Benchmarking embodied energy in manufacturing building materials with ENERGY STAR Energy Performance Scores

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Last week EPA announced the ENERGY STAR certified plants for 2020. ENERGY STAR certified plants have achieved energy efficiency in the top twenty-five percent for their industries in the US, submitted a verified application for certification, and met environmental compliance criteria.

To benchmark plants, EPA has developed manufacturing plant energy performance tools for 20 plant types, including cement, float glass, and integrated steel plants. Any plants in those sectors can generate a score on a scale of 1 -100 by downloading one the benchmarking tools available at www.energystar.gov/epis.

While many plants perform at average or better (represented by a score of 50 or above), ENERGY STAR certified plants are among the most energy-efficient in their industries. This means that their products, such as the cement and glass they produce, would have lower embodied energy and in many cases carbon from the manufacturing stage, than others because plant energy is managed well.

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This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing with the group. I recently learned that even plants that are not certified get an energy star score.

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