City of Providence’s Climate Goals Require Large Buildings to Report Energy Usage
Questions? Email providence-benchmarking@beam-portal.org with any questions or comments about benchmarking (primary contact between City and Covered Property owners)
City of Providence law requires large buildings to report energy usage known as Energy Benchmarking. Energy benchmarking compares your building’s energy use to similar buildings and past consumption. It can help turn the information on your utility bill into cost-saving energy efficiency improvements.
Taking the first step is easy: complete a 5-minute survey. This will enable the Department of Sustainability to provide you support to comply by the benchmarking deadline of May 15, 2025.
El Primer Paso es Fácil. Complete una encuesta de 5 minutos. Esto permitirá que el Departamento de Sostenibilidad le brinde apoyo para ingresar el ingresar el consumo anual de energía antes de la fecha de limite—el 15 de mayo de 2025.
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
ORD-2023-35 amending Chapter 5 “Buildings and Structural Appurtenances” of the Code of Ordinances to add Article X “Building Energy Reporting Program” was passed by Providence City Council and approved by Mayor Smiley on November 8, 2023. The purpose and intent of the Building Energy Reporting Program is to create a data collection process and establish a database to enable municipal tracking of energy use of large buildings in the City of Providence, as well as to:
-To encourage efficient use of energy and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by requiring annual measurement and disclosure to the City of building energy usage;
-To enable more effective energy and climate mitigation planning by the City, the state, and large building owners;
-To gather data necessary for informing the design and implementation of municipal progran1s to meet the science-based targets in the statewide Act on Climate legislation.
-To provide the public with information concerning the City’s and others’ energy consumption, improvement in energy efficiency, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissi0ns.
BENCHMARKING-
Municipal Properties–No later than May 15, 2024 and by May 15 thereafter, the City, by the Director of the Department of Sustainability or their designee, shall input annual energy use from January 1st through December 31st of the previous calendar year and all other descriptive information required by the Benchmarking Tool, into the Benchmarking Tool for each of its covered properties. Where a Covered Property’s Benchmarking Information in the Benchmarking Tool has fallen out of date, said Benchmarking Information shall be updated no later than the annual reporting date.
Covered Properties–Owners of Covered Properties shall input annual energy use from January 1st through December 31st of the previous calendar year and all other descriptive information required by the Benchmarking Tool, into the Benchmarking Tool, according to the following schedule:
-For buildings that contain 50,000 or more gross square feet, no later than May 15, 2025 and by every May 15 thereafter;
-For buildings that contain 20,000 to 49,999 gross square feet, no later than May 15, 2026 and by every May 15 thereafter;
-Following the receipt of Certificate of Occupancy, a new Covered Property that has not yet accumulated 12 months of energy use data by the first applicable reporting deadline shall comply with this Ordinance in the following year.
Notification of Covered Properties–Between September 15 and December 15 of each year, the City shall notify Owners of Covered Properties of their obligation to input Energy use into the Benchmarking Tool. By January 31 of each year, the City shall post a list of the addresses of Covered Properties. The list shall be published in the Office of the City Clerk and on the Department of Sustainability’s City webpage.
Reports