ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager — The Complete Guide: Tracking and Benchmarking Building Energy
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a free online tool from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). You enter consumption data from energy and water bills and get an organised picture of how a single building or a whole portfolio performs over time, including greenhouse gas emissions. Everything runs in the browser, and a no-cost account is required.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
EPA's free online tool for tracking and benchmarking building energy and water use, waste and emissions.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Consumption tracking — energy, water and waste by meter and bill.
- Emissions — greenhouse gas emissions calculated from consumption.
- Targets and baselines — tracking improvement over the years.
- Reports and sharing — ready-made reports and data sharing with others.
- ENERGY STAR score — a 1–100 rating against similar buildings, for buildings in the US and Canada.
A note for readers outside North America
The tool itself is open to everyone and can be used to track and compare buildings anywhere. However, the ENERGY STAR score and certification are available only for buildings in the US and Canada, and rely on local comparison data. For buildings in Israel or elsewhere it is a convenient tracking tool, not a source of an official rating.
Related tools
For energy and emissions analysis at neighbourhood or city scale — City Energy Analyst. For life cycle assessment of materials — openLCA. To simulate a building at the design stage — EnergyPlus.
City Energy Analyst
ETH Zurich (Architecture and Building Systems)
Urban energy modelling — hourly energy demand for many buildings, solar potential and district heating and cooling network design.
Get it from the vendor
openLCA
GreenDelta
Open-source software for life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint calculation of products, materials and processes.
Get it from the vendor
EnergyPlus
US Department of Energy
Annual building energy simulation — envelope, HVAC, thermal comfort and daylight. The US DOE engine.
Get it from the vendorOpenStudio
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Graphical workflow on top of EnergyPlus — geometry, systems and scenario comparison.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
Portfolio Manager is a free, professional tracking tool for facility managers and energy consultants, with its full value mainly in North America.