5900-443 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award Application f

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
About the Award
Energy efficiency remains a critical strategy in the fight against climate change. The ENERGY STAR Sustained
Excellence award acknowledges sustained superior energy efficiency and accomplishments in the
decarbonization of buildings and plants. ONLY applicants awarded Sustained Excellence in 2021 and/or 2022
should complete this application. If your organization has not been awarded Sustained Excellence for Energy
Management in either of the past two years, please download and complete the Partner of the Year – Energy
Management Award Application instead.

Eligibility:
ENERGY STAR commercial building partners (including institutional building partners) awarded Sustained
Excellence in 2021 or 2022. Please review the General Instructions before completing this part of your
application. NOTE: There is a separate application for ENERGY STAR Industrial (Manufacturing) partners.

Description:
This award recognizes businesses and organizations that demonstrate their commitment to environmental
protection through a foundation of superior energy management in partnership with ENERGY STAR as well as
advancement of decarbonization goals, strategies, and best practices. Winning applications must clearly show
the organizations’ commitment to and success in maintaining their superior energy management using
ENERGY STAR tools and resources, while demonstrating thought leadership and progress on further
decarbonization of their portfolios.

Criteria:
Sustained Excellence in the ENERGY STAR program entails active involvement as a partner, portfolio-wide top
performance in energy efficiency, and the continued growth and innovation of energy efficiency and
decarbonization practices. The 2023 ENERGY STAR Awards are based on work completed and savings
demonstrated during the past 12 months. Selected accomplishments outside of this time period may be
mentioned for reference in your application to demonstrate continuous improvement but will not be considered
as evidence of meeting award requirements in 2022. Applications will be evaluated on:
•

Demonstration of leadership, including active engagement and promotion of the ENERGY STAR
partnership, actions that improved and strengthened the energy program, and quality, quantity, and
impact of communication efforts.

•

Sustained or improved energy performance.

•

Demonstration of advancements made toward organization-wide decarbonization.

1

EPA Form No. 5900-443

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
Materials:
Be aware that EPA will refer to material in applications in its promotion of winners’ achievements. Please do
not include confidential data in an application. Applications citing or including confidential business
information will NOT be evaluated.

PART 1: Award Accomplishments Document
(use the following information to create a Word or PDF file)
Accomplishments Narrative (Part 1):
Part 1 of the award application consists of four sections which form the accomplishments narrative:
Section 1 – ENERGY STAR Participation at a Glance (does not count toward page limit)
Section 2 – Advancing Energy Efficiency
Section 3 – Advancing ENERGY STAR
Section 4 – Advancing Decarbonization
The application must be no longer than five pages (not including Section 1 or supporting files) and use a
minimum of 12-point black font. Margins must be no less than 1 inch on all sides. Pages that exceed these
limits will not be evaluated.

Supporting Files (Part 2):
Applicants are encouraged to submit electronic copies of supplemental materials that support the application if
these are clearly referenced within the narrative. Supplemental materials will not count toward the five-page
narrative limit, but must be directly relevant to energy management, your application, and/or ENERGY
STAR. Each applicant must submit at least one item in PART 2: Supporting Materials. (required).

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EPA Form No. 5900-443

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
Section 1 – ENERGY STAR Participation at a Glance
Please complete the following table to quantify your activity in key ENERGY STAR initiatives. All values
entered should be for the past twelve months through the date of application submittal. A number or N/A must
be entered in all fields; do not leave any fields blank.
(Note: Cut and paste this table into your accomplishments narrative for editing. The table does not count toward
the page limit.)

Response

Building Portfolio
Number of buildings owned/managed/occupied
Number of new buildings constructed
What percentage of your total property portfolio in the United States is
benchmarked in Portfolio Manager? (If your response is less than 100%, please
provide an explanation in your narrative.)
How many office spaces does your organization occupy in the United States in
multi-tenant buildings?

Benchmarking in the past 12 months

Response

Portfolio Manager Benchmarking
‒

Energy (# of buildings, scored or unscored)

‒

Water (# of buildings)

‒

Waste (# of buildings)

Other Benchmarking (explain)

ENERGY STAR Recognition in the past 12 months
Total Number of ENERGY STAR Building Certifications
–

First-time

‒

Re-certified

Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR (for new construction)
ENERGY STAR Tenant Space (for your organization’s leased offices)

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EPA Form No. 5900-443

Response

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
Section 2 – Advancing Energy Efficiency
Improving energy efficiency is critical to reducing carbon dioxide emissions and protecting the climate, and
represents a large opportunity across the built environment. For example, a recent study estimates that the
U.S. industrial sector has the potential to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 86% in 2050, with 34% of that
reduction coming from energy efficiency measures (Worrell, Boyd, 2022). Similarly large opportunities exist in
the commercial buildings sector.
In this section, describe the top three initiatives implemented by your organization in the past 12
months which were aimed specifically at improving the energy efficiency of your buildings. Any
initiative that improved energy performance can be highlighted, but you should focus on those that were either
particularly innovative and/or had the most significant impacts. Examples might include, but are not limited to:
•

Investments in equipment, infrastructure, and people that resulted (or will result) in measured
improvements in energy performance.

•

New operations and maintenance approaches.

•

Research/development/pilot projects focusing on innovative new approaches to energy efficiency.

•

Establishment of a capital fund dedicated to energy efficiency initiatives.

•

Successful engagement of other organizations (e.g., supply chain companies, customers, industries,
etc.) to drive improvements in energy performance.

•

If applicable, how you’ve incorporated energy equity and environmental justice considerations into your
energy program.

•

Etc.

Energy Performance Results
•

All commercial building partners must copy and paste the summary table from the POY Report
from Portfolio Manager in this section to show organization-wide performance. This POY Report
must be generated for the period ending August 2022 or later. Additional guidance for generating this
report can be found at www.energystar.gov/awards.

•

It is helpful to EPA to understand changes in business activity that may have impacted energy use in
the past 12-month period. Provide an explanation when appropriate.

4

EPA Form No. 5900-443

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
Section 3 – Advancing ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR promotes energy efficiency as a critical resource that supports organizational performance,
environmental protection, and consumer cost savings. ENERGY STAR partners are expected to aid in
promoting the program to audiences that stand to benefit from ENERGY STAR resources.
Describe, in approximately 1-2 paragraphs each, your 3 most notable communications initiatives
undertaken in the past 12 months related to promoting ENERGY STAR as a resource for improving
energy performance in your organization, or among your stakeholders and/or community.
•

At least one of the initiatives must be focused on external audiences, such as the general public,
customers, visitors, shareholders, etc.

•

All initiatives should heavily integrate ENERGY STAR messaging and leverage the ENERGY STAR
brand.

•

If applicable, please describe any initiatives you’ve undertaken to identify and promote energy equity and
environmental justice best practices

Propose a webinar your organization could present to ENERGY STAR stakeholders to support
dissemination of energy management best practices. Each year, EPA hosts a Partner of the Year Award
winner webinar series which highlights the best practices, lessons learned, and innovations of a select group of
award winners. All applicants must propose at least one webinar title, possible speaker(s) and titles, and a
short description of a webinar your organization would be willing to deliver in 2023 if requested. EPA will select
approximately 5-10 to deliver in 2023 from those submitted by all award winners. If your webinar is selected,
EPA will work with your organization to refine and finalize the webinar content, timing, and participants.

Section 4 – Advancing Decarbonization
Describe your organization’s decarbonization strategy. Make sure to include:
•

The stage of implementation (i.e., implemented, developing, early stage or under study) along with
supporting information about your decarbonization progress.

•

How energy efficiency fits in among other strategic opportunities such as electrification, increased use
of renewables, and other approaches to decarbonization that your organization may be taking.

•

If applicable, how you’ve incorporated equity and environmental justice considerations into your
decarbonization strategy.

•

Key decarbonization efforts undertaken in 2022 that are separate from actions described in Section 2.

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EPA Form No. 5900-443

2023 ENERGY STAR®® Awards

OMB Control No. 2060-0347

Part
Part 1:
1: Sustained
Sustained Excellence
Excellence Award
Award Application
Application
Energy
Energy Management
Management –– Commercial
Commercial Buildings
Buildings
Prepare/Gather Documents for Upload

PART 1: Accomplishments Document
(in Word or PDF)

PART 2: Supporting Materials
(at least one required, as described in the Application Instructions above)

PART 3: Organization’s High-Resolution Logo
(required)

ENERGY STAR® is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and
unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions.
The public reporting and recordkeeping burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 8 hours per response . Send
comments on the Agency’s need for this information, the accuracy of the provided burden estimates, and any suggested methods for
minimizing respondent burden, including through the use of automated collection techniques, to the Director, Collection Strat egies
Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2822T), 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20460. Include the OMB
control number in any correspondence. Do not send the completed form to this address.

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EPA Form No. 5900-443