Building energy benchmarking and transparency

On this page

• Introduction
• Understanding the value of benchmarking and disclosure
• Key considerations for a successful benchmarking policy

Introduction

Canada’s buildings sector includes over 16 million residential dwellings and almost half a million commercial and institutional buildings. In 2021, it was the third-largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Canada, responsible for 13% of direct GHG emissions, or 87.2 megatons per year. When accounting for off-site generation of electricity for use in buildings, the total increases to around 18% and an even larger proportion of emissions are embedded in the materials and supply chains associated with the buildings and construction sector^{Footnote 1}. Benchmarking a building’s energy is a critical first step to understanding and improving energy performance and reducing our carbon footprint.

Measuring and accessing energy performance through benchmarking can help inform other government priorities and is an important initial step in identifying energy efficiency improvement opportunities. By adopting benchmarking policies, decision-makers can establish relationships with building owners (from this point forward, the term “building owner” will be used to indicate both building owner and/or operator) and learn more about the building stock in their jurisdiction.

Building benchmarking is gaining momentum in Canada as provincial, territorial, and municipal governments initiate voluntary programs and start establishing mandatory benchmarking policies for public, commercial, institutional, and multi-unit residential buildings. Realizing the importance of benchmarking as a means for successful energy management practices, governments are proactively pursuing activities using tools such as ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Building benchmarking can also be a basis for jurisdictions to adopt or implement building performance standards (BPS).

Many voluntary programs or mandatory benchmarking, labelling, and disclosure (BLD) policies require benchmarking data to be reported to the jurisdiction or the public. NRCan’s Model National Framework for Building Energy Benchmarking, Labelling, and Disclosure: Guidelines for Commercial and Institutional Buildings provides best practices, guidelines, infographics, and summary documents for buildings in the commercial and institutional sectors. Public transparency of benchmarking data allows prospective tenants and owners to understand the energy performance of buildings they may purchase, lease, or visit. There are ways to make benchmarking data accessible and transparent, including making it available through public websites, online comparative maps, or spreadsheets.

Request a copy of NRCan's Model National Framework for Building Energy Benchmarking, Labelling, and Disclosure: Guidelines for Commercial and Institutional Buildings

See NRCan’s Benchmarking and building performance standards web page for more information on benchmarking programs and policies in Canada.

Understanding the value of benchmarking and disclosure

While implementing a benchmarking policy alone does not automatically result in energy efficiency improvements, benchmarking informs decision-making and can support immediate and cost-effective ways to reduce energy consumption. Benchmarking provides an understanding of a building’s energy use, enabling building owners to manage what they use and measure. While many organizations benchmark voluntarily in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, some building owners may be unfamiliar with the benefits of benchmarking, and energy efficiency may not be a priority.

Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments that implement benchmarking policies create opportunities to improve energy performance, which can contribute towards Canada’s Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 and decarbonization targets. Other benefits for buildings sector stakeholders can also result, including:

• Building Owners. Potential for cost savings through reduced energy use and emission reductions.
• General Public. Reduced GHG emissions that lead to an improvement in indoor and outdoor air quality, the creation of local energy efficiency jobs, and the improvement of public health.
• Tenants/Residents. Access to information on building energy use, improved comfort and productivity, potential cost savings through lower utility bills, and increased tenant satisfaction.
• Governments. Gathered data that contributes to governmental priorities and goals, such as energy savings and GHG emission targets. Reduced demand and emissions from energy sources.

For more information on the benefits to occupants and communities, consult the Internal Energy Agency’s report on the Multiple Benefits of Energy Efficiency, IEA^{Footnote 2}.

Key considerations for a successful benchmarking policy

A benchmarking policy should meet the needs of a jurisdiction’s stakeholders while supporting the decarbonization efforts of provincial, territorial, or municipal governments. Key considerations that can support provincial, territorial, or municipal government decision-makers when considering the design of a benchmarking policy:

1. Learn from other jurisdictions

This information can be valuable to policymakers looking to determine the level of effort in terms of outreach and support required to launch a new benchmarking policy. See NRCan’s Benchmarking and building performance standards web page for examples of Benchmarking, Labelling, and Disclosure programs and policies in Canada.

2. Consider going beyond energy

Determine whether your benchmarking policy will focus exclusively on energy or also include reporting and disclosure of water use.

3. Ensure building owners have access to data

Access to data is essential for owners to be able to comply with the requirements of a policy. Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments can work with utility providers to ensure the necessary data is provided to building owners in a format that complements the benchmarking policy reporting requirements. See Data Access Solutions for additional information on opportunities and aggregated data in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Web Services opportunities and aggregated data.

4. Establish a reporting mechanism

The most common reporting approach under existing benchmarking requirements is for the provincial, territorial, or municipal government to set up a custom reporting template in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and to publish this as a Data Request. Building owners access the Data Request and report the data for each property for which they are required to do so, then submit their report to the jurisdiction. Portfolio Manager also offers a reporting approach called Property Sharing. Through this method, building owners share read-only access with an account set up by the provincial, territorial, or municipal government for reporting.

5. Align reporting deadlines with Portfolio Manager updates

Ensuring benchmarking reporting requirements are aligned with Portfolio Manager updates can help avoid disruptions during reporting cycles. Portfolio Manager undergoes two major updates each year, in mid-February and mid-August. NRCan suggests that deadlines be set at least one month before or one month after the scheduled Portfolio Manager updates.

6. Focus on data quality

Getting accurate benchmarking data is an ongoing process. Governments may want to consider how they will work to improve data quality over time, such as requiring building owners to run the data quality checker feature in Portfolio Manager or requiring that data be verified before submission.^{Footnote 3}

7. Set up for success in Portfolio Manager

NRCan can support provincial, territorial, or municipal governments so that they are set up for success in Portfolio Manager and can help to ensure that they are using the tool in the most effective way to achieve their goals. NRCan also ensures that free training and training resources are available to all jurisdictions to support awareness and uptake of benchmarking. See the resources below for more information.

8. Develop materials and mechanisms for compliance support

Jurisdictions need to develop simple, step-by-step guidance to help building owners through the process of how to comply with benchmarking requirements as well as one-on-one support. Focusing on common sources of potential data quality issues is a best practice.^{Footnote 4}

9. Seek support

NRCan’s Buildings Division provides support and guidance for policy development and implementation, including to ensure that reference to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and its metrics are accurate and actionable. NRCan can help provincial, territorial, and municipal governments understand how Portfolio Manager and its metrics work in the context of their goals and exchange best practices across governments. NRCan also publishes data snapshots and a registry of ENERGY STAR certified buildings, which can be used to help identify possible champions of a benchmarking policy in your jurisdiction.

Contact NRCan’s Buildings Division by email: buildings-batiments@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca