5900-34 Data Innovation/Product Design

ENERGY STAR Awards

Excellence Award Application – Data Innovation

2025 ENERGY STAR® Awards

Applications due: November 14, 2024

Instructions

Eligibility

This award is open to ENERGY STAR energy efficiency program sponsors, service and product providers, state and local governments, and/or other partner organizations that have demonstrated innovation in increasing access to and/or the quality of data required by EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool, and/or expanding the use of the data and building performance metrics available from it. Multiple partner organizations may apply for this award together, as appropriate, when efforts were collaborative in nature. Please remember to review the General Instructions before completing this part of your application.

Description

The goal of this award is to recognize partners who have demonstrated innovation in:

• Increasing the flow and/or quality of data for benchmarking in Portfolio Manager; and/or

• Using the data and metrics from Portfolio Manager to drive improvements in commercial, industrial, or multifamily building energy performance and other environmental objectives.

This award is intended to recognize initiatives that demonstrate breakthrough or precedent-setting innovations. As appropriate, applicants should be able to substantiate how their work:

• Represents a breakthrough or precedent-setting innovation,

• Reaches new or underserved markets; or increases scale in established customer segments,

• Increases the availability of building energy performance data to the public,

• Incorporates ENERGY STAR tools, resources and branding, and

• Deploys new technologies or implementation approaches.

Given the emphasis on innovation, this award will not recognize a partner for the same activity more than once, nor will it recognize established, on-going activities, programs, products or services.¹

Criteria

EPA anticipates that a diverse range of activities, programs, products and services will compete for this award. The most competitive applications will be those that clearly address ENERGY STAR program objectives, while reducing or removing key market barriers through unique innovation.

Awards for data innovation will be made primarily using the following two criteria:

1. Increasing the flow and quality of data for benchmarking in Portfolio Manager

This criterion pertains to innovative efforts to make it easier to obtain high quality data required to benchmark in Portfolio Manager.

The following are examples of the types of activities, programs, products and services that could compete in this category:

• A utility simplifying or automating the process of mapping meters to buildings to provide customers with whole-building, aggregate consumption data.

• A utility implementing business processes incorporating innovative quality checks to ensure the accuracy of aggregated data provided to customers for benchmarking multi-tenant buildings.

• A property management company implementing a simplified process for energy information to flow from tenant to owner to Portfolio Manager.

• An energy information services company creating software that is then adopted by multiple utilities to send customer energy data into Portfolio Manager.

2. Expanding use of energy performance metrics from Portfolio Manager

This criterion pertains to innovative efforts to expand use of the data and/or building performance metrics available from Portfolio Manager to achieve greater energy efficiency and other environmental objectives in the commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings markets.

The following are examples of the types of activities, programs, products, and services that could compete in this category:

• Local or state governments working to creatively visualize building performance metrics and increase the accessibility of the information resulting from local voluntary initiatives and/or reporting required by benchmarking and transparency laws.

• Utilities using ENERGY STAR energy performance metrics as an integral part of the design, delivery, and marketing of their commercial efficiency programs.

• A service provider creating a new and unique approach for using ENERGY STAR metrics to enhance design, analysis, auditing, procurement, or financing of energy efficiency, demand reduction, and/or green energy supply programs.

• A services business using energy performance data to evaluate insurance risk premiums, set mortgage rates, or inform rental applications.

Part 1: Award Accomplishments Document

(use the following information to create a Word or PDF file)

Accomplishments Narrative

Your application narrative must be no more than three pages and use a minimum of 12-point black font. Margins should be no less than 1” on all sides. Pages that exceed the limit will not be evaluated. See “Supporting Materials” section below for examples of supporting content that will not count towards the page limit. Please note that any supporting materials should be clearly referenced in the award narrative.

The accomplishments narrative should include the following:

• Description of Data Innovation. Applicants should provide an overview of their activities, programs, products or services, with particular emphasis on (1) how this solution facilitates benchmarking in Portfolio Manager by commercial building owners/operators; and/or (2) how this solution leverages data and/or performance metrics from Portfolio Manager to drive measurable energy saving or other environmental protection activities. Applicants are expected to describe in specific terms the innovations for which they are seeking recognition and how they address the specific award criteria established above.

• Market Effects/Cumulative Accomplishments. EPA recognizes that in some cases, innovative efforts will involve new or precedent-setting activities that may have only achieved limited market effects at the time of application. Nonetheless, applicants should make every attempt to provide both qualitative and numerical data to support the case that the market has changed or will likely change in a significant and sustained way as a result of your innovative work with data. When such data are not available because the innovation is new, applicants should describe the likely potential impacts of the innovation in detail.

Prepare/Gather Remaining Documents for Upload

Part 2: Supporting Materials (at least one required)

Each applicant must submit at least one item.

Applicants are encouraged to submit supplemental materials that demonstrate the development, use, or promotion of their innovation. These materials may include, but are not limited to:

• Screen shots to convey software functionality (particular emphasis should be placed on capturing the customer’s point of view);

• Fact sheets;

• Online guidance materials;

• Participant or customer-facing marketing/promotional materials;

• Conference presentations highlighting the innovation; and/or

• Case studies/examples of the activities, programs, products or services.

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

1 These types of notable efforts to support benchmarking and the use of energy performance data meet key requirements for ENERGY STAR awards in other categories and should be included in those applications.

OMB Control Number: 2060-0528

OMB Control Expiration Date: Pending Approval

EPA Form Number: 5900-441

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