City of Seattle to commercial building owners: Thou shalt be efficient!!

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The city of Seattle, Washington, has cranked up its campaign for energy efficiency in commercial buildings by launching the second phase of its Building Energy Benchmarking and Reporting program. The owners of commercial non-residential buildings over 10,000 square feet and multifamily buildings with five or more units have until April 1, 2012 to meet the compliance deadline. Earlier, the owners of non-residential buildings 50,000 square feet or larger were required to do the same.  

Owners are required by ordinance to perform annual energy performance audits through EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager and provide that information to current or prospective tenants, buyers or lenders involved in a real estate transaction, lease or application for financing or refinancing the building.

By requiring owners and managers to permit the city to download the information, the city can monitor progress in achieving efficiency goals, pinpoint market sectors with the most needs and opportunities and help guide development of future policies and incentives. The measures also will, the city says, yield a more informed market with the ability to compare building performance and future operating costs between similar facilities and help with leasing, purchasing and financing decisions.

Sounds harsh, but the city says there are good reasons for being pushy on the issue: 26% of Seattle's greenhouse gas emissions come from energy use in buildings, and an informed market is an effective way to drive energy efficiency improvements. Also, the mandate supports the city's Green Building Capital Initiative goal of reducing emissions from the city's building stock by 20%.

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