By Lena Babaeva

Click here for an interview with Alyssa Quarforth, Program Manager for ENERGY STAR’s Commercial Properties division.   The most interesting question was the difference between LEED and ENERGY STAR, a question that comes up quite frequently: 

A lot of the green building discussion centers around LEED. What’s the dynamic between LEED and ENERGY STAR, and how are the programs working together?

The programs are very complimentary. Energy Star is very focused, obviously, on energy efficiency, while LEED looks at the whole spectrum of green building.

We often say that the first step to green is energy efficiency. ENERGY STAR fits into LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) as part of the requirements for Energy and Atmosphere credits, although ENERGY STAR by itself requires a higher energy performance standard than the energy portion of LEED-EB. So to guarantee an energy-efficient and green building, both programs should be utilized.

Ms. Quarforth also notes that ENERGY STAR is also looking for opportunities to expand and are developing resources for other industries, such as entertainment and multifamily.