Last Wednesday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, chaired by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), heard from Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who provided testimony on the Trump administration’s proposed FY 2027 budget for the department.

An important issue for NAIOP and the commercial real estate industry is maintaining funding for the Energy Star program designed to promote the use of energy-efficiency measures in commercial real estate. Unlike many local mandates, the Energy Star program is a voluntary and nonregulatory public-private partnership with strong support from the real estate sector.

NAIOP and a coalition of national real estate groups sent a letter to House and Senate appropriations committees advocating for continued funding for the Energy Star program, which the Trump administration has proposed moving from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Department of Energy (DOE). The coalition letter states that “[a]mple, consolidated agency resources for FY 2027, in line with FY 2026 funding levels, are essential to maintain during Energy Star’s transition phase” from EPA to DOE.