For many, ENERGY STAR is the small blue label on appliances promising lower utility bills. But in commercial real estate, it’s much more than a sticker. The program’s software backbone, ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, tracks and benchmarks building energy use for landlords, utilities, and governments across North America.

Now, the entire program could be on the chopping block as part of newly proposed budget cuts. While the Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t confirmed ENERGY STAR’s fate, reports citing internal EPA documents say it’s part of a restructuring plan announced in May.

A Tool Commercial Real Estate Relies On

According to the ENERGY STAR website, more than 8,800 commercial buildings earned the ENERGY STAR designation last year, generating over $2.2 billion in cost savings and preventing more than 5.7 million metric tons of emissions. 

The site also reports that the Portfolio Manager tool connects building owners to utilities and to the seven states, 48 local governments, and two Canadian provinces that rely on its data to enforce energy and climate policies.

In 2024, the tool was used by over 330,000 buildings, representing nearly one-quarter of all U.S. commercial floorspace, to monitor performance and identify where upgrades, such as new HVAC systems or lighting, could deliver the most impact.

“There is a potential that they would defund the entire software platform,” said Leia de Guzman, co-founder of real estate operations platform Cambio. “If the system disappears, the data disappears with it… that connected tissue around how utility, landlord, and state and municipal governments share energy data would all go away.”

Guzman estimates that Portfolio Manager supports $14 billion in annual energy cost savings. Without it, building owners would lose a consistent way to evaluate retrofit priorities. While Cambio can back up existing data, it cannot replace the loss of ongoing updates if the EPA system is shut down.

Industry Pushback

Trade groups including the National Association of Home Builders, National Apartment Association, and National Multifamily Housing Council are lobbying to keep the program in government hands. 

While many of these groups represent residential sectors, the stakes are just as high for commercial building owners, facility managers, and contractors who depend on ENERGY STAR’s standardized data to meet compliance rules, guide retrofits, and control operating costs.

“It’s a $32 million program for the government, but in terms of return on investment, it’s huge,” said Nicole Upano, director of public policy for the NAA. She warned that shifting the Portfolio Manager to a private company could mean user fees, raising costs for building owners and operators.

Upano also cautioned that privatization could create a patchwork of compliance rules. “As a government-managed program…they’re focused on energy efficiency and reducing waste overall. But if an external company were to manage it, they might focus on electrification over gas or pick some sort of energy delivery system that they favor, and we would not like to see that.”

For now, the EPA says it’s “continuing to work to implement the reorganization plans” and will provide updates when available. For commercial building owners, facility managers, and contractors who rely on standardized energy data, those updates could determine whether a critical compliance and efficiency tool survives or vanishes.