Building Performance Database
The Building Performance Database (BPD) is an anonymized database that contains energy use intensity data for hundreds of thousands of buildings in the United States. It is built by the Department of Energy in the United States and maintained by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.{{cite web|url=http://bpd.lbl.gov|title = DOE Building Performance Database|access-date = June 20, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/building-performance-database|title = Building Performance Database|publisher = Department of Energy, United States|access-date = June 20, 2014}} Users can examine specific building types and geographic areas, compare performance trends among similar buildings, identify and prioritize cost-saving energy efficiency improvements, and assess the range of likely savings from these improvements.
History
Prior to its launch, the BPD was described in a conference presentation by Elena Alschuler and Cody Taylor from October 2012.{{cite web|url=http://www.energy.ca.gov/ab758/documents/2012-10-08-09_workshop/presentations/Day-2/DOE_Buildings_Performance_Database_Overview_2012-10-09.pdf|title = DOE Building Technologies Program|last1 = Alschuler|first1 = Elena|last2 = Taylor|first2 = Cody|publisher = California Energy Commission|date = October 9, 2012|access-date = June 20, 2014}} and another presentation by Alschuler in May 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.aceee.org/files/pdf/conferences/eeff/2013/Alschuler_5A.pdf|title = Unlocking the Value of Empirical Building Performance Data|last = Alschuler|first = Elena|date = May 15, 2013|access-date = June 20, 2014|publisher = American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy}}
The BPD was launched in June 2013 with data from over 60,000 commercial and residential buildings.{{cite web|url=http://www.energymanagertoday.com/free-building-performance-database-includes-60000-records-092854/|title = Free Building Performance Database Includes 60,000 Records|last = Hardesty|first = Linda|date = June 18, 2013|access-date = June 20, 2014|publisher = Energy Manager Today}}{{cite web|url = http://www.energysquad.com/blog/posts/products-and-brands/doe-launches-buildings-performance-database|title = DOE Launches Buildings Performance Database|last = Stern|first = Soriana|date = June 27, 2013|access-date = June 20, 2014|publisher = EnergySquad|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://archive.today/20140620165558/http://www.energysquad.com/blog/posts/products-and-brands/doe-launches-buildings-performance-database|archive-date = June 20, 2014}}
A factsheet put out by the White House Press Room on May 28, 2014, cited the Building Performance Database as an example of a success story, saying that it has exceeded a milestone of 750,000 building records, making it the world's largest public database of real buildings’ energy performance information.{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/05/28/fact-sheet-harnessing-power-data-clean-secure-and-reliable-energy-future|title = FACT SHEET: Harnessing the Power of Data for a Clean, Secure, and Reliable Energy Future|date = May 28, 2014|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date = June 20, 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/white-house-touts-energy-data-as-an-important-national-resource|title = Is the White House's Open Data Strategy Working for Energy?|last = Lacey|first = Stephen|date = June 2, 2014|access-date = June 20, 2014|publisher = Green Tech Media}}{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/207394-feds-ramp-up-energy-climate-data-programs/|title=Feds ramp up energy, climate data programs|last = Cama|first = Timothy|date = May 28, 2014|access-date = June 20, 2014|work = The Hill}}
Data and API
The BPD has an application programming interface (API) that can return the energy use intensity for any group of buildings defined by an API request. The BPD contains business proprietary and confidential information, and all data is anonymized and can only be analyzed in aggregate. The API can be accessed using Python, Ruby, or cURL.{{cite web|url=https://bpd.lbl.gov/developers/|title = developers (Buildings Performance Database)|publisher = Berkeley Lab|access-date = June 20, 2014}}
References
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External links
{{official website|bpd.lbl.gov}}