Energy Benchmarking
The benchmarking reporting deadline has been extended to July 1, 2019 for submitting 2018 data.
Seattle's Energy Benchmarking Program (SMC 22.920) requires owners of non-residential and multifamily buildings (20,000 sf or larger) to track energy performance and annually report to the City of Seattle by April 1st of each year.
How to Comply
Benchmark with ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager to annually report by April 1st. Learn about disclosure and enforcement.
Save Energy
Compare your building's energy performance to others in Seattle and get started saving energy and money.
Why Benchmarking is Required
Learn more about the ordinance, our data analysis and reports, and how Seattle benefits from benchmarking.
NEWS
Check Compliance Status Online
Once you have completed the Annual Update Checklist, you can check your building's compliance status at the new Seattle Energy Benchmarking Compliance Portal.
Verification will be required for buildings with possible errors. The City of Seattle is now identifying annual benchmarking reports with possible errors and requiring further review. This applies to buildings with either extremely low or high energy use (outliers), buildings that could be missing a fuel or meters, and buildings with potential errors in reporting square footage.
Click Here to Check Compliance
Upcoming Training!
The The City of Seattle is offering a free Energy Benchmarking 101 training for participants that are new to the energy benchmarking process or want a refresher. Participants will learn how to benchmark their building's energy performance using the free online tool ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to support compliance with the City of Seattle's annual benchmarking and reporting requirement. Participants will also learn about the benchmarking process and local utility services available to auto-upload energy consumption data from Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy and Enwave. Participants are encouraged to bring data from their own building to the session. A data collection sheet will be emailed to you prior to the workshop. Sample building data will be available for participants who do not bring their own data.
Register here for the 4/25/2019 Training
2017 Building Energy Performance Data Now Available
Seattle's Energy Benchmarking Ordinance directs the City to annually share building-specific data with the public beginning with 2015 data. Building data is now available online for 2015, 2016, and 2017.
- Find additional information on data transparency and summary data tables here.
- Explore the 2015, 2016 and 2017 data on our data visualization site here.
Benchmarking Analysis Summary Report for 2014-2016 Data
The Office of Sustainability and Environment released a summary report that highlights key building energy and emissions metrics for buildings that benchmark their buildings. The report shows that benchmarked buildings have reduced emissions and saved energy from 2014 to 2016, but that the City's building boom means more savings are needed to meet our ambitious climate goals.
- Explore the report here.
- If you have questions, please contact us at energybenchmarking@seattle.gov.
Updated 1-100 ENERGY STAR Scores
The U.S. EPA updated performance metrics in Portfolio Manager in August 2018. Refreshing the ENERGY STAR scale and other related performance metrics is part of EPA's procedure to keep pace with current U.S. building performance. The August 2018 update reflects market performance per the latest U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) survey. ENERGY STAR scores, on average, decreased as most building types in the United States over the last ten plus years have become more energy efficient.
For more information and details on the Portfolio Manager ENERGY STAR score updates and review process visit www.energystar.gov/scoreupdates.