Building Efficiency 305 - BE305

Energy and water benchmarking is a process whereby a building’s annual energy and water consumption data is joined with its physical and operational characteristics to create a comparable energy efficiency rating for that building.

 

This rating and other useful performance metrics allow a building owner to compare a property’s energy performance against itself over time as well as against similar buildings locally, regionally, and nationwide.

 

Annual benchmarking of energy and water consumption helps building owners, property managers, and facilities staff establish energy performance baselines, monitor performance over time, guide actions to cut waste, and verify energy and water savings from investments.

 

Benchmarking data provides summary information about public and private buildings, documenting trends in energy and water performance, and is the foundation for information to share with stakeholders. Benchmarking allows for a data-based approach to analyzing future energy needs, where improvements can be made and how to reduce costs.

Properties covered under this ordinance include multi-family and commercial buildings with 20,000 square feet or greater of floor space and 5 or more units.

Size (Gross Floor Area)	Initial Compliance Required by:
Buildings 200,000 square feet or larger	June 30, 2023
Buildings between 100,000 square feet and 199,999 square feet	October 1, 2023
Buildings between 50,000 and 99,999 square feet	October 1, 2024
Buildings between 20,000 and 49,999 square feet	October 1, 2025

Sec. 10-153. - Benchmarking exemptions.

(a)Benchmarking is not required for a covered public property for the current reporting year if the owner submits documentation to the director establishing that the property has met one of the following conditions:

     (1)The property does not have a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy for all 12 months of the calendar year being benchmarked;

     (2)A demolition permit for the entire building was issued for the calendar year being benchmarked, provided that demolition work has commenced and legal occupancy was no longer possible prior to end of that year;

     (3)The property did not receive energy or water services for the entire calendar year to be benchmarked; or

     (4)The covered property had average physical occupancy of less than 50 percent throughout the calendar year for which benchmarking is required.

 

(b)Benchmarking is not required for a covered private property for the current reporting year if an owner submits documentation with the director in such form and with such evidence as required by the director establishing that the property has met one of the following conditions:

     (1)It meets any of the exemptions defined for a covered public property;

     (2)The director determines that due to special circumstances unique to the applicant's facility and not based on a condition caused by actions of the applicant, strict compliance with provisions of this article would cause undue hardship or would not be in the public's best interest;

     (3)The owner notifies the Director that the property is under financial hardship and provides proof of the same; or

     (4)The covered property may be exempted from electricity benchmarking if more than 50 percent of gross floor area is used for residential purposes and:

          a.The property is not master metered or the owner does not have access to master meters or other means to obtain whole-building electricity data; and

          b.The serving electric utility does not provide data aggregation services or access to whole-building utility data. Once such services are available from the Utility as determined by the director, such properties will no longer be exempt from benchmarking requirements and shall file initial benchmarking reports in the first required reporting year following such data availability.

 

(c)Any entity or owner requesting an exemption from benchmarking shall submit an annual benchmarking exemption request form to the director by April 1 in the year for which the exemption is being requested. Any exemption granted will be limited to the benchmarking submission for which the request was made and does not extend to past or future submittals.

 

(d)For each reporting year in which an owner files a request for an exemption, the director shall determine whether that exemption is approved. Appeal of a determination that a property is not exempt shall be made within 15 days of such determination to a review committee comprised of the director of the departments of resilience and public works (or the supervisor of plats in lieu thereof), zoning, and planning, the director, and an assistant city manager as designated by the city manager. The review committee, acting by majority vote, shall either affirm the director's denial or reverse his/her denial and grant the requested exemption.

(Ord. No. 14005, § 2, 6-10-21)