In the U.K. since October 1st, 2008 public buildings over 1,000 m2 must display a Display Energy Certificate (DEC). DECs document the actual energy usage of a building and look similar to the energy labels provided on new cars and electrical appliances. In addition an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is required whan any building is built, rented or sold.
In the U.S. six cities and two states have passed laws requiring energy benchmarking of existing buildings. It is estimated that these laws will affect 4 billion ft2 of floor space in major real estate markets.
- California
- Washington State
- Washington, DC
- New York City
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Austin
- Philadelphia
Washington, D.C. was the first city to pass an energy benchmarking law. The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 required that all buildings owned by D.C. of 10,000 ft2 or more be energy benchmarked by 2009. Private non-residential buildings of at least 200,000 ft2 had to begin benchmarking annually starting in 2010. By 2013 all non-residential buildings of at least 50,000 square feet will require benchmarking.
New York City passed a benchmarking law in 2009 as part of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan. It requires that buildings owned by the city larger than 10,000 ft2 were required to initiate annual energy and water benchmarking by May 1, 2010. Private buildings with more than 50,000 ft2 had to begining benchmark their energy and water usage annually starting May 1, 2011.
In February 2011 the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, requiring energy audits and annual ENERGY STAR benchmarking and public disclosure for existing commercial buildings 10,000 ft2 or larger to annually benchmark and disclose energy performance to the public, and to have a detailed energy audit including recommendations for energy efficiency improvements conducted every five years.
In June 2012, Philadelphia passed a law that requires commercial buildings larger than 50,000 ft2 to report energy and water consumption to city government. A year from now owners will be required to begin benchmarking buildings. Based on the reported data, buildings will receive a green score, which will be publicly available online.
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