Public Service Center
250 S. 4th. Street, Room 510
Minneapolis, MN 55415
health@minneapolismn.gov
(612) 673-2301

Commercial Building Benchmarking and Transparency

In Minneapolis, large commercial buildings make up almost 50% of the city's energy use. This provides a tremendous opportunity for identifying areas with the largest potential for energy savings. In February of 2013, the Minneapolis City Council adopted ordinance 47.190 requiring commercial buildings 50,000 square feet and over and city-owned buildings 25,000 square feet and over to annually benchmark their energy consumption and report this information to the City. This ordinance will allow building owners and the City to track energy and water usage year to year to determine opportunities for improvement, recognize high performers, and determine progress towards the City's Climate Action Plan goals.

COMPLIANCE DEADLINE: June 1, 2016

All commercial buildings 50,000 square feet and larger are required to report their annual energy and water benchmarking results to the City through the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager program.

How to Comply

	Requirements: Is your large commercial building required to comply the City's energy benchmarking ordinance? To find out, view the list of properties required to comply. The list includes your Minneapolis Building ID, Minneapolis Property ID and Building Area information. For questions about the ordinance or the notification you received from the City, contact Minneapolis Environmental Services at mplsenergystar@minneapolismn.gov or 612-673-3091.
	Help: Need assistance? Step-by-step instructions and Helpline information are available from the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) at http://benchmarking.mncee.org/.
	Extensions: To request an extension or exemption for reporting 2015 energy data fill out the Extension/Exemption form (pdf)(word). Return the form to Environmental Services at MPLSEnergyStar@minneapolismn.gov . In order for an exemption or extension to be granted, you also need to connect to the City of Minneapolis in Portfolio Manager. Search for MPLSBENCHMARK and sending a connection request. Up to two extensions may be granted.
	Submit: Click this link, which will ask you to log into Portfolio Manager if you are not already, and follow the prompts to submit your data to the City.
	Results: How is your building performing? See the results page here.
	Minneapolis Energy News: Subscribe to quarterly updates on energy efficiency happenings for large commercial buildings.

Resources for Building Owners and Managers

Benchmarking Timeline

The phase-in of benchmarking for City-owned and private commercial buildings is now complete. Going forward, the following timeline will be used for compliance, reporting, and publication annually.

Compliant buildings receive an email notice of compliance shortly after submitting reports. Excluding buildings with exemptions, buildings can be in non-compliance by having either no submission or an incomplete submission. Non-compliant buildings first receive a warning of non-compliance in the form of a violation notice. If no action is taken by the building to resolve the violation by the end of the period marked on the violation notice, citations are issued. Up to four citations may be issued and double in amount with each subsequent citation ($200, $400, $800, $1600).

If you need this material in an alternative format please call Minneapolis Department of Health at (612) 673-2301 or email health@minneapolismn.gov. Deaf and hard-of-hearing persons may use a relay service to call 311 agents at (612) 673-3000. TTY users may call (612) 673-2157 or (612) 673-2626.

Attention: If you have any questions regarding this material please call Minneapolis Department of Health (612) 673-2301. Hmong - Ceeb toom. Yog koj xav tau kev pab txhais cov xov no rau koj dawb, hu (612) 673-2800; Spanish - Atencion. Si desea recibir asistencia gratuita para traducir esta informacion, llama (612) 673-2700; Somali - Ogow. Haddii aad dooneyso in lagaa kaalmeeyo tarjamadda macluumaadkani oo lacag la' aan wac (612) 673-3500.

Last updated Aug 25, 2016