In early April, Nareit joined several CRE associations in a letter to the EPA expressing broad support for ENERGY STAR from across the building sector. The letter references key points outlined in Administrator Zeldin’s pillars for “Powering the Great American Comeback” which include restoring American energy dominance and making the US the AI capital of the world.
The building sector strongly believes that energy efficiency in the built environment is key to achieving these objectives, including EPA’s landmark, non-regulatory, public-private partnership with the U.S. real estate industry. The ENERGY STAR for Commercial Buildings program provides building owners with tools and resources to benchmark, improve, and earn recognition for energy efficiency.
Following the release of the Administration’s budget proposal eliminating the EPA’s Atmospheric Protection Program, which includes the ENERGY STAR program, the Real Estate Roundtable issued a Statement on the Reorganization of the ENERGY STAR Program on May 7, 2025.
Jeffrey D. DeBoer, President and CEO of The Real Estate Roundtable, states, “The highly successful ENERGY STAR program is an integral, voluntary participation program critical to residential and commercial, private and public sector U.S. buildings. The program drives efficiency, helps create greater capacity on energy grids to boost economic growth, and enhances profitability for owners and investors in U.S. real estate.”
The program's flagship ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM) platform provides a secure online platform for U.S. commercial building owners to measure their buildings’ energy use. The platform provides owners with access to more than 100 different metrics about a building's performance and energy costs. ENERGY STAR scores allow building owners to compare an asset’s performance to past consumption, similar buildings, or a reference performance level.
Nareit will continue to inform members about this valuable program and collaborate with a coalition of real estate industry advocates to communicate the benefits of federally backed energy data and investment planning tools provided through the ENERGY STAR program.