Benchmarking

 

Energy benchmarking is an important tool for managing building energy use. At its core, benchmarking tracks energy use over time and allows comparison of energy performance to a building’s past performance and to other similar buildings. It helps identify abnormalities in energy use as well as areas for improvement. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), buildings reduce energy use by an average of 2.4% per year when benchmarking is done consistently over time.

The Better Buildings Challenge – Milwaukee program utilizes ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® to help buildings benchmark their performance and to track participant progress for awards. The program provides educational and technical help sessions through our partner USGBC Wisconsin and sets up accounts for buildings that are eligible for assessments.

Benefits:

• Visualize your building's energy use
• Compare your building to similar buildings
• Track your energy use over time to help identify abnormalities
• Utilize BBC resources to improve operations and energy use
• Allow City of Milwaukee to recognize your building for energy reduction accomplishments
• Opportunity to receive ENERGY STAR® certification

 

Next Steps:

1. Take the pledge to join the Better Buildings Challenge
2. Fill out the setup form provided to allow our program partners to create your ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® account or share your existing account (see instructions below)
3. Fill out the utility and water release forms to allow the program partners to populate your account data
4. Attend an educational and technical help session hosted by USGBC to receive account use and interpretation assistance
   • Next upcoming session: Thursday, March 1, 2018 (details TBD)
5. Perform basic data entry moving forward

 

FAQ:

Who can view my property's ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® account?

• You can view which users your property is shared with and what their access level is in your property's "Summary" tab in Portfolio Manager®
• The Better Buildings Challenge requires managing your building’s energy data through the ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® free online system, and sharing your data with US Department of Energy. Accounts set up through the Better Buildings Challenge will automatically be shared with the following contacts:
  • USERNAME: CITY-OF-MILWAUKEE
    • CONTACT NAME: "Erick Shambarger"
  • USERNAME: DOE-BBC-MILWAUKEE
    • CONTACT NAME: "Milwaukee BBC Account"

 

Is my building data confidential?

• Absolutely - accounts have "read only" access to allow for tracking current results and progress toward the Milwaukee Better Buildings Challenge goal of 20% energy use reduction over 10 years
• No additional users have access to your account unless you add them

 

I already have an ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® account, how can I share my data with the City to join the Better Buildings Challenge?

1. Log in to your Portfolio Manager® account and locate the Contacts link on the top right corner of the page.
2. On the Contacts page, click the Add Contact button.
3. Enter the account name DOE-BBC-Milwaukee in the text box marked Username: in the Find Contact in Portfolio Manager section. Then click Search.
4. DOE-BBC-Milwaukee will appear in the Search Results section on the next page. Click the Connect button. A notification will be sent to DOE. Once the connection request is accepted, you will be able to share properties with the Challenge.
5. Once the connection has been made, click on the Sharing tab and then click Share a Property.
6. Select the number of properties that you would like to share with the Challenge. It can be one, multiple, or all of the buildings in your organization’s Portfolio Manager® account.
7. If you select the multiple option, you will see a Select Properties button. Click the button and choose the properties that you would like to share. You can filter the properties by type or location. Click Apply Selection.
8. Choose the account name provided by DOE in the Select People (Accounts) to Share With section. Click Continue.
9. In the Select Permissions page, select Read Only for all properties. You can sort your properties by Property Name or by Contact Name. Since you will only be sharing with one Contact, it is easy to view by Contact Name.
10. Select Share Properties to complete the share. You will receive a notification when your properties have been accepted by the Challenge.
11. Repeat steps 3-10, sharing your data with the account name: CITY-OF-MILWAUKEE