Better Buildings Benchmarking

The Better Buildings Benchmarking Program, established by Honolulu's Ordinance 22-17, requires large commercial and multi-family buildings on Oʻahu to annually measure and report their energy and water usage. This initiative aims to enhance building performance, reduce operating costs, and contribute to the city's goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.

Ordinance 22-17, signed into law on July 20, 2022, mandates the creation of the Better Buildings Benchmarking Program. It requires specified buildings to track and report their energy and water consumption annually to the City and County of Honolulu. (https://www.resilientoahu.org/benchmarking)

Benchmarking allows building owners and managers to monitor energy and water consumption over time, compare performance with similar buildings, identify inefficiencies, and implement improvements to reduce waste and costs. It also supports Honolulu's efforts to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Compliance is phased based on building size:

• Buildings ≥100,000 square feet: Reporting began in 2023.

• Buildings ≥50,000 square feet: Reporting starts by September 30, 2024.

• Buildings ≥25,000 square feet: Reporting begins by June 30, 2025.

The Better Building Benchmarking Ordinance (Ordinance 22-17) is a City & County of Honolulu (C&C) ordinance. That means only Oahu buildings are required to comply with the ordinance.

Yes, exemptions include:

• Single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.

• Buildings under 25,000 square feet.

• Industrial properties classified under SIC codes 20 through 39.

• Government buildings not subject to this ordinance.

Owners must report information about the property along with whole-building energy usage (electricity, gas, and solar energy) and water consumption for the previous calendar year using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool. To create a worksheet that the lists the information you will need, click on the following link: https://portfoliomanager.energystar.gov/pm/dataCollectionWorksheet.

Building owners can request aggregated energy consumption data from Hawaiian Electric and Hawaii Gas to facilitate reporting. Water usage data can be obtained from the Board of Water Supply. To obtain usage from the utilities you must do the following:

·       Hawaiian Electric - Use the City & County of Honolulu’s (C&C) auto utility upload found at bbb.utility.touchstoneiq.com.

·       Hawaii Gas – Email request to bbb@hawaiigas.com.

Board of Water Supply – Email request to customerservice@hbws.org.

An Oʻahu Building ID is a unique identifier assigned by the C&C to each building for benchmarking purposes. Owners can find their building's ID on the Covered Buildings List provided by the C&C's benchmarking program. If a benchmarking report is submitted to the C&C without a building ID, it will not be accepted. C&C needs benchmarking reports to have a building ID so it know which building the benchmarking report relates to.

Deadlines are as follows:

• Buildings ≥100,000 square feet: June 30, 2023.

• Buildings ≥50,000 square feet: September 30, 2024.

• Buildings ≥25,000 square feet: June 30, 2025.

Better Buildings Benchmarking is an annual requirement. Once you start filing, you must keep filing every year.

No. Once you have created the property inside of EnergyStar Portfolio Manager and entered all the energy and water usage you must then generate and submit the report to the C&C. C&C’s website, www.resilientoahu.org/benchmarking, will have the link to generate and submit a benchmarking report for the current period. For any past due reports, you must request the reporting link from the C&C.

No. The C&C has no access to your EnergyStar Portfolio Manager account. The system is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the C&C does not have administrative privileges to the system. You will either need to get the credentials from the previous property manager or start from scratch.

You can avoid this situation by using Hong Consulting to generate and submit your benchmarking reports. The firm will have access to your data even if your building changes property managers and can ensure that you are compliant year after year.

Yes, non-compliance may result in fines up to $1,000, with additional fines of $100 per day for each day the benchmarking information is not reported, not to exceed $5,000 per facility per reporting year.

Benchmarking helps identify opportunities for energy and water efficiency improvements, leading to cost savings. It also enhances property value and aligns with sustainability goals, benefiting both owners and tenants.

For detailed information and assistance, visit the City and County of Honolulu's benchmarking website at www.resilientoahu.org/benchmarking.

For personalized assistance, Hong Consulting, LLC offers expertise in sustainability reporting and compliance with Ordinance 22-17. Contact Adrian Hong at adrianhong@hongconsultingllc.com or visit www.hongconsultingllc.com for more information.