An Evaluation of America’s First ENERGY STAR© Buildings: The Class of 1999

The ENERGY STAR ® Label for Buildings (Label) was designed to facilitate comparisons of the energy performance ofcommercial buildings and recognize the most energy efficient and cost effective buildings in the country. The Label attempts to affect both the design and operation ofbuildings by: • providing a rating system to measure building energy performance; • defining a national goal for energy efficiency; and • creating a certification mark to recognize achievement. The goal ofthe Label is to motivate building owners and property managers to improve the energy performance, occupant comfort, and cost effectiveness of commercial buildings while minimizing their deleterious impact on our energy resources and natural environment. By providing a simple metric that evaluates and communicates building energy performance, ENERGY STAR hopes to make understanding building energy performance easier for all parties involved in the design, construction, and operations of commercial buildings. With this knowledge it is further hoped that building designers, owners, operators, appraisers, and lender