Building Benchmarking

Reducing building energy use is the most important step that Oak Park can take to take action on climate change and reach the community’s Climate Ready Oak Park goals.

In Oak Park, energy used by commercial buildings creates one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, which trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and cause climate change.

Building energy benchmarking refers to measuring a building’s energy use (and in some cases water use and waste disposal) and comparing it to the energy use of similar buildings, its own historical energy use, or a reference performance level. Dozens of state and local governments and industry associations have initiated benchmarking policies and programs.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that buildings that benchmark energy achieve average annual energy savings of 2.4 percent - resulting in real cost savings for building owners. For example, a 500,000-square-foot office building achieving 2.4 percent savings for three consecutive years could realize cumulative energy cost savings totaling $120,000 and an increased asset value of over $1 million.

The Village of Oak Park's benchmarking ordinance applies to buildings larger than 10,000 square feet in Gross Floor Area (“Covered Buildings”). This is expected to be approximately 250 Oak Park buildings. Residential buildings with less than four units are exempted from this policy. 

Every year, Covered Buildings will report their total energy use for the previous year, for the whole building. Energy use for individual tenants will not need to be reported separately. The data will be reported through the U.S. EPA’s free online tool, Portfolio Manager. Every three years, the Covered Building reports will be reviewed to ensure data quality.

The following year, the Village of Oak Park will publicly report the Building Benchmark report data, including Energy Star scores for the Covered Buildings. This allows the recognition and reward of buildings with superior energy performance.

• Engagements with building owners to finalize the benchmarking policy and program;
• Hands-on workshops to assist in setting up buildings in Portfolio Manager and creating automatic connections to utility data;
• Trainings and how-to guides; and
• A live support online help desk.  

Participants are asked to please plan on attending at least the first 90 minutes at a minimum. It is highly recommended to set aside time for the remaining 90 minutes. The assistance available and dedicated work time will allow participants to efficiently complete their benchmarking.

• Oak Park benchmarking ordinance
• Midwest Energy Benchmarking (MEEA)
• Portfolio Manager QuickStart Guide
• Illinois Energy Benchmarking Services and Verification Resources (IL Green Alliance)
• U.S. EPA Benchmarking Toolkit
• ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
• Free ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Training Materials