Partnership Requirements: ENERGY STAR Partnership for Commercial and Industrial Service and Product Providers (SPP)

LEARN MORE AT
energystar.gov
ENERGY STAR®, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
U.S. Department of Energy program, helps us all save money
and protect our environment through energy efficient products
and practices. For more information, visit www.energystar.gov.

Partnership Requirements:
ENERGY STAR Partnership for Commercial & Industrial
Service and Product Providers (SPP)
Eligible Organizations
Companies providing energy efficiency services and products to commercial buildings and industrial manufacturing
facilities/plants are eligible for the Service and Product Provider (SPP) partnership, but must meet certain
requirements as specified below.
Types of eligible companies include: architecture, distributor, energy consultant/energy management services,
energy improvement contractor, energy information services, energy services company (ESCO), engineering,
equipment manufacturer, financial services, on-site energy production services, unregulated energy retailer and
marketer, or other supplier of standard energy-efficient products and/or services for commercial buildings and/or
industrial manufacturing facilities/plants. Applying organizations must have an established office and serve
customers in the U.S. or U.S. Territories.
Organizations that work only in the residential market are not eligible for the commercial and industrial SPP
partnership, but can look to ENERGY STAR for Homes (http://www.eneravstar.aov/homes) for potential
partnership opportunities.
SPP Partnership Application Requirements
Eligible organizations must meet certain requirements before applying to become an ENERGY STAR SPP partner.
Organizations applying must demonstrate that they have actively used the ENERGY STAR approach to help
clients achieve their energy management goals in the following ways:
For SPPs serving the Existing Commercial Buildings Market:
• Benchmark at least 10 client commercial buildings in the last 12 months using Portfolio Manager, and/or
• Earn the ENERGY STAR certification for at least one client commercial building in the last 12 months,
using Portfolio Manager and meeting other program requirements.
• During the online application process, Portfolio Manager Building ID numbers will be requested to verify
benchmarked and certified buildings. (For automated benchmarking providers, these ID numbers can be
located in the customer's Portfolio Manager account.)
For SPPs serving the Commercial Building Design Market (Architecture Firms):
• Submit commercial new construction projects that achieve Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR. Eligible
design projects are determined by using Target Finder and require approval from EPA. The partnership
agreement will be activated once these criteria are met.
• Project information will be requested during the online application process.
For SPPs serving the Industrial Market:
• Work with an ENERGY STAR Industrial partner on at least one energy efficiency project in the last 2 years
and submit a Teaming Profilesto EPA outlining the project scope and resulting savings. Industrial SPPs
are those companies providing a product or service that directly aids in improving the energy efficiency of
their customer's plant or operations. If you are unsure of the suitability of a project for the Teaming Profile,
please send an inquiry to spp@energvstar.gov.
• The Teaming Profile will be requested during the online application process.
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LEARN MORE AT
energystar.gov
ENERGY STAR®, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
U.S. Department of Energy program, helps us all save money
and protect our environment through energy efficient products
and practices. For more information, visit www.energystar.gov.

Maintaining Your Visibility on the ENERGY STAR Website
Once your organization has been admitted into the SPP program as a partner, it is expected that you will maintain
a minimum level of activity to be recognized on the ENERGY STAR website.
Existing Commercial Buildings SPP Partners: In order to remain listed on the Most Active Service and Product
Providers page on the ENERGY STAR website, all organizations admitted as an Existing Commercial Buildings
SPP partner must maintain at least 10 buildings benchmarked in Portfolio Manager in the most recent 12 month
period or serve as the primary SPP in helping at least one customer commercial building to earn ENERGY STAR
certification in the most recent 12 month period. Partners not maintaining this minimum level of ENERGY STAR
activity will not appear on the list of Most Active Service and Product Providers, and will re-appear when minimum
activity levels are met.
Commercial Building Design SPP Partners: Design project profiles will be displayed on the ENERGY STAR
webpage entitled, Architecture Firms & Design to Earn ENERGY STAR Projects for up to 24 months after the
Certificate of Occupancy is awarded. Design projects that are built and later earn the ENERGY STAR for superior
energy performance will also be featured on the registry of ENERGY STAR Labeled Buildings and Plants.
Industrial SPP Partners: Teaming Profiles submitted by organizations admitted as industrial SPP partners will be
displayed on the Industrial Service and Product Providers weboaae. In order for industrial SPP partners to remain
listed, Teaming Profiles outlining the project scope and resulting savings for new projects completed for ENERGY
STAR Industrial partners must be submitted to EPA every 2 years.
Recommended Practices for Service and Product Providers
As an SPP in the commercial and industrial markets, the ENERGY STAR SPP PARTNER (PARTNER) will work
with ENERGY STAR to improve the energy performance of customer commercial building portfolios, and will assist
industrial manufacturing customers in adopting a continuous improvement strategy for corporate-wide energy
management. In delivering its services and/or products, when appropriate, the PARTNER will use ENERGY STAR
tools, messages, and Guidelines for Energy Management to help customers measure their energy performance,
quantify the financial value of improvements across the organization, set targets, take action, and promote their
accomplishments. PARTNERS can use ENERGY STAR to help assess and improve customer energy
performance in the following ways:
•	Leverage the Users Guide to Marketing Services and Products with ENERGY STAR to help build more
profitable business relationships with energy users. This guide provides a framework for SPPs to use
ENERGY STAR tools and marketing resources to enhance credibility and visibility, create market demand
for energy services and products, and satisfy market demand by linking the ENERGY STAR network of
SPPs with energy users.
•	Use the ENERGY STAR Guidelines for Energy Management to help customers think strategically about
energy performance issues, and to prioritize and execute upgrades that improve the energy performance
of their existing facilities and deliver financial value across the organization. Also, incorporate the ENERGY
STAR Building Design Guidance into the building design process.
•	Demonstrate to building owners and corporate decision makers the financial value of energy performance
improvements using the Financial Value Calculator, Building Upgrade Value Calculator, Cash Flow
Opportunity Calculator, and value messages provided by ENERGY STAR.
•	Assist customers with existing commercial buildings to measure, manage, and improve the energy
performance of their facilities using EPA's ENERGY STAR measurement and tracking tool, Portfolio
Manager. Portfolio Manager houses the ENERGY STAR energy performance scale, which uses a 1-100
scale for evaluating the energy performance of select commercial building types, and also provides energy
use intensity metrics for additional commercial building types that are not eligible for a score.
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• Assist customers with setting energy use targets based on actual consumption data and determine if
design projects achieve the desired energy goal by measuring estimated energy use with EPA's online
tool, Target Finder. Similar to evaluating existing buildings in Portfolio Manager, Target Finder provides a
1-100 scale to set an energy target and score estimated energy consumption. EPA provides consistent
metrics from building design to operations to help customers understand if the energy performance goal
specified in the design was achieved.
• Use ENERGY STAR to promote and recognize customer buildings, design projects and facilities to further
elevate awareness of energy efficiency. Help customers to earn the ENERGY STAR for superior energy
performance of existing buildings and manufacturing facilities, or Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR for
energy efficient commercial design projects.
• Encourage customers with building portfolios to gain recognition as ENERGY STAR Leaders for
organization-wide energy performance improvements of 10, 20, and 30 percent, regardless of starting
point, or an average Energy Performance Rating of 75 or better portfolio-wide.
• Participate in ENERGY STAR communications and recognition activities to showcase organizations
demonstrating excellence in providing energy-efficient solutions to businesses and to create new value for
customers by highlighting their accomplishments.
• Distinguish high quality projects, products, and services by developing to publicize achievements and help
increase energy efficiency practices and knowledge in the market.
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