Developing a Yardstick for Measuring Energy

ASTM Committee to Standardize Processes for Collecting and Reporting Building Energy Information

Published by the CoStar Group August 24, 2009
Written By Andrew C. Burr

With an eye on lower operating expenses, tenants and real estate investors are beginning to question the energy use of buildings. But that has led a group of building energy experts to ask another question: What exactly does ‘energy use’ mean?

The innocuous term can actually be quite tricky because no standard protocol exists for reporting building energy information, experts say, leaving the door open for inconsistent measurements and erratic reporting.

“Energy use can mean a million different things,” said Anthony Buonicore, Chairman and CEO of Buonicore Partners LLC, a Connecticut-based real estate energy and sustainability consulting firm, and chair of a new ASTM International task force that is developing an energy due diligence standard for buildings.

“We think it’s appropriate that when a property is being leased or acquired, there’s a standard procedure for getting the energy data, a standard way of normalizing it and a standard way of presenting it.”

The proposed standard, known as ASTM WK24707, would craft a framework for identifying, collecting and measuring building energy, including associated costs, and how to uniformly report that information to tenants, investors and lenders. It would also standardize the control process for variables that influence energy performance, such as occupancy and regional climate.

Buonicore called the standard a “first step” on the road to real estate energy transparency, and one that would not interfere with programs like Energy Star, the government’s energy benchmarking tool.

“We’re not comparing buildings. We’re not labeling anything. We’re giving perspective purchasers standardized information on energy consumption and energy costs at a single building,” he said.

The 200-member committee began its work on the standard this spring and could have a draft next month. Publication is tentatively set for mid-2010.

The standard is expected to draw interest from a growing pool of state and local lawmakers considering building energy disclosure mandates. The committee has also had discussions with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the standards development group that is piloting a building energy label.

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