Choosing the Right Financing 57Information Administration known as the Commercial Building Energy
Consumption Survey (CBECS). Conducted every four years, CBECS
gathers data on building characteristics and energy use from thousands
of buildings across the United States. Your building’s peer group for com-
parison is the group of buildings in the CBECS survey that has similar
building and operating characteristics. An EPA rating of 50 indicates that
the building, from an energy consumption standpoint, performs better
than 50% of all similar buildings nationwide, while a rating of 75 indi-
cates that the building performs better than 75% of all similar buildings
nationwide.
EPA’s energy performance rating system, based on source energy,*
accounts for the impact of weather variations, as well as changes in key
physical and operating characteristics of each building. Buildings rating
75 or higher may qualify for the ENERGY STAR label.
Portfolio Manager provides a platform to track energy and water
use trends compared against the costs of these resources. This is a valu-
able tool for understanding the relative costs associated with a given level
of performance, helping you evaluate investment opportunities for a par-
ticular building, and identifying the best opportunities across your port-
folio. It also allows you to track your properties’ performance from year
to year.
The built-in financial tool within Portfolio Manager helps you com-
pare cost savings across buildings in your portfolio while calculating cost
savings for a specific project. Being able to quickly and clearly obtain data
showing cumulative investments in facility upgrades or annual energy
costs eases the decision making process for best practice management of
your buildings nationwide.
From a lender’s perspective, a facility with a low rating is more like-
ly to obtain larger energy savings (having more room for improvement)
than a facility with a high rating. This becomes important if the energy
savings are considered a primary “source of repayment” when financing
energy upgrades. Portfolio Manager is also an important tracking mecha-
nism that helps insure that the facilities are being properly maintained
and the energy savings are continuing to accrue. As lenders perform due
diligence on energy efficiency projects, they will become more aware of
the value of Portfolio Manager.
*Source energy includes the energy consumed at the building itself—or the site energy—plus
the energy used to generate, transmit, and distribute the site energy.