As Benchmarking Regulation Takes Effect, Help Center is Here
Benchmarking Help Center Provides Technical Assistance to Building Owners and Managers
January 25, 2013 (Washington, D.C.) – The District of Columbia published finalized regulations requiring energy and water benchmarking for private buildings in the city. Effective January 18th, with additional deadlines phased in through 2014, owners of large DC buildings must measure and report their energy and water use to the District Department of Environment (DDOE) using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s no-cost ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool.
In response to the District’s new regulation, the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DC SEU) is offering a Benchmarking Help Center to provide technical assistance to building owners and property managers. This center will be available to guide building owners and managers through benchmarking in Portfolio Manager, answer general questions about the regulation, and assist with data collection. The Benchmarking Help Center can also help building owners improve their properties’ ENERGY STAR energy performance scores by connecting them to the DC SEU’s energy efficiency programs. The Help Center can be reached at (202) 525-7036 or at benchmarking@dcseu.com. Details of upcoming trainings can be found on the DDOE website.
“Energy benchmarking is an important step toward realizing the Mayor’s vision to make the District the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States,” said Keith A. Anderson, Acting Director of the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). “By measuring and reporting energy use in large buildings, we raise awareness of energy and water efficiency and help business owners and tenants identify ways to save energy, water, and money.”
“The Benchmarking Help Center complements the wide range of sustainable energy services the DC SEU currently offers to District building owners,” said DC SEU Managing Director Ted Trabue. “This is a great resource to help these building owners understand their requirements under the new regulation, and more importantly, harness the information they will be gathering to help them save money and energy.”
“We’re happy to work with the DC SEU to offer this important new resource for building owners and managers,” said Cliff Majersik, Executive Director of the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT). IMT is a teaming partner of the DC SEU, leading its Market Transformation initiatives, which include benchmarking assistance. “The key first step toward understanding buildings’ energy use is benchmarking,” Majersik said. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure. By supporting benchmarking, the District of Columbia is in the vanguard of American cities seeking to reduce their energy consumption and keep money and jobs in their communities.”
The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 requires that all private buildings in DC over 50,000 gross square feet (gsf), including multifamily residences, must measure and disclose their energy and water use to the DDOE. After a thorough stakeholder engagement process including owners, managers, tenants, industry associations, Business Improvement Districts, energy service providers, and utility companies, among others, DDOE has begun to roll out implementation of the requirements and is phasing in deadlines by building size.
The first reporting deadline for all buildings over 150,000 gsf is April 1, 2013. Buildings larger than 100,000 gsf must report by April 1, 2013, and buildings over 50,000 gsf are due to report by April 1, 2014. Thereafter, all commercial and multifamily buildings over 50,000 gsf will be required to report benchmarking data to the District on April 1 of every year. Further details can be found on the DDOE website.
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ABOUT DC SEU: Created by the City Council as part of the Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 (CAEA), the DC SEU is managed by the Sustainable Energy Partnership under contract to the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). For more information on the DC SEU, visit www.dcseu.com, or contact George Nichols at 202-677-4820 ext. 4820 or gnichols@dcseu.com.
ABOUT IMT: The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, green building, and environmental protection in the United States and abroad. Much of IMT’s work addresses market failures that inhibit investment in energy efficiency. For more information, visit www.imt.org.