Energy Benchmarking, Auditing, and Upgrading

• Author: Tyler Adams
• Pages: 126-130

126 Sustainable Development Code: Climate Change

ENER GY BENCH MAR KIN G,

AUDI TIN G, AND UPG RAD ING

Tyler Adams (author)

Jonathan Rosenbloom & Christopher Duerksen (editors)

INTRODUCTION

Energy eciency initiatives simultaneously help reduce energy costs and

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while creating a more sustainable build-

ing stock. Municipalities use energy benchmarking, auditing, a nd upgrade

requirements in order to encourage property owners to improve buildings in

accordance with local su stainability goals. Benchmarking allows prospective

and current owners to compare the energy use of various buildings of simi-

lar size.1 Pursuant to these ordinance s, owners track their buildings’ energy

usage by entering energy use data on a monthly basis i nto tracking tools, such

as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Mana ger.

As part of these benchmarking ordinances, municipalities require building

owners to annually report a buildings’ energy use data either directly to the

responsible local agency or, more commonly, through the Portfolio Manager

tool. In addition, most jurisdictions require disclosure of the benchmarking

reports, making t hem available to the public.

Local governments may also require energy audits, sometimes called

assessments. Audits require a more extensive analysis of a buildings’ energy

use. Audits also require a th ird-party to perform the audit. A qual ied third-

party auditor locates the sources of inecient energy use, which allows own-

ers to identify the measures t hat can be taken in order to optimize eciency.2

ere are dierent levels of comprehensiveness for audits. Municipalities

have the option to require audits to meet certain levels and/or include certain

criteria that are important for the part icular community.3

Jurisdictions that require energy audits t ypically require them to be com-

pleted at least once every ve years or on the occurrence of a major real e state

event, such as a sale, lease, or major renovation. Based on the information

gained from energy benchmarking and auditing, municipalities ca n require

buildings to take f urther steps to become more energy ecient.