Everything You Need To Know About Benchmarking in Washington D.C.
Key Takeaways
D.C.’s decade-old benchmarking law formed the basis of future performance standards.
Benchmarking compliance can be done with a few clicks.
Evidence shows the act of reporting and comparing building performance to peers nationwide drives efficiency upgrades and increases property values. The District of Columbia began benchmarking requirements back in 2008 when the Clean and Affordable Energy Act was signed into law. Originally regulations were aimed at large property owners, but an update to benchmarking mandates was passed as part of the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018. This update expanded the requirement to smaller buildings and added data verification requirements. DC has already begun crafting additional energy use and climate policies around benchmarking numbers, making the practice that much more important.
Who’s Affected
D.C. has been slowly ramping up benchmarking requirements. Today, any privately owned multifamily or commercial building over 25,000 square feet in the District of Columbia must benchmark its energy and water usage. Starting in 2025, buildings over 10,000 square feet will also be required to benchmark. To make things easier, DC’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) has created a list of buildings covered by the benchmarking requirements. Exceptions are rare, limited mostly to unoccupied structures, new construction, or buildings set to be demolished.
What’s Required
The process is relatively similar to other benchmarking initiatives around the United States. By April 1st every year, owners must collect usage data from the previous year which is readily available from local utility providers. Owners must report this data via Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager. Any building that generates alternative energy is able to report that within the manager, too. Submitting the information to Energy Star enrolls the building in the system's automatic reporting functionality, allowing DC’s DOEE to download it, so it doesn’t have to be input twice. DOEE has put together step-by-step guides, FAQs, and additional resources to answer any questions and assist in compliance.
Fines/Penalties
Failure to report will result in fines up to $100 per day per building with no cap. Warnings will be sent after the April 1st deadline and before any fines are levied. If owners do not take corrective action or provide an explanation within 30 days, penalties will begin. If data is inaccurate, owners will have 30 days to make corrections before fines for non-compliance start.
Insight
Benchmarking is the basis for many of the new regulations DC is already enacting. DOEE’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) use benchmarking to judge performance against minimum thresholds. Nantum OS streamlines the process by generating automated, downloadable benchmark reports that integrate directly with Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager. Nantum OS also positively impacts a building's performance, bringing properties into BEPS compliance and benchmarking compliance at the same time.
