A Building Energy Performance Assessment (BEPA) is fast becoming an important part of managing commercial real estate. An increasing number of jurisdictions require disclosure of a building’s energy performance, and building owners have an interest independent of regulatory requirements since reducing energy costs either directly increases the net operating profits for the building owner or reduces pass through costs for tenants, which can indirectly increase the owner’s profits.
In response to this growing demand, ASTM International recently issued “ASTM E2797 – 11 Standard Practice for Building Energy Performance Assessment for a Building Involved in a Real Estate Transaction.” In ASTM’s words: “The practice is intended primarily as an approach to conducting a standardized inquiry designed to identify building energy performance in connection with a commercial property involved in a real estate transaction. This practice is intended to reflect a commercially practical and reasonable inquiry.”
This is not a variation of ENERGY STAR® or any of the other rating systems. Rather the standard covers data collection, compilation and analysis, and does not address use of the results for benchmarking or ranking buildings (although someone might elect to use the results for those purposes).
This standard is noteworthy because it is likely to become the benchmark for conducting a BEPA, just as ASTM 1527 is a benchmark for conducting Phase I environmental assessments. Don’t be surprised if the due diligence requirements for your next major commercial real estate transaction include conducting a BEPA in accordance with ASTM E2797-11.
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