Assembly Bill 802 (Williams, 2015) directed the California Energy Commission to create a statewide building energy use benchmarking and public disclosure program for buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. The Commission's regulations require building owners to report building characteristic information and energy use data to the Commission by June 1 annually, beginning in 2018 for buildings with no residential utility accounts, and in 2019 for buildings with 17 or more residential utility accounts. Building owners will complete their reporting using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a free online tool provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Assembly Bill 802 also requires, effective January 1, 2017, that energy utilities provide building-level energy use data to building owners, owners' agents, and operators upon request for buildings with no residential utility accounts and for buildings with five or more utility accounts.
Under the law, building owners (or authorized agents) are allowed to obtain the total energy use data for their building, in most cases without obtaining authorization from their tenants. A Tenant Consent Form is required when:
- Building has fewer than 3 commercial active utility accounts
- Building has fewer than 5 active utility accounts and at least one of which is residential
Individual, tenant-specific meter data will be made available to building owners with individual consent and authorization from each tenant in the building.
VPU will provide aggregated, whole-building data within 15 days of receipt of the Building Energy Use & Public Disclosure Program form and Tenant Consent Form, if required.
Please submit forms to VPU Customer Service at CustomerService@CityofVernon.org or fax to (323) 826-1431.
About Benchmarking
Benchmarking is a means of measuring a building’s energy and water use and comparing it to the average use of similar buildings. It allows owners and occupants to understand their building’s performance and identify opportunities to cut energy and water waste by being more energy and water efficient.
When you Benchmark your buildings using Portfolio Manager it will help you:
- Assess the current energy performance of individual buildings
- Rate the energy consumption of your building as compared to similar buildings
- Verify and track progress of improvement projects over time
- Apply for and earn ENERGY STAR® recognition
- Comply with the California AB 802 Building Energy Use Disclosure and Public Benchmarking law for disclosable buildings.
VPU has a variety of energy efficiency and water conservation programs to help our commercial and industrial customers save. For more information, go to Save Money.
More Information and Program Support
Additional information and training on the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager can be found at the following U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR links: