Washington, D.C. topped the annual U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ranking of U.S. cities with the most Energy Star buildings.
The nation’s capitol was propelled to the top spot by its new benchmarking law requiring large private buildings to measure and publicly report their energy and water performance using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager online tool. D.C. is the first city in the U.S. to adopt this law.
With 480 Energy Star-certified buildings, the EPA estimates D.C.'s Energy Star buildings have saved $127.1 million, and enough electricity to power 73,500 homes. Los Angeles fell to second place with 475 certified buildings.
To earn the Energy Star certification, a commercial building must score 75 or higher on an energy efficiency scale out of 100 on the Energy Star online tool. A score of 50 is the average. Certification requires a professional engineer or registered architect to verify that the assessment is accurate.
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Feb 18, 2015
Make It Right unveils six designs for affordable housing complex
BNIM is among the six firms involved in the project.
Codes and Standards | Feb 12, 2015
ASHRAE, USGBC, IES consider biomass requirements in green building standard
The proposal would add biomass to approved renewables.
Modular Building | Feb 12, 2015
New shipping container complex begins construction in Albuquerque
The Green Jeans Farmery already has a hydroponic farm component courtesy of owner and entrepreneur Roy Solomon.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 6, 2015
Fannie Mae to offer lower interest rates to LEED-certified multifamily properties
For certified properties, Fannie Mae is now granting a 10 basis point reduction in the interest rate of a multifamily refinance, acquisition, or supplemental mortgage loan.
Green | Feb 4, 2015
Illinois leads top 10 states for LEED green building
Collectively, 1,662 commercial and institutional projects became LEED certified within the top 10 states in 2014, representing 251.7 million sf of real estate.
Energy Efficiency | Jan 28, 2015
An urban wind and solar energy system that may actually work
The system was designed to take advantage of a building's air flow and generate energy even if its in the middle of a city.
Sponsored | Green | Jan 26, 2015
Shopping centers set their sight on solar
As part of its pledge to environmentally sound practices, real estate investment trust Macerich is implementing solar across its portfolio of 85-plus properties in 19 states.
| Jan 21, 2015
Tesla Motors starts construction on $5 billion battery plant in Nevada
Tesla Motors’ “gigafactory,” a $5 billion project on 980 acres in Sparks, Nev., could annually produce enough power for 500,000 electric cars.
| Dec 29, 2014
Leo A Daly's minimally invasive approach to remote field site design [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
For the past six years, Leo A Daly has been designing sites for remote field stations with near-zero ecological disturbance. The firm's environmentally delicate work was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 28, 2014
Using energy modeling to increase project value [AIA course]
This course, worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW, explores how to increase project value through energy modeling, as well as how to conduct quick payback and net present value studies to identify which energy strategies are most viable for the project.
