The Push For A Greener Philadelphia: City Adopts New Energy Benchmarking Requirements For Owners Of Large Commercial Buildings

In August 2012, the mayor of Philadelphia signed into law Bill 120428-A, which establishes new energy benchmarking requirements for owners of certain large commercial and mixed-use buildings. The energy benchmarking bill requires owners of "covered buildings" to report and disclose data annually related to energy and water usage and other building characteristics.1 Covered buildings include any commercial building with at least 50,000 square feet, and all commercial portions of any mixed-use building where at least 50,000 square feet of the building is devoted to commercial use.

The energy benchmarking bill represents the city's latest effort to make Philadelphia one of the greenest cities in America, and mandates owners of covered buildings participate in helping the city reach this goal. Philadelphia joins the ranks of at least five other cities, among them New York, Washington and San Francisco, to adopt this kind of energy benchmarking legislation. Similar to other cities' benchmarking measures, the energy benchmarking bill is designed to create awareness and transparency with regard to energy and water consumption and encourage more energy-efficient practices among owners of large commercial buildings.

To track and assess covered buildings' energy and water consumption, owners of covered buildings must submit the required data to the Portfolio Manager database, which

is accessed through a free, Internet-based application developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Portfolio Manager will provide a rating of the building's energy performance on a scale of 1-100 based on the data entered for the building. The rating will reflect the building's percentile rank as compared to similar buildings. The energy benchmarking bill includes a mandatory disclosure provision, requiring owners of covered buildings to provide a statement of energy performance to prospective purchasers or tenants upon request.

Energy Benchmarking Compliance Checklist

Owners of covered buildings should do the following to ensure compliance with the new benchmarking bill:

Register to use the EPA's Portfolio Manager database application. The application can be accessed at https://www. energystar.gov/istar/pmpam.

By June 30 of each year, upload the building's energy and water usage data and building characteristics from the previous calendar year onto the Portfolio Manager database. As an alternative, owners of covered buildings may arrange for utility...