After more than a decade of helping building owners with energy benchmarking, we have seen the same mistakes come up repeatedly. Here are the five most common ones and how to avoid them.
1. Inaccurate or incomplete utility data
This is the number one issue. Buildings with multiple meters, shared utilities, or district energy systems often have gaps in their data. Common problems include:
- Missing months of data from utility providers
- Meters that are not properly assigned to the building
- Estimated readings instead of actual consumption data
- Tenant-paid utilities not captured in the building total
How to avoid it: Start gathering utility data at least 60 days before your deadline. Request full 12-month histories from all utility providers and reconcile against your own records.
2. Wrong building square footage
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager uses gross floor area to calculate your Energy Use Intensity (EUI). If your square footage is wrong, your EUI is wrong, and your building may appear to be performing worse (or better) than it actually is. This matters especially in cities with performance targets like DC and Denver.
How to avoid it: Verify your gross floor area against building plans or property tax records. Include all conditioned and unconditioned space as required by your jurisdiction’s rules.
3. Missing the verification cycle
Chicago requires professional data verification every three years. Denver requires third-party verification at key milestone years (like 2026). Many building owners are unaware they are in a verification year until it is too late.
How to avoid it: Track your jurisdiction’s verification schedule. If you are in a verification year, build in extra time since verification adds steps to the process.
4. Filing but not checking the numbers
Some building owners treat benchmarking as a check-the-box exercise: enter the data, hit submit, move on. The problem is that inaccurate filings can come back to haunt you. In cities with performance standards (DC BEPS, Denver Energize), your reported numbers set your compliance trajectory.
How to avoid it: Have your data reviewed by someone who understands M&V principles before you submit. A second set of eyes can catch errors that lead to inflated penalties or incorrect performance targets.
5. Treating benchmarking as a one-time event
Benchmarking is annual. Your building’s energy profile changes year to year based on weather, occupancy, equipment changes, and operational adjustments. Buildings that benchmark consistently and track trends tend to reduce energy use by 2 to 3 percent per year.
How to avoid it: Set up a system for ongoing data collection and monitoring, not just an annual scramble. Consider it part of your building’s regular operations, not a one-time compliance task.
How Alert Energy helps
We handle all of this for our clients. From utility data collection and reconciliation to professional verification and ongoing monitoring, we make sure your benchmarking is accurate, on time, and actually useful for managing your building’s energy performance.
Book a free consultation to discuss your building’s benchmarking needs.