity support for customers:
- Existing Energy Star Scores, automated readings, and site-level EUI within Atrius Energy are preserved
- Users can utilize Atrius Energy export capabilities to fulfill any remaining ESPM compliance needs while the platform is active
- Historical scores can be used as a reference point for future internal benchmarks
Q: How can Atrius Energy support future benchmarking without ENERGY STAR?
If Energy Star be discontinued, Atrius Energy offers multiple strategies to ensure your benchmarking capabilities remain:
- Estimated energy points to continue performance scoring and building comparison
- Portfolio-level benchmarking tools for cross-building analysis
- Custom analytics dashboards for year-over-year comparisons, trending, and reporting
- Flexible data ingestion via free batch upload tools, third-party APIs, or integrations with other utility platforms
- Easy exports of data within Atrius Energy to continue meeting reporting mandates
- Emission factors within Atrius Sustainability to help with carbon accounting needs (note that a subscription is required)
You’ll also have the option to use or customize an ENERGY STAR transition dashboard, a templated visualization of your latest scores, performance metrics, and alternative benchmarking models.
Bottom Line – The Future for the ENERGY STAR Program
While no one can be sure of the future of the ENERGY STAR program, we remain focused on ensuring our customers are supported in meeting their efficiency goals. Atrius Energy is committed to providing customers with the tools needed to meet their reporting and benchmarking needs.