More building owners are submitting benchmarking data to the city as required by Local Law 84, but a significant percentage are not yet in compliance.
According to the recently released 2013 benchmarking report, which covers 2012, Manhattan still has the highest compliance rate with 81% as well as the highest number of covered buildings. Staten Island, the borough with the fewest buildings covered by the law, counts only 42% of covered buildings in compliance.
Last year, the low compliance rates in low-performing boroughs were thought to be the result of an awareness gap, which Manhattan was able to mostly avoid due to its density of covered buildings and related communication between owners.
To combat this phenomenon, the office of Mayor Michael Bloomberg coordinated with two local utilities, Consolidated Edison and the National Grid, to improve the quality of whole-building aggregate information for both energy and water, as well as the payment process for requesting data. The city also developed outreach materials that included tutorials, a guide for first-timers, and a refresher course for building owners who benchmarked the first year.
Goals for next year include continuing installation of automated meter reading equipment and developing a standard practice guideline for measuring gross floor area, which is required for benchmarking with the EPA’s Portfolio Manager tool.
