Through a series of new construction projects at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and ongoing collaborations between NREL and industry, they have found that high-performance, energy-efficient buildings can be procured within typical construction budgets. Success stories include NREL’s Research Support Facility (RSF) where a project energy efficiency goal was the foundation for the energy-performance-based procurement process described in this guide. A project delivery approach that incentivizes an innovative design and construction team to meet the energy goal in design and operations is also critical. Using a well-planned energy-performance-based procurement process, which includes an energy goal and an appropriate project delivery approach, owners can be confident that their projects will have system-integrated, cost-effective efficiency strategies and renewable technologies that will perform as intended.