If you own or manage a commercial building in a major North American city, there is a good chance your local government requires you to track and report your building’s energy and water usage every year. This process is called building energy benchmarking.
How it works
Most jurisdictions use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager as the reporting platform. The basic process involves:
- Gathering 12 months of utility data (electricity, gas, water) for your building
- Entering that data into Portfolio Manager
- Submitting the report to your city or jurisdiction by the annual deadline
- In some cities, having the data verified by an accredited professional
It sounds simple, but the details vary significantly by city. Each jurisdiction has its own rules, portals, thresholds, and penalties.
Who needs to comply?
Building size thresholds vary by city. Here are the current requirements in our primary markets:
- Washington, D.C.: Buildings over 10,000 sq ft (new for 2026)
- Chicago: Buildings over 50,000 sq ft
- Denver: Buildings over 25,000 sq ft (with prescriptive requirements down to 5,000 sq ft)
- Vancouver: Commercial buildings and now multi-family residential over 50,000 sq ft
- Toronto: Large buildings under both provincial (EWRB) and municipal (EGPS) requirements
What happens if you don’t comply?
Penalties range from public shaming to real financial consequences:
- DC enforces $100/day fines for non-compliance
- Chicago assigns a “0-star” public energy rating, visible to tenants and buyers
- Denver charges $0.30 per kBtu for missing EUI performance targets
- Vancouver has moved to annual carbon penalties for exceeding GHG intensity limits
Regulated benchmarking vs. voluntary benchmarking
There is an important distinction between regulated benchmarking (required by your city or jurisdiction) and voluntary benchmarking (done by choice as a building management best practice).
Regulated benchmarking is what most people think of: a government mandate to report your building’s energy and water use by a specific deadline. Failure to comply carries penalties.
Voluntary benchmarking is when building owners choose to track their energy performance even though they are not required to. And there are strong reasons to do so:
- Visibility into costs. You cannot manage what you do not measure. Benchmarking gives you a clear picture of where your energy dollars are going and how your building compares to similar properties.
- Early problem detection. Tracking energy use over time reveals trends and anomalies. A sudden spike in consumption often points to an equipment failure, a controls issue, or a billing error that would otherwise go unnoticed.
- Investment planning. Reliable baseline data helps you evaluate the potential return on energy efficiency projects before you commit capital.
- Tenant and stakeholder value. More tenants and investors are asking about building performance. Having benchmarking data ready positions your property favorably in the market.
- Getting ahead of regulation. Cities continue to expand benchmarking mandates to smaller buildings and new property types. Buildings that already benchmark voluntarily are ahead of the curve when regulation arrives.
Whether your benchmarking is regulated or voluntary, the process and the value are the same. The difference is that regulated buildings face penalties for not doing it, while voluntary benchmarkers are choosing to invest in better information.
How Alert Energy can help
We have been helping building owners with benchmarking since 2014, both regulated filings and voluntary performance tracking. We handle the full process from utility data collection through submission, and our M&V expertise means your numbers are accurate and defensible. Get in touch for a free consultation about your building’s benchmarking requirements.