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Energy Benchmarking and EPA Energy Star

City of Chicago Energy Benchmarking

The City of Chicago's initial Energy Benchmarking ordinance, adopted in 2013, requires building owners or managers of properties 50,000 square feet or greater to measure and report whole-building energy use once a year, and have the data verified once every three years.

Learn more about City of Chicago Energy Benchmarking.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

BOMA/Chicago supports the practice of energy benchmarking through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager.

Portfolio Manager is an interactive energy management tool that allows commercial buildings to track and assess energy and water consumption for a single building or across an entire portfolio of buildings in a secure online environment.

Some buildings will also receive an ENERGY STAR score.  The ENERGY STAR score is a benchmark that indicates how efficiently buildings use energy on a 1-100 scale. A score of 50 indicates that energy performance is average compared to similar buildings, while a score of 75 or better indicates top performance, and means a building may be eligible to earn the ENERGY STAR label.

Learn more about ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Temporary Suspension of Some Certifications

ENERGY STAR certification is suspended for some property types, including Office buildings, while the EPA temporarily focuses on a review of the scores released in August 2018. Learn more on this temporary suspension on the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager website.