The first step to making a building more efficient is to understand how much energy it uses and how its usage compares with that of similar buildings. Therefore, the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan (GGBP) requires owners of large buildings to annually measure their energy consumption in a process called benchmarking. Local Law 84 (LL84), the first law in GGBP, standardizes this process and captures information with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) free online benchmarking tool called Portfolio Manager. LL84 will give building owners and potential buyers a better understanding of a building's energy and water consumption, eventually shifting the market towards increasingly efficient, high-performing buildings.
In summary, LL84's annual benchmarking process requires the following:
- Determine if a building needs to be benchmarked.
- Measure the building's energy and water use with an online benchmarking tool.
- Submit usage data online annually to the City by May 1.*
* ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, the online tool used to comply with LL84, was offline from Monday April 29 through Monday May 6 with technical issues. The City recognized the impact this had on meeting the May 1st deadline, and therefore has issued an official deadline extension to May 31, 2013. *
Portfolio Manager is currently back online and fully functional. All users are required to reset their login passwords. If additional assistance is needed, please direct all password reset related questions to the ENERGY STAR Hotline at hotline@energystar.gov or 1-888-782-7937.
Please review this section to learn more about LL84, which buildings are required to benchmark, the benchmarking process, how to comply, where to get help, and benchmarking scores and reports.
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