Click here to quickly contact your legislators and urge them to protect ENERGY STAR before Congress passes the FY2026 budget.
As architects, our job is to design buildings that serve people and endure over time. Increasingly, that means ensuring our work is not only functional and beautiful, but also efficient, resilient, and climate-conscious. One of the most trusted tools in that mission is now under threat: the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program.
The Trump administration’s proposed FY2026 budget would eliminate funding for ENERGY STAR—an alarming move that’s drawn strong opposition from across the building industry. And rightly so. For over 30 years, ENERGY STAR has been a cornerstone of U.S. energy policy. Eliminating it would jeopardize a proven, cost-effective, bipartisan program that reduces emissions, lowers energy bills, and creates market confidence in high-performance buildings and products.
Thousands of companies have already spoken up to defend the program. Have you?
Architects need to take action now to help protect this essential resource. Click here to easily contact your legislators—or keep reading to learn more about why this is so important.
What ENERGY STAR Does for Architects
You’ve likely seen the ENERGY STAR label on appliances, HVAC systems, windows, and more. But its value to architects goes far beyond labels:
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Benchmarking Tools: ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the industry standard for tracking and comparing building energy use. It’s foundational to LEED, the AIA 2030 Commitment, and city/state benchmarking laws nationwide.
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Design Guidance: Tools like ENERGY STAR for New Construction and Target Finder help architects set and meet energy performance goals early in design.
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Client Confidence: ENERGY STAR certification is a recognizable, third-party stamp of approval—helping you demonstrate value to clients.
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Market Momentum: The program raises awareness and demand for energy-efficient buildings and products, helping drive better decisions across the project team.
ENERGY STAR is not a bloated or bureaucratic program—it’s a cost-effective powerhouse. For every $1 the government invests, the program delivers $350 in energy savings. Since its launch in 1992, it has saved American households and businesses over $500 billion and avoided 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions. [Source]
Why It’s at Risk—And Why It Matters
Despite its success, ENERGY STAR is once again on the chopping block. The Trump administration’s proposed FY2026 budget would eliminate the program entirely, citing cost-cutting goals. Yet the cost of cutting ENERGY STAR isn’t just measured in dollars—it’s measured in lost progress, credibility, and climate resilience.
Without ENERGY STAR, architects lose a powerful and widely recognized tool that helps translate technical energy performance into accessible language for clients. Municipal and state benchmarking laws that rely on Portfolio Manager could be weakened or become unworkable. And market momentum around decarbonization and high-performance design—momentum we’ve helped build—could stall.
We can’t let that happen.
What Architects Can Do: Contact Your Members of Congress
As trusted professionals, we have real influence—in the studio, in communities, and with policymakers. Here's how to use your voice:
Click here to send a quick, pre-drafted message to your legislators—or visit house.gov and senate.gov to find your representatives. Ask them to: Support full funding for the ENERGY STAR program in the FY2026 budget.
Make it personal: share how you’ve used ENERGY STAR in your work and what it means for your clients and projects.
Congress is debating the budget now, and the administration wants it passed by July 4. That makes the next few weeks critical for action.
In Closing
ENERGY STAR isn’t just a label—it’s a symbol of what we can achieve when design, data, and policy align. Let’s not lose one of the most successful environmental programs we have. Let’s speak up—and protect the tools we need to design a better future.