Expense Management: City Ordinances Requiring Energy Benchmarking Gaining Momentum via Property Management Insider

The trend toward mandated energy usage benchmarking is gaining traction among U.S. cities. In the last few years, several cities have passed ordinances requiring existing buildings—including in some cases multifamily buildings—to track energy usage. Some of the cities that recently implemented or are starting to implement benchmarking requirements include New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Austin, just to name a few. Several states are also moving toward mandated benchmarking and others are sure to follow.

Differences may exist among the various ordinances—some benchmark both water and energy or have a phased approach for implementation, for example. But overall, these new requirements require owners to report their buildings’ utility usage data, which can then be compared to data from buildings of a similar size and function as well as to past data from the same buildings.

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