What the end of Energy Star could mean for commercial real estate

A version of this article was first published in the CNBC Property Play bulletin with Diana Olick. Property games include new and developing opportunities for real estate investors from individuals to capitalists, private capital funds, family offices, corporate investors and major public companies. Be a member To get future prints, directly to your box.

Most people think of Energy Star as a small blue sticker in their tools, which tells them that they will save some energy efficiency on their service bills. However, Energy Star, a public-private partnership managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency, is much more than that. It is now reported to be in the chopping block as part of the large budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration.

Roughly 2,500 builders, developers and housing firms produced are participating in the Energy Star Residence New Construction program, which determines the solid energy efficiency guidelines required to win their definition. Last year, more than 8,800 commercial buildings won energy stars, saved more than $ 2.2 billion, and prevented more than 5.7 million metric tons. According to Energy Star website.

Energy Star, which is even more critical for property owners, also includes a software platform with basic infrastructure for energy monitoring in commercial real estate. EPA’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager intermediary connects the public services to the homeowners and then to dozens of state and municipal government, which trusts to maintain energy and climate policies, and many dozens of states and municipal governments containing tax cuts and financial subsidies for energy saving.

In early May, EPA announced large business cuts and restructuring, and a large number of reports referring to EPA documents, says this is part of the plan.

“EPA continues to work to implement the restructuring plans announced on May 2, 2025. EPA will provide updates about these plans when they are present.”

The agency refused to comment more.

Hosts rely on portfolio manager data to maintain suitability for state and municipal regulations and to measure the energy performance of buildings in their portfolios and decide which ones need upgrades. Such upgrades may contain new HVAC and lighting.

According to EPA’s website, the vehicle was used by more than 330,000 buildings last year. According to the agency, seven states, 48 local government and two Canadian states are currently relying on the program and its software for energy comparison and transparency policies.

Leia de Guzman, “A potential to disrupt the entire software platform. And thus the system disappears, the data disappears with it, and it means how this HUB, the host and state and municipal governments shares the energy data in the face of them, all of them depends on the texture that will disappear,” he said Leia de Guzman said ExchangeA real estate operation platform.

According to Guzman, at the highest level, Energy Star Portfolio Manager supports $ 14 billion of energy cost savings per year.

“If you don’t have data, you don’t have any tools to understand how to disperse attempts in your building,” he said.

Cambio swallows building data to automate real estate operations, refers to the energy star data from the past and offers building owners and managers with the option of backing up the already existing data. However, if he lowered the EPA system, he could not receive future data.

Industrial organizations, including the National Home builders Association (NAHB), National Apartment Association (NAA) and the National Family Housing Council (NMHC) are fighting for the existence of the program. The concern is that if the Energy Star, including the portfolio manager, would lose federal support and then to be managed by a private organization, costs would rise.

Naa Public Policy Director Nicole Upano said, “A program of $ 32 million for the government, but in terms of investment return – very big,” he said. “It provides hundreds of billions of dollars for consumers and businesses in its current form, and if it is to be managed by an external company, it may result in a wage -based system that will increase the cost of using this program.”

If the portfolio manager was no longer a government program, Upano said the possible result would be a complex patchwork.

“As a program ruled by the government, they do not choose a horse. They are focused on energy efficiency and reducing waste in general. However, if an external company is going to manage it, they can focus on electricity on gas or choose a kind of energy distribution system they prefer, and we don’t want to see it,” he said.