Energy Benchmarking

Energy benchmarking is essential for understanding a building’s energy use and how it compares to the average energy usage in similar building types. To learn more about the benefits of benchmarking, check out IMT’s resources below.

The Latest

Managing Benchmarking Data Quality

Managing Benchmarking Data Quality was written to help  benchmarking policy implementers understand current best practices for managing data gathered from ordinances in states, counties, and cities across the U.S.

Analyzing Benchmarking Data

Analyzing Benchmarking Data provides useful knowledge on the annual benchmarking reports that many jurisdictions publish to summarize 12 months of reported energy and/or water utility data. It includes discussions of the types of analysis that jurisdictions with benchmarking laws have used to extract valuable information from the benchmarking data and gives examples of how some jurisdictions have calculated and displayed their analytical findings.

Putting Data to Work: Increasing Customer Engagement with Data

District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility  Under its 2012 Sustainable DC plan, the District of Columbia established targets that include reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent by 2032 and by at least 80 percent by 2050, including a citywide energy-use reduction target of 50 percent by 2032. In December of 2017, Mayor Muriel … Continued

Putting Data to Work: How Cities are Using Building Energy Data to Drive Efficiency

Across the U.S., cities are implementing building performance reporting laws regarding building energy and water use in commercial and multifamily buildings. These programs generate large quantities of useful data on the energy consumption of a region’s buildings. However, the data is only valuable if it drives smarter business decisions and savings. Cities are leading the … Continued

Putting Data to Work: Successful Partnerships to Accelerate Efficiency

NYC Retrofit Accelerator Cities adopting and implementing building performance benchmarking policies that require building owners to track and report their buildings’ energy and/or water use on a regular basis are collecting a trove of data that can be used to accelerate investments in energy upgrades in buildings. For energy efficiency program implementers, this data can … Continued

Putting Data to Work: Making the Financial Case for Energy Efficiency Upgrades

NYCEEC efficienSEE™ Tool In September 2014, New York City (NYC) committed to reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 80 percent by the year 2050 (80×50), with an interim target to reduce emissions 40 percent by 2030. Building energy use reduction will play a significant role in achieving NYC’s 80×50 goals, as buildings account for nearly … Continued

Putting Data to Work: Deploying Building Performance Data in Climate Strategy

Clean Energy DC Cities are on the front lines of climate change, acutely feeling its impacts while actively working to mitigate its causes. In many cities, buildings are not just the main places citizens spend their time, but they also remain one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. As such, addressing their performance … Continued

Putting Data to Work: Impact Assessment to Estimate the Savings from Energy Efficiency Programs

A Guide for City Governments to Estimate the Savings from Energy Benchmarking and Energy Efficiency Programs Mandatory programs that require benchmarking of building performance—wherein building owners track their building’s energy and/or water use and report the results to local government departments—have become one of the common tools for policymakers striving to reduce energy use within … Continued

Putting Data to Work: Project Summary

The culmination of a three-year project led by the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT), Putting Data to Work examines how, exactly, building performance data can and is being deployed to reap an array of benefits for cities, energy efficiency service providers, utilities, and building owners. This project summary outlines the resources compiled in a larger project toolkit, identifying key takeaways and linking to individual components.