In an effort to track the energy use of large commercial properties, most major U.S. cities have mandated benchmarking. Benchmarking requires property owners to annually measure their energy and water consumption and report usage to their cities through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) online tool. Portfolio Manager serves as a mechanism to measure energy performance of a single building over time, relative to other similar buildings.
Requirements for Denver
In December 2016, the Denver City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring energy benchmarking and transparency in multi-family and commercial buildings. The new ordinance, the Energize Denver program, is a key component of the city’s efforts to achieve Denver’s 2020 Sustainability and Climate Action Plan goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Beginning in 2017, commercial and multi-family buildings over 25,000 square feet in Denver will be required to track and report their ENERGY STAR score. The ENERGY STAR score, which measures and tracks their energy use, will be made available to the public on an annual basis. Reports must be submitted by June 1st.
Denver does have a list of exemptions for benchmarking. If any of these conditions apply, you are exempt from benchmarking:
• Building has been unoccupied at any point in the year
• Undergone renovation which required building vacancy
• Scheduled for demolition
• Experiencing financial distress
• Average occupancy is less than 60%
• Used for primarily industrial or agricultural purposes
• Energy performance is a confidential business practice
• Unable to obtain tenant energy data
The City of Denver publishes building energy performance data each year at https://energizedenver.org/ via an interactive map to enable the market to better value energy efficiency. This is similar to the MPG ratings for cars or nutrition labels on food. Other cities with benchmarking and transparency requirements have seen 2-3 percent energy savings each year by covered buildings.
Let Albireo Help
Submitting energy usage can be a daunting task. Failure to timely submit will result in substantial fines. Albireo has helped various cities and businesses become benchmark compliant, including Philadelphia, Boston and Dunkin Donuts.
Contact us at [email protected] or call us today at 800-201-3153. We can assist you in managing your energy and meeting your benchmarking requirements. Let Albireo power your business.
