The Energy Department has released two resources to help stakeholders analyze the energy, non-energy, and market transformation impacts of building energy benchmarking policies and programs. The first is a handbook that provides methodologies for jurisdictions to use to analyze the impact of their benchmarking policies and programs. The second resource demonstrates the methodologies using real data from New York City’s benchmarking ordinance, Local Law 84 (LL84).
The DOE Benchmarking & Transparency Policy and Program Impact Evaluation Handbook provides cost-effective, standardized analytic methods for determining gross and net energy reduction and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation. The Handbook is a “how-to” guide with procedures and data requirements, permitting any jurisdiction or interested party to assess benchmarking polices in a consistent manner.
DOE also sponsored the New York City Benchmarking and Transparency Policy Impact Evaluation Report, which uses the methodologies detailed in the Handbook to evaluate results to date from New York City’s benchmarking policy, LL84. The report finds that between 2010 and 2013, the first four years of LL84 buildings covered by the ordinance, the buildings reduced their energy use by 5.7 percent and lowered their GHG emissions by 8.3 percent.