We would like to highlight and commend Nancy Brookins, Regional Property Manager, for all her work and accomplishments with implementing the ENERGY STAR program last year. Nancy oversees the operations for properties in Northern California and Washington.
ENERGY STAR is a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect our climate through superior energy efficiency.
The ENERGY STAR program was established by EPA in 1992, under the authority of the Clean Air Act Section 103(g). Section103(g) of the Clean Air Act directs the Administrator to “conduct a basic engineering research and technology program to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate non–regulatory strategies and technologies for reducing air pollution.” In 2005, Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act. Section 131 of the Act amends Section 324 (42 USC 6294) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and “established at the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency a voluntary program to identify and promote energy–efficient products and buildings in order to reduce energy consumption, improve energy security, and reduce pollution through voluntary labeling of or other forms of communication about products and buildings that meet the highest energy efficiency standards.”
Pierce County, in Seattle, has mandated that all properties be benchmarked through the ENERGY STAR program. Nancy Brookins manages three properties located in this county and has gone through the process of benchmarking these buildings, which entails:
- Understanding the governmental regulations surrounding the program
- Knowing the deadlines the program has outlined for the county based on square footage requirements
- Monitoring electrical usage for all meters located on site
- Providing space survey information
The energy star web-based program requires the following information to be uploaded:
- Utility meter information
- Space survey form -this is to be filled out by each tenant and asks questions such as how many computers are in the space, hours of operation etc.
- Tenant authorization form- this grants the landlord the right to obtain the electrical usage information for that specific tenant, otherwise the utility company will not provide to LL
Nancy Brookins was able to successfully obtain all of the requirements listed above for all 62 spaces/tenants within those three properties while complying with the deadlines imposed by the government. This program was initially created for office buildings and was not altered to fit the different aspects for retail buildings. This made it extremely difficult to navigate throughout the program to upload the required information. Nancy did a great job with this project and now that California is enforcing this program as well, she will be a tremendous asset for the team. She has paved the way, smoothed out the bumps, and will be able to educate the rest of the team should this type of program be adopted in their region.
