For owners and developers of commercial real estate, 2018 has seen significant changes in green building and energy efficiency standards including:

On August 26, 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated the energy efficiency performance metrics used to assign Energy Star scores to commercial buildings. Energy Star is a voluntary program managed by the EPA and the Department of Energy (DOE) to help promote energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction.

On March 26, 2018, The US Green Building Council (USGBC), the body that established and administers the LEED green building rating system, released version 4.1 of its operations and maintenance (O&M) ratings criteria. Version 4.1 looks to simplify how existing buildings achieve LEED certification, as well as monitor building performance to ensure compliance with LEED standards.

The USGBC will also launch RELi 2.0 on November 12, 2018, focusing on resilient design and construction performance metrics for:

This release marks a significant update to the rating system and certification designed to reduce the risk of impact from natural disasters, economic disruption, natural resource depletion, and other crises. A detailed overview of the current RELi 1.2.1 standard can be found here, and more information on the upcoming RELi 2.0 standard can be found here.

The Energy Star score for most commercial properties is based on the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), which is conducted approximately every four years by the DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA). However, many Energy Star scores are currently based on data from CBECS conducted prior to 2007.

Energy Star Portfolio Manager is an online benchmarking tool that allows commercial property owners to track energy efficient metrics for their properties. Using these metrics, certain property types receive a 1-100 Energy Star score assigned by comparing a property's energy performance to similar properties nationwide.

The new CBECS data updated in the Energy Star Portfolio Manager reflects an overall improvement in the energy performance of properties nationwide. Since Energy Star scores are assigned by comparing properties, it is expected that this overall improvement in energy performance will, on average, decrease new and updated Energy Star scores.

For more information on energy efficient buildings and Energy Star certification see Legal Update, EPA’s New Energy Star Score Models Under Review.

The LEED rating system is currently used to evaluate the environmental performance of more than 93,000 projects worldwide, and encourages continued improvement of environmentally conscious development and operation. Version 4.1 institutes changes to LEED's criteria for certification for existing building operations and maintenance (O&M). O&M version 4.1 is the first upgrade to the version 4 ratings system, and is a trial balloon for additional development and revision of LEED's other certification categories.

O&M categories within which a building can earn points toward certification include:

The version 4.1 O&M scorecard is available on the USGBC resources webpage.

Version 4.1 has been released in beta for testing, and remains open to comment and revision. For more information on LEED version 4.1 see Practice Note, United States Green Building Council Debuts Version 4.1 of its LEED Certification System.

The new RELi 2.0 standard is similar in format to LEED and is based on a point system. Going beyond the risks associated with extreme weather, the certification is expected to address:

The new standard is expected to contain 15 mandatory requirements for a base level of resiliency certification. These requirements do not have point values associated with them. Optional credits have point values that correspond with different levels of certification. Certification levels are:

RELi 2.0 is being soft launched on November 12th and projects can be piloted even in advance of a final online process.

The certification requirements for green and energy efficient buildings continue to evolve to reflect changes in the marketplace including advances in construction and materials that achieve greater energy efficiency and levels of sustainability.

In light of the new Energy Star scores, LEED version 4.1, and RELi 2.0, owners should consult with a sustainability professional, engineer, consultant, or counsel to evaluate a strategy to certify or recertify:

For more information on energy efficient buildings and Energy Star certification, see Practice Notes, Green Buildings: Laws and Practices and Owning and Leasing Green Real Estate.