by Shane Henson — June 17, 2011—As part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve commercial building efficiency 20 percent by 2020, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that will help expand access to energy efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings and help American businesses to reduce energy waste. The Appraisal Foundation is a congressionally authorized nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of professional valuation.
Under the new partnership, the Department of Energy (DOE) and The Appraisal Foundation will work to ensure that appraisers nationwide have the information, practical guidelines, and professional resources they need to evaluate energy performance when conducting commercial building appraisals. The DOE says this will help enable investors, building owners and operators, and others to accurately assess the value of energy efficiency as part of the building’s overall appraisal.
Under the partnership, the DOE will also develop educational materials, and create a database to provide appraisers with energy-savings data, federal green building programs and policies, and additional information on energy performance.
The DOE says this partnership is one of the steps it is taking as part of the part of President Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative announced in February. The goal is to make commercial buildings more efficient, saving American businesses about $40 billion annually. Officials hope the initiative will accelerate private sector investment in energy efficiency to create jobs and build a stronger economy. Strategies include challenging CEOs, university presidents, and local governments to make their organizations leaders in saving energy.
