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, 2018
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 of properties required to comply. The list includes your Minneapolis Building ID, Minneapolis Property ID and building area information.
Help: Need assistance? Step-by-step instructions are available from the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) at www.minneapolisenergybenchmarking.org/. Or contact our Helpline [email protected] or 612-673-3091.
Extensions/Exemptions: To make a request, complete the Extension/Exemption form (pdf), and email the form to [email protected]. 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 send 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 Policy Overview
- Ordinance text
- Getting Started with Energy Star Portfolio Manager
- Frequently Asked Questions about the benchmarking ordinance
- Energy Benchmarking Exceptions Request Form
- Minneapolis Property Info
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).
Accommodations
Should you require a reasonable accommodation in order to fully participate, or information in an alternative format, please contact 612-673-2301.
Para asistencia 612-673-2700 - Rau kev pab 612-673-2800 - Hadii aad Caawimaad u baahantahay 612-673-3500.
Last updated Mar 5, 2018
