Environmental Leader

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has released its prototype building energy labeling program at its 2009 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Building Energy Quotient program, which will be known as Building EQ, will include both asset and operational ratings for all building types with the exception of residential buildings.

ASHRAE is working with major real estate developers to implement the label prototype this fall with a widespread launch of the full program in 2010.

ASHRAE’s president Bill Harrison says the building label comes at the right time with mandatory labeling in Europe and the disclosure of a building’s energy performance becoming required by several states.

The ASHRAE labeling program differs from existing labeling programs because it focuses solely on energy use. Under the ASHRAE program, new buildings will be eligible to receive an asset rating, which provides an assessment of the building based on the components specified in the design and would be based on the results of a building energy model, says ASHRAE.

An operation rating will be available once the building has at least one year of data on the actual energy use of buildings. The operational rating provides information on the actual energy use and is based on a combination of the structure of the building and how it is operated.

Existing buildings would be eligible to receive both an asset and operational rating.

ASHRAE recently published a free report to help the hotel industry achieve a 30-percent energy savings over minimum code requirements.