City of Columbus

Energy & Water Benchmarking Ordinance

The City of Columbus' Energy & Water Benchmarking and Transparency Ordinance (Columbus City Code Title 41 - Building Code Chapter 4117) requires commercial and multi-family building owners and managers of buildings 50,000 square feet and larger to track (or “benchmark”) their electricity, gas, and water use. This data is reported annually to the City of Columbus through the U.S. EPA's ENERGY STAR^(R) Portfolio Manager^(R) tool. For more information about the history of the Ordinance and why it is important, visit the policy development page.

Benchmarking & Transparency Map

Columbus shares a subset of building performance information collected through benchmarking. Investors, potential renters, or concerned citizens can view building performance data on the Transparency Map. Click on the button below to go to our interactive map.

                                     

How to Comply

If you are new to benchmarking, new to the Columbus Benchmarking Ordinance, or just need a refresher to be in compliance, we recommend you watch this 15 minute video.



Below are simplified instructions to bring your building(s) into compliance with the Benchmarking Ordinance for 2024. For a step-by-step guide, download the Compliance Quick Guide. If you have watched the video, downloaded the Quick Guide, and would like further assistance, schedule a meeting with the Help Desk.

If you have already submitted a Benchmarking Report, jump to step 3. If not, begin with step 1.

Step 1: Determine Eligibility and Note CBUSID
1. Verify that your building is required to comply with the Benchmarking Ordinance in 2024 by searching the Building ID Lookup Tool with your buildings address.
2. Make a note of the CBUSID associated with your building as this is required to submit a Benchmarking Report.

                                       

3. Share contact information by designating an in-house staff member or 3rd party provider to serve as the point of contact for updates and notifications related to the Benchmarking Ordinance using the Building Contact Form.

Step 2: Set up ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Profile 
1. If your building does not already have an ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager profile, create a new account and building profile directly on the Portfolio Manager website.
2. Collect the basic building information required to benchmark using the Data Collection Worksheet.
3. In your Portfolio Manager account, create a new property for your building, enter the operating/use characteristics, and add the CBUSID under 'Unique Identifiers' on the Details tab.

Step 3: Add Whole-Building Energy and Water Consumption Data 
1. For sole owners/occupiers of a building, manually enter energy and water consumption data from your utility bills into Portfolio Manager for calendar year 2023. See this FAQ for additional details on adding data to Portfolio Manager. 
2. For multifamily and multi-tenant building owners, request whole-building aggregated consumption data from the utility companies. AEP Ohio and Columbus Public Utilities have tools to provide building owners with whole-building, aggregated annual data to use for benchmarking.  This will simplify and streamline the benchmarking process for building owners and protect individual tenant data anonymity.

For buildings owners needing additional time, please fill out an  Extension Request Form . Additional details are outlined below:

2a AEP Ohio customers: AEP Ohio customers may request aggregated whole-building data for calendar year 2023 for the purpose of complying with the Benchmarking Ordinance. Owners can request multiple years so if your need historical electric data, include those years with your request. Please download the AEP Ohio Benchmarking Data Request Template and complete the following steps: (1) review the 'Instructions' tab and fill out the 'Required Data' tab. (2) email the completed excel file to [email protected]. All account/ meter/ premise information provided will be aggregated into property level kilowatt-hour usage amount per month. (3) This information will be emailed to you when the request is completed.

2b Department of Public Utilities - Electric Customers : The Department of Public Utilities has established Automated Benchmarking for its customers. Download the User Guide for setup instructions and reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

2c Columbia Gas customers: Columbia Gas has eliminated its automated benchmarking program. While Columbus works to develop the systems needed to replace this service, please follow these steps immediately below. Columbus appreciates your patience as we develop the tools necessary for building owners to be in compliance with the Benchmarking Ordinance:

•Owners with multiple tenants in need of aggregated gas data for 2022 can complete an Extension Request Form by June 1 and when an aggregation tool is made available we will notify you of the new deadline and next steps. 

2d Water : The Department of Public Utilities has established  Automated Benchmarking for its customers for the purposes of benchmarking water. Download the User Guide for setup instructions and reach out to  [email protected] with any questions.

Step 4: Submit Benchmarking Report 
Once whole-building energy and water for calendar year 2023 is entered in Portfolio Manager, follow the steps below to submit your 2024 Benchmarking Report directly to the City of Columbus via the Benchmarking Data Submission link by June 1, 2024.

1. Check for possible errors using the Data Quality Checker on the 'Summary' tab in Portfolio Manager.
2. Follow the Benchmarking Data Submission Link and generate a preview of your building(s)' report.
3. Submit your Benchmarking Report to the City using the Benchmarking Data Submission link.

                                     

After your Benchmarking Report is submitted: 
1. Within 24 hours of submitting a Benchmarking Report, the email associated with the Portfolio Manager account that submitted the Benchmarking Report will receive an automated email from [email protected]. 
2. Columbus' system that receives Benchmarking Reports will conduct a series of data quality checks. If a submittal trips one of our data quality flags, you'll receive an email with instructions on next steps to correct possible errors and resubmit. If your submittal does not have data quality flags, you'll receive an email indicating that your building is In Compliance for the 2024 reporting year.

Resources
The City of Columbus has created a variety of targeted technical resources to assist the Columbus Building Owner Community in achieving compliance with the Benchmarking Ordinance.
•  2022 Benchmarking Annual Report
•  Benchmarking Compliance Quick Guide
•  Frequently Asked Questions
•  Benchmarking and Transparency 101

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Tools & Training
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is an interactive resource management tool that enables you to benchmark the energy use of any type of building, all in a secure online environment. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the most widely used tool to benchmark and analyze whole-building data, making it the industry-leading benchmarking tool. 

The EPA has many free and easy-to-use guides for getting started with Portfolio Manager.
• If you have two minutes, get started with the Benchmarking Starter Kit.
• If you have fifteen minutes, review the Basics of Building Benchmarking for Ordinance Compliance Guide.
• Want to be an expert in Benchmarking Compliance? Watch the Basics of Benchmarking Ordinance Compliance webinar series!
• Go deeper with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and access the ENERGY STAR Webinar Library.
• Would you like help improving your ENERGY STAR Score or overall Energy Efficiency (EE)? Contact AEP Energy for free advice on managing your building and EE improvement projects. AEP Energy Benchmarking Flyer 

Ordinance Development Process
Learn more about how the Energy & Water Benchmarking & Transparency Ordinance was developed and designed by reviewing the Ordinance Development Process.