Case study: ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® Web Services: City of Vancouver

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is a free tool for measuring, tracking, and benchmarking building energy consumption data, allowing building managers to evaluate the energy performance of their buildings against similar buildings in Canada.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager web services provides a way for a utility or service provider to exchange data directly with the Portfolio Manager database, eliminating the need for manual data entry. Portfolio Manager web services is a free, flexible application programming interface (API) designed to help service providers build web services that fit their unique needs. These services may be as simple as basic calls to send energy use data to Portfolio Manager to automatically update customers’ meter data, or a comprehensive system fully integrated into an app that customers can use to monitor their energy use, view their ENERGY STAR scores, or track progress toward energy goals on their mobile devices.

Portfolio Manager web services was introduced in Canada in 2013 and is used by several utilities, energy service providers, and utility bill aggregators. 

About the proponents

City of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver’s Annual Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and Energy Limits By-Law, which started in 2024, establishes GHG emission and heat energy intensity limits for existing large commercial and multifamily buildings. Owners and managers of buildings covered by the by-law must provide an annual energy and carbon report to the City.

The City of Vancouver uses Portfolio Manager web services to streamline data exchange between various stakeholders, including building owners and managers, utility service providers, and third-party platforms.

In the first year of implementation (2024), owners and managers of 182 large commercial buildings, representing almost 4.37 million square meters of floor space, were required to report their building energy use and GHG emissions for 2023.

Utilities and other service providers

• BC Hydro can provide building electricity consumption data through Portfolio Manager web services, including aggregated data for commercial buildings with three or more accounts, multi-unit residential buildings with five or more residential accounts, and mixed-use buildings that have three or more commercial accounts and five or more residential accounts. If the number of accounts is below these thresholds, aggregated data may be provided with the permission of each individual account holder in the building.
• FortisBC can provide natural gas consumption data for a single meter through Portfolio Manager web services. FortisBC is expected to be able to provide aggregated natural gas consumption data through Portfolio Manager web services, sometime later this year, for buildings with 11 or more accounts.
• Touchstone IQ, a private software company, developed the City of Vancouver’s Building Performance Reporting System (BPRS). The BPRS is integrated with Portfolio Manager web services, allowing building owners and managers to link their Portfolio Manager account with the BPRS as part of the reporting requirements of the by-law.

Benefits of web services

City of Vancouver

The benefits of web services to the City of Vancouver include:

• Increased reporting compliance: In 2024, the by-law had a compliance rate of over 92%, thanks in part to the ease of utility data sharing through web services, which was used by over 60% of respondents.
• Reduced workload: Web services helped reduce the workload required to validate data submitted by building owners and managers because the data comes directly from the utility and any changes are highlighted, assuring data integrity and eliminating manual entry errors.

Utilities and other service providers

By offering services to exchange data with Portfolio Manager, utilities and other energy service providers can:

• Add value to their service offerings: They are better able to serve their clients' needs and differentiate themself from the competition by making it easier for their clients to input building energy data into Portfolio Manager.
• Access new sources of market intelligence: This service will provide additional business intelligence that can be used to develop and target demand-side management and incentive programs.
• Meet demand-side management goals: Identifying poor energy performers will help in the development of targeted conservation initiatives and help customers evaluate energy-saving options.
• Improve customer relations: Helping customers save time, energy and money, and ensuring they stay ahead of the curve will boost customer satisfaction as more jurisdictions follow the lead of the City of Vancouver and move toward mandatory benchmarking and disclosure policies.
• Gain recognition as an innovator: Organizations can gain recognition as industry leaders by being among the first to offer this service in Canada.

Building owners and managers

The benefits of web services to building owners and managers include:

• Automated energy use data entry: Having utility data directly synced with Portfolio Manager eliminates the task of organizing and manually entering energy use data, making compliance with regulations like by-laws easier. For organizations that manage many buildings, the benefits of data exchange are even greater, as the amount of data that would have to be entered manually would be quite high.
• Simplified participation in energy benchmarking programs: Building owners and managers can easily share their property profile with other benchmarking programs that are integrated with Portfolio Manager, such as the Building Benchmark BC program, a free voluntary building energy benchmarking and disclosure program for property owners in British Columbia.

Related links

• Data exchange with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager web services

Contact us

For any further inquiries, email: buildings-batiments@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.

The ENERGY STAR name and symbol are trademarks registered in Canada by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and are administered and promoted by Natural Resources Canada.