Get Help to Benchmark Your Large Building by August 1

Update!

Elevate Energy now offers complete benchmarking compliance services to help multifamily building owners or managers comply with Chicago’s Building Energy Use Benchmarking Ordinance. In 2016, residential buildings great than 50,000 square feet are required to measure, verify, and report energy use. Expert staff from Elevate Energy will help streamline this process for you, from identifying whether your building is required to comply to verifying and signing off on the data. Click here for more information on our services.

You can also email us at benchmarking@ElevateNP.org or call Maria Quiñones at 773-906-5140.

Are you at bat for energy benchmarking in Chicago?

Commercial and municipal buildings larger than 50,000 square feet and residential buildings larger than 250,000 square feet have until August 1, 2015 to comply with the Energy Benchmarking Ordinance.

The ordinance, enacted in 2013, requires large commercial, municipal, and residential buildings (those more than 50,000 square feet in size) to measure, verify, and report their energy use data to the City.

• Click here to find out if your building is covered or to request a Chicago Energy Benchmarking ID.
• When you’re ready to submit your building data, please use this reporting link.

Just getting started? Here are more helpful materials:

• Compliance Checklist:Two-page outline of ordinance requirements and compliance steps
• Benchmarking Guide:Step-by-step instructions on benchmarking, data verification, and reporting
• Fact Sheet: One-page overview of Chicago Energy Benchmarking
• Frequently Asked Questions: Additional information
• Additional Guidance for Residential Buildings: Details for first-time residential building benchmarking

Questions? Please call the Chicago Energy Benchmarking Help Center at 855.858.6878 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) or email Info@ChicagoEnergyBenchmarking.org.

Why Benchmarking Matters

The buildings sector, which includes single and multifamily residences and commercial buildings, uses more energy than any other sector (such as industry and transportation) and accounts for more than 40 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. Here in Chicago, energy use in buildings is more than 70 percent of total energy consumption.

Benchmarking provides a clear assessment of performance for similar buildings within Chicago and across the country and has clear benefits for many stakeholders. Building owners who understand how much gas and electricity their properties use can take steps to reduce wasted energy, helping them lower energy costs and stay competitive.

Building performance data also help cities strategically meet energy efficiency and climate change reduction goals. The information makes it possible to focus on delivering energy efficiency programs  buildings that have the most potential for savings.

The Results So Far Look Great

A 2014 report from the City of Chicago looked at data collected during the first phase of implementation of the ordinance. The report, which documented the energy use of nearly 350 large commercial buildings, found that reducing energy use in these buildings by 23 percent could result in $77 million in energy cost savings.

Participation was widespread. A total of 348 buildings reported energy use, accounting for 260 million square feet of space and 11 percent of total energy consumption in Chicago, including 77 facilities that reported voluntarily or early. The compliance rate for buildings required to report was over 90 percent. The unprecedented amount of data in the report helps us understand how Chicago’s largest buildings use energy, and the significant opportunities they have for energy efficiency improvements and savings.

To support the Energy Benchmarking Ordinance, Elevate Energy played a key role in the implementation process, providing help center support and data analysis. Through a collaborative and effective partnership with the City, we were able to achieve more than 90 percent compliance from building owners and managers during the first benchmarking phase.

Image from Flickr user Bert Kaufman, licensed under Creative Commons.