EPA Portfolio Manager Includes Emissions Data

Portfolio Manager, an online tool developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has allowed companies to track energy and water use in their buildings, helping them earn the Energy Star label. That tool is now connected to EPA’s Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID), which compiles emissions data from plants that provide power to the electric grid. This data is used in Portfolio Manager to calculate carbon dioxide emissions for buildings based on their electricity and fuel use. EPA has used the new data to look at buildings already in Portfolio Manager, and found that Energy Star office buildings used 35% less energy and emitted 35% less carbon dioxide, on average, than comparable conventional office buildings; the savings depended largely on the fuel used to generate electricity in a given region. More information is available at www.energystar.gov/istar/pmpam/.