We appreciate that the…

We appreciate that the Province is looking to replace the aging sharepoint software with a system that is already widely used in North America. The database associated with Energy Star is a helpful tool for benchmarking similar buildings in similar climates.

We have several questions for your consideration as you continue to pursue a sharepoint replacement tool:

1. Energy Star PM accounts are currently private. Only those invited to see your data will have access. How will the requirement to report be tracked by the Province, along with data quality and verification assurances if the accounts are private? There are currently several entry errors in the sharepoint data. Being able to see the data that contributes to the benchmark is helpful to ensure the benchmark is reliable.

2. Using Excel spreadsheets to enter data into the new system is helpful to ensure data consistency between data management systems and the reporting tool and reduce errors. Excel spreadsheets also save time for staff entering data. With the expected Green Button to be available across all utilities at the end of 2023, the ability to download from Green Button and upload to Energy Star will save a lot of time. Consideration should be given to the Province accessing consumption data directly from the utilities.

3. How will the transfer of the historical data from Sharepoint to the new Energy Star system proceed? Ideally, the Province will migrate all the historical data to the new platform to ensure consistent data entry from all BPS entities. For the County, finding this data will be challenging due to staff and system turnover. However, we recognize the value of having this historical data to contribute to the benchmark. Access to the historical data for data quality improvements would be helpful.

4. Webinars/training would be helpful for municipal staff new to the Energy Star system along with an updated reporting guide.

5. It is understood that Energy Star uses the emissions factors from the National Inventory Report. The NIR is behind 2 years as is the current reporting period for BPS. With the BPS reporting requirements changing to only 1 year behind, how will Energy Star assign an emissions factor and how will this be updated to match the NIR when available?

6. There are a number of buildings in our portfolio that are currently not represented in Energy Star. How will updates to the building types available be undertaken and what is the timing for those updates? Consideration is needed for how non-building entities are tracked in the system (e.g. streetlights, traffic lights).

7. How is/will the data entered into the Energy Star system be used by the Province?

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on these proposed changes.