ASTM E3224-19 - Standard Guide for Building Energy Performance and Improvement Evaluation in the Assessment of Property Condition

1.1 Purpose—The purpose of this guide is to define a commercially useful standard in the United States of America for incorporating building energy performance into an assessment of existing property condition, and specifically into a property condition assessment (PCA) on a building involved in a commercial real estate transaction. The guide is intended to provide a methodology for the user to identify building energy under-performance compared to peer buildings. If the building is under-performing compared to its peers, a methodology is provided to identify potential energy performance improvements and provide a probable cost for such improvements. The guide may be used independently or as a voluntary supplement to ASTM Guide E2018 PCA. Utilization of this guide and incorporating it into a PCA is voluntary. If the property owner is unwilling or unable to provide building energy consumption information and it is not possible to develop a reasonable estimate of building energy consumption, the methodology defined by this guide cannot be performed.

1.2 Building Energy Performance and Improvement Evaluation (BEPIE)—the process as described in this guide by which a person collects, analyzes and reports on a building’s energy consumption, compares it to peer buildings and determines if the building is under-performing. If the building is under-performing, potential major improvements (energy efficiency measures, EEMs) that may reduce building energy consumption to achieve parity with peer buildings are identified and a probable cost is provided. Building energy performance as defined by this guide involves the collection of annual whole building energy consumption for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and other related energy-consuming end-uses. Building energy consumption, for example, includes total electricity used at the building; purchased or delivered steam, hot water, or chilled water to the building; natural gas, fuel oil, propane, biomass, or any other matter consumed as fuel at the building. Annual whole building energy consumption in kBTU/yr is weather-normalized and converted to energy use intensity (EUI, kBTU/SF-yr), and then benchmarked against weather-normalized energy consumption in peer buildings. If the building consumes more energy than peer buildings, it is assumed to be under-performing. For under-performing buildings, the methodology provided in this guide identifies potential energy improvements and associated costs that may be able to bring the building to parity with peers. If electricity is generated on site from renewable/alternative energy systems (for example, solar photovoltaic systems, wind energy generator technology, fuel cells, or microturbines), the electricity produced is considered energy savings and is netted against building energy requirements with the purpose of reducing building EUI. The assessment conducted for the BEPIE may be a Screening Assessment (SA) that might be conducted in due diligence prior to building acquisition, or a More Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) that might be conducted by the owner of a building who may have had an SA conducted prior to acquiring the building. A BEPIE as performed according to this guide is building- and site-specific. For multifamily type property, the BEPIE is property-specific where a property may include multiple buildings. For such cases, data from the multiple buildings are aggregated prior to analysis.

1.3 Objectives—Objectives in the development of this guide are to: (1) define a commercially useful guide for incorporating building energy performance into the assessment of existing property condition as part of due diligence associated with real estate transactions conducted pre-acquisition, post-acquisition or independent of an acquisition; (2) identify buildings that consume more energy than their peers, that is, are under-performing relative to peers; (3) identify how under-performing buildings might be improved and provide a probable cost to bring under-performing buildings to parity with peers; (4) define a commercially useful and reliable guide for conducting a building energy performance and improvement evaluation; (5) facilitate consistency in conducting and reporting of building energy performance and the evaluation of measures that may improve energy performance; (6) provide a process for conducting a BEPIE that is technically sound, consistent, transparent, practical and reasonable; and (7) provide criterion for identifying what constitutes a building being considered an energy under-performer compared to its peers.

1.4 Documentation—The scope of this guide includes data collection, compilation, analysis and reporting. All sources, records and resources relied upon in the BEPIE assessment should to be documented.

1.5 Considerations Outside the Scope—The use of this guide is limited to the conduct of a BEPIE as defined by this guide. While this information may be used in assessing building valuation or for other reasons, any such use is solely between the user and the Consultant and beyond the scope of this guide.

1.6 Organization of the Guide—BEPIE has 14 sections and 12 appendices. The appendices are included for informational purposes only and are provided for guidance in implementing this guide.

1.7 This guide cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this guide may be applicable in all circumstances. This ASTM guide is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service must be judged, nor should this guide be applied without consideration of a building’s many unique aspects. The word “standard” in the title means only that the guide has been approved through the ASTM consensus process.

1.8 Nothing in this guide is intended to create or imply the existence of a legal obligation for reporting building energy performance or other building-related information. Any consideration of whether such an obligation exists under any federal, state, local, or common law is beyond the scope of this guide.

1.9 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.10 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.