Energy and Water Benchmarking Outreach

In November of 2023, the Detroit City Counsel unanimously passed the Benchmarking Ordinance, requiring buildings with over 25,000 square feet of space to annually report their energy and water usage to the City.

This ordinance aligns with the 2019 Detroit Action Agenda, the 2023 Detroit Climate Strategy, the 2022 MI Healthy Climate Plan, and the 2016 UN Paris Agreement. 

The first step to improvement is measurement. Benchmarking energy and water usage is the first step to reducing energy and water waste, and green house gas emissions.

Benchmarking buildings is a massive step in sustainability, as residential and commercial buildings account for more than 35% of Greenhouse Gas emissions in the City of Detroit, according to the 2023 Detroit Climate Strategy. That’s over 1/3 of emissions in the City of Detroit!

Benchmarking and energy use tracking alone is a proven way to save energy! According to the EPA, buildings that benchmark their energy realize an average energy savings of 2.4% a year.