Did you know?
Buildings account for over 70% of Providence’s carbon footprint. The City of Providence has set a goal to become a carbon-neutral city by 2050, pledging to adhere to the Paris Agreement and tackle the climate crisis. Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings is critical to achieving these goals. Providence’s Sustainable Providence Plan and the Climate Justice Plan both point to reporting and disclosing energy use in buildings as an essential strategy for reducing climate pollution. Over 30 municipalities and two states have passed benchmarking policies that require buildings to measure and report their energy use. The City then discloses that data publicly, bringing transparency to the marketplace and unlocking the economic, health, and environmental benefits of energy efficiency.
About the Ordinance
BUILDING ENERGY REPORTING ORDINANCE requires large commercial, institutional, and multifamily building owners to use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to assess their buildings’ energy performance and report energy use information to the City, which then verifies and discloses that data to the public. Over thirty other cities across the U.S. such as Boston, Portland (ME), Pittsburg, Saint Louis, Kansas City, and Orlando have successfully adopted similar policies that help conserve energy.
COMPLIANCE IS EASY AND BENEFICIAL – The ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool is simple to use and is free of charge. It provides standardized and easily understood data by which building performance can be compared. Providence professionals are knowledgeable in Portfolio Manager and are ready to take action. The City has been using this tool to benchmark its buildings since 2010. It is also used by building owners in the PowerPVD Energy Challenge Program, as well as by the state and other utility energy programs.
BENCHMARKING SAVES – There is strong evidence that ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager helps drive energy efficiency improvements. For the 35,000 buildings that used the tool to benchmark energy performance from 2008 to 2011, average energy use declined by 7 percent. Furthermore, through the use of ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, building owners often discover that they can cut energy use by 20 to 30 percent with very short payback periods. This level of energy savings means big money and a big impact to our economy, environment, and public health.