Benchmarking of public and private buildings in the District is required by the Green Building Act (GBA), as amended by the Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008, to promote widespread understanding of energy and water use in the District's largest buildings, and to encourage property owners to pursue greater efficiency and save money. The GBA requires building owners to evaluate the energy and water use of their buildings annually using the online ENERGY STARŪ Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool developed and managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and to report the results to the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). DDOE will publish benchmark results following the second year of reporting for each building size.
Building owners will be required to report energy and water use of their buildings according to the following schedule:
Building Size
Utility Year Data
Benchmark Report Due
Over 200,000 sq ft
Over 150,000 sq ft
Over 100,000 sq ft
Over 50,000 sq ft
2010*
2011*
2012*
2013*
July 1, 2011***
April 1, 2012**
April 1, 2013**
April 1, 2014**
* and each year that follows ** and annually thereafter on April 1 for the previous year's data *** The deadline for reporting 2010 benchmark information for private buildings is extended pending release of final regulations.
For more detailed information about fulfilling the District Benchmark Requirements, please see the Guidance for Fulfilling District Benchmark Requirements section below. For more detailed information about Energy Star please see ENERGY STAR Resources.
Guidance for Fulfilling District Benchmark Requirements
Non-Residential Tenant Benchmark Letter*: Template for building owners to send to their non-residential tenants requesting the necessary information for benchmarking.
Residential Tenant Benchmark Letter*: Template for building owners to send to their residential tenants requesting the necessary information for benchmarking.
Checklist and FAQs*: Step-by-step checklist for the building benchmarking process, as well as a list of FAQs and associated glossary to help building owners through the benchmarking process.
2010 Data Collection Worksheet*: Chart of required data for benchmarking each building type; this can be used by building owners to ensure that all of the necessary data is on hand before entering information into Portfolio Manager.
Reporting Instructions*: Step-by-step list tells building owners and managers how to submit their benchmarking information to the District from Portfolio Manager.
Agencies 
