Benchmarking 101 + Help Session – May 2023

REGISTER for this FREE Benchmarking 101 and Help Session!
Presented in partnership with Building Energy Exchange St. Louis & the City of St. Louis’ Office of Building Performance

We will start with a presentation to cover the basics of benchmarking, how to use the free, online benchmarking tool ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, provide an overview of the City of St. Louis’ benchmarking requirements and how to report data to the City. Then we’ll break to provide one-on-one assistance with benchmarking your building’s energy and water use. See below for what you should bring if you need one-on-one assistance!

Please note: this presentation is free and open to anyone who wants to learn about benchmarking and saving money on energy bills. You need not own a building in the City of St. Louis to attend – you can even bring your home energy bill to practice benchmarking!

What is Benchmarking?
Benchmarking is the process of tracking your building’s energy and/or water use and comparing your performance to similar buildings and to past performance. Benchmarking is the first step in determining how to conserve resources, reduce operating costs, and reduce environmental impacts. ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is the tool that the City of St. Louis and many, many other use for benchmarking a building’s energy, water and waste. It is a free and secure online tool that tracks energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Any building can use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to understand their energy, water, and waste performance – schools, governments, congregations, businesses and retail stores.

About the City of St. Louis’s Building Energy Awareness Ordinance (Benchmarking Requirements) 
On January 27, 2017, the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen unanimously passed an energy benchmarking ordinance that requires municipal, institutional, commercial and multifamily residential buildings whose square footage is equal to or greater than 50,000 to track and report their energy and water usage annually to the City’s Building Division (Office of Building Performance). Privately owned buildings are required to benchmark and submit data by May 1 of each year using the free, online tool ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Full details about the Building Energy Awareness Ordinance are available at www.stlbenchmarking.com.

REGISTER

To Bring if You Need Assistance with Benchmarking:
In order for this event to be a success, each building representative needing one-on-one assistance should bring:

• Laptop or Tablet
• Energy Use Data – Attendees should bring at least 13 consecutive months of utility bills for all fuel types used in the building. Bring the number of units of each energy type used, not just the dollar amount of the utility fee.
  • Access historical utility data using your past bills, or by setting up accounts on your utility websites: www.amerenmissouri.com and www.spireenergy.com.
• Water Use Data: Attendees should bring water usage and cost data for a period that covers at least 13 consecutive months
  • Access historical utility data using your past bills, or by setting up an account on the St. Louis City Water Division’s website: www.stlwater.com
• Property Use Details:
  • All properties:
  • Property Name
  • Property Address
  • Total Gross Floor Area of Property. Don’t know your GFA? Check St. Louis City’s Property Database.
  • Year Built
  • Additional required information varies by building type. Refer to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s Data Collection Worksheet.

Consent to Use of Photographic Images:
Registration/attendance at, or participation in Missouri Gateway Green Building Council programs and activities constitutes an agreement by the registrants to allow the organization to use and distribute (both now and in the future) the attendee’s image, in photographs, video, and electronic reproductions of such events and activities.