Office of Sustainability

Benchmarking FAQs

What is benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a method of tracking energy usage of buildings in order to measure its environmental impact.

How do I comply with this ordinance?

The page “How to Benchmark” will show step by step instructions on how to comply with this ordinance.

What is Energy Star Portfolio Manager?

Energy Star Portfolio Manager is the EPA’s tool that enables you to benchmark the energy use of any type of building, all in a secure online environment. Nearly 25% of U.S. commercial building space is already actively benchmarking in Portfolio Manager, making it the industry-leading benchmarking tool. It also serves as the national benchmarking tool in Canada.

Energy Star’s site has information on how to use Energy Star Portfolio Manager, (https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/training) including trainings, how-to guides, webinars and slide libraries.

Other important resources from Energy Star about Benchmarking Ordinance Compliance:

Data collection worksheet

Basics of Benchmarking | Complying with Ordinances

A Beginner’s Guide to Using Portfolio Manager for Benchmarking Law Compliance

Is there a due date for compliance?

Yes. The compliance due date for buildings over 100k square feet is October 1st, 2024. The compliance due date for buildings over 25k square feet is June 1st, 2025.

This ordinance requires annual reporting for all future years, with a due date of June 1st.

How do I connect my Energy Star Portfolio Manager account to the City of Detroit?

1. Add your Detroit Building ID in Energy Star Portfolio Manager

Find your Detroit Building ID for your covered property using the Look up tool
On the property page, select Details
On the left side, under Unique Identifiers (IDs), select Edit.
Under Standard ID(s), enter the following information

NAME: Detroit Building ID

ID: [Your Detroit Building ID]

Select Save

2. Connect your account to the City of Detroit

You are required to submit your benchmarking report within ENERGY TAR Portfolio Manager. To do so, you must be “connected” to the City of Detroit.

Click Contracts in the upper right-hand of the screen. The directory shows your current list of contacts.
Click Add Contact.
Search for Detroit Benchmarking Reporting.
Select Connect

You should receive a notification email of a successful connection to the City of Detroit.

How do I report my annual usage data to the city?

Option One: Sharing your property with the City of Detroit (Recommended)

You can streamline the submission process by sharing your covered property with the City of Detroit. This is a one-time step that you can take to have your annual submission automated in future years. It only requires one-tie action to share data and it easily shares updated information if there are any errors or warnings to correct.

Step 4.5 Sharing your property with the City of Detroit

Select the Sharing Tab
Click Share with your Utility or Service Provider for Exchanging Data
Select the properties you want to share from the drop-down menu
Select Detroit Benchmarking Reporting
Select Read Only and Share Property(ies)

What information do I need to know about my building?

To set up any building in Energy Star Portfolio Manager, you will need to know your buildings property type, total square footage, and the year it was built. You can use Energy Star Portfolio Manager's data collection worksheet to find what information you need based on your specific building type.

To set up data automation, you will need to know account and meter numbers for your utilities.

To connect your building to the City of Detroit, you need to know your Detroit Building ID, which can be found using the Benchmarking look up tool.

Will information about my building become public?

Your building’s location, compliance and EUI will be published in October of 2025.

Advancing Climate Action in Detroit

Resources

LEARN MORE ABOUT SOLAR

News & Events

Climate Strategy

Climate Strategy

Downloads

Benchmarking FAQ

Benchmarking FAQs

Documents

How to Benchmark document

DCS Executive Summary as a PDF

Detroit Climate Strategy

Detroit Solar Toolkit City Policies Report

Detroit Solar Toolkit Solar 101

DCS Community Guidelines

Forms

Contact Benchmarking Support

Contact Benchmarking Support

Contact Benchmarking Support

Solar Neighborhood Initiative

Sustainability Action Agenda

Energy and Water Benchmarking Ordinance

Powering the City with Solar

Office of Sustainability

Advancing Climate Action in Detroit

Resources

LEARN MORE ABOUT SOLAR

News & Events

Related Links

Climate Strategy

Climate Strategy

Downloads

Documents

Forms