Add a comment 
Building benchmarking refers to the process of measuring and then comparing a building’s energy use with buildings of similar type and size. It is based on the maxim that you cannot fix what you cannot measure.
In 2009, New York City passed Local Law 84, which requires that certain public and private buildings submit annual energy and water use data using EPA’s Portfolio Manager. This law is one component of the city’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan, which seeks reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions citywide. Energy and water use by city buildings account for approximately 3/4 of the city’s total greenhouse gases. LL 84 is the first step in managing and addressing this issue by collecting information and addressing inefficiencies in buildings. A companion law, Local Law 87, requires energy audits and retro-commissioning of buildings every 10 years.
Specifically, Local Law 84 applies to (1) buildings owned by New York City over 10,000 square feet for which the city pays part of its annual energy bill and which do not participate in a program administered by the City Department of Housing Preservation and Development; (2) buildings not owned by New York City over 50,000 square feet; (3) two or more buildings totaling 100,000 square feet or more on the same lot; and (4) buildings totaling 100,000 square feet under the same condominium board.
New York City has identified 16,000 buildings that it believes meet one of these requirements.
Starting August 1, 2011, building owners subject are required to benchmark their buildings’ energy and water usage via Portfolio Manager for the previous year. The deadline was originally set for May 1, 2011, but it was extended three months to allow more time for affected building’s to comply with the law. However, the deadline for subsequent years remains May 1. The following information must be submitted to Portfolio Manager: the whole building energy use for the previous calendar year, the actual gross square footage of the building, and the square footage of each “space type” in the building as set forth in Portfolio Manager. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for uploading water use data on each covered building to Portfolio Manager.
Information submitted for the 2010 calendar year will not be made public, although it will be used by the Mayor’s Office for Long-Term Planning and Sustainability to conduct an analysis of the city’s energy and water usage
Every January, building owners are required to send an information collection form to non-residential tenants that use individual utility meters. This form requests energy consumption and space type information from the tenant. The building owner is required to maintain proof that it mailed sent this form to such tenants, as well as certain other records produced during the benchmarking process, for three years.
Building owners that failed to benchmark by the August 1, 2011 deadline are subject to $500 fine, and an additional $500 every three months.
Owners of commercial, industrial or institutional buildings that pay into NYSERDA’s electric System Benefits Charge through their utilities can receive up to $7,000 per building under NYSERDA’s FlexTech Benchmarking Pilot program to help offset the cost of benchmarking. Certain multi-family building owners can receive up to $3,000 per building to offset the cost of benchmarking. NYSERDA has funded the program with $8 million and applications are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis until the funding runs out.
