SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS

Asset Classes

Focus Area

Energy and Carbon

Topic

Benchmarking

Question #

E3.3 — Third-Party Recognition

Question

Has the building’s energy use or carbon emissions been certified by, reported to or recognized by a third party?

Applicability

Applicable to all buildings (systems or equipment in the owner or landlord’s control)

Answer

Select all that apply:

    • Yes — Energy Star Certification or equivalent achieved
    • Yes — GHGs reported to third party
    • Yes — Organization has disclosed net zero targets publicly
    • Yes — Organization’s targets are science-based
    • No

Description

Third-party verification of data demonstrates accountability to following best practices for collecting and reporting energy and carbon data. Certifications from well-respected, high-performance building programs demonstrate commitment to operational excellence.

Requirements

Complete any of the following:

    1. Obtain certification from the Environmental Protection Agency, NRCan (or equivalent) that the building’s performance meets the required performance threshold
    2. Report GHG emissions (at the organization, portfolio or building level) to a third-party verifier
    3. Disclose commitment to achieving net zero emissions within the next 40 years publicly
    4. Seek third-party recognition that the net zero targets are science-based

Documentation

    • Energy Star Certificate
    • [for additional points] Evidence of third-party GHG Disclosure
    • [for additional points] Evidence of public disclosure of organization’s net-zero targets
    • [for additional points] Evidence that net-zero targets are science-based

Adapted BB3 Question

New in BOMA BEST 4.0

Suggested Lead

In-house, with third-party support

References

Crosswalk

TBD

Other Notes

Reporting to a third party does not satisfy Requirements. The applicant needs to provide proof that the data has been validated by a third-party.

Scoring

1 Point per option, up to 4 Max Points

Verification