Energy and Water Benchmarking in California

State Benchmarking Ordinance

California Building Energy Benchmarking Program (AB-802) requires owners of commercial and multifamily buildings with more than 50,000 square feet of gross floor area to report energy use to the California Energy Commission by June 1 annually. Many California cities and municipalities are exempt due to having their own, often stricter, ordinances. Buildings in the cities listed below are exempt from the state ordinance.

Municipalities

Berkeley, CA: Berkeley’s Building Emissions Saving Ordinance (BESO) requires property owners to complete assessments of their building’s energy performance and opportunities for improvement.

Brisbane, CA: The Brisbane Building Efficiency Program (BBEP) adopted in December 2019, requires annual energy and water benchmarking and reporting.

Chula Vista, CA: The Building Energy Saving Ordinance adopted in 2021 requires owners of multi-family, commercial, and industrial buildings 20,000 square feet and larger to submit an annual benchmarking report.

Los Angeles, CA: The first phase of the Ordinance requires annual benchmarking and reporting of buildings’ energy and water consumption. Beginning in 2021, privately owned buildings of more than 20,000 square feet in the City of Los Angeles must achieve certain efficiency targets or perform audits and retro-commissioning.

San Diego, CA: The San Diego City Council passed the  Building Energy Benchmarking Ordinance in February 2019. The ordinance requires commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet and multifamily and mixed-use buildings greater than 50,000 square feet and with 17 or more residential accounts to submit an annual energy benchmarking report.

San José, CA: The City of San José voted to adopt the Energy and Water Building Performance Ordinance (BPO) in 2018. Starting in 2023, buildings are required to meet energy and water efficiency standards on a rolling 5-year basis or perform improvements if standards are not met.

San Francisco, CA: The Ordinance applies to non-residential buildings with a gross floor area of 10,000 square feet or more and residential buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger. All buildings are required to benchmark energy use; for commercial buildings, the ordinance also requires an energy audit or a plan to reduce carbon emissions.