In order to manage your energy consumption, you must first understand it. Energy benchmarking is the ongoing review of your building’s energy consumption, which provides the data to encourage building operators to strive for continuous improvement and reductions in the use of energy. By engaging in ongoing energy benchmarking, you can:
- Identify poorly performing buildings
- Establish a baseline for measuring improvement in energy consumption
- Enhance and create competition through comparison with similar buildings
- Earn a rating or gain recognition for having a high-performance building
- Make a business case for efficiency investments
- Track how current projects are expected to save energy, money, etc.
- See how a certain building compares to a portfolio or peer group.
- Assess a building’s performance before you buy/lease it
- Present building performance to a potential buyer or lender
- Set targets for improved performance
- Facilitate assessment of property value and marketing rental properties
The ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool helps you measure and track the energy and water use of your buildings, all in a secure online environment. You can use the results to compare your building with other similar Canadian buildings, identify under-performing buildings, set investment priorities, verify efficiency improvements, and receive recognition for being a high-performance building. Visit ENERGY STAR® to get started with energy benchmarking.
Check out our ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager FAQ for more information.
Learn more with the Natural Resources Canada Energy Benchmarking Primer.