Philadelphia building owners:

What is the Philadelphia Building Energy Benchmarking Ordinance?

The Philadelphia Building Energy Benchmarking Ordinance requires annual energy and water usage reports from any commercial and multifamily building larger than 50,000 square feet. Benchmarking energy in buildings allows property owners to compare the efficiency of their buildings with others of similar age and size. This information helps raise awareness about building efficiency and encourages owners of inefficient buildings to take action.

Purpose

The Benchmarking Ordinance has two major purposes: to improve energy efficiency of the built environment and to save money on energy costs. Buildings, especially large ones, make up the majority of energy consumption and carbon emissions in cities. Through benchmarking, building owners can retrofit and improve the most inefficient buildings, which will lead to huge decreases in carbon emissions. Benchmarking also results in significant savings as building owners begin to discover how much money is being spent unnecessarily on inefficient buildings.

Does it impact me?

If you are a commercial or multifamily building owner or manager in Philadelphia with an indoor floor space larger than 50,000 square feet, then you are required by this ordinance to submit an energy usage report.

What are the deadlines?

All commercial building owners and managers must measure and submit their previous year’s energy and water consumption reports using Portfolio Manager by June 30 of each year.

What are the fines?

Building owners who fail to comply by the June 30 deadline are subject to a $300 fine for the first month they are late, and subsequent $100 fines for each day they are late afterwards.

How do I comply?

Building owners and managers must gather energy and space information using the “Data Collection Worksheet” and then report the data to EPA’s Portfolio Manager, a reporting tool that allows building owners to compare their building’s energy efficiency with similar buildings.