WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The United States and Canada have signed an agreement to measure and assess the energy performance of commercial buildings in both countries, officials said.
The agreement between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Canada will harmonize the approach of the two countries by enhancing EPA's existing Energy Star Portfolio Manager software tool to track and rate the energy performance of Canadian commercial buildings in addition to buildings in the United States, and EPA release said Wednesday.
"We are glad that Canada selected EPA's Portfolio Manager tool to support their national energy management program for existing commercial and institutional buildings, and we look forward to the benefits this new partnership will create for the health of our families, for our economy, and for our environment." EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in the release.
With a database of more than 250,000 commercial and institutional building spaces in the United States, the Portfolio Manager tool would give both governments measurable information on energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions from commercial buildings, the EPA said.
Under the agreement, enhancements will be made to Portfolio Manager, including the development of a Canadian-based energy performance scale and the addition of Canadian reference data such as weather, energy and emissions factors and metric units.
The tool will also be available in both official languages of English and French.
