 April 2023
Check Your Benchmarking Compliance for 2022 Reporting
Seattle’s Benchmarking Compliance Portal has launched and owners can now check their status for the 2022 reporting year. To check your compliance status, you will need the Seattle Building ID or your Portfolio Manager Username. Not sure what your Building ID or username is? Find your building on the Seattle Benchmarking Map or contact our help desk energybenchmarking@seattle.gov. Please note, if you are a PSE customer, your account may be missing natural gas meter data. See the PSE EnergyCAP® article below to learn more.
(Non-residential and Multifamily Buildings 20,000 SF+)
Annual Benchmarking Reports Due July 1
Energy performance benchmarks for the 2022 calendar year must be updated in Portfolio Manager by July 1, 2023 for all multifamily and non-residential buildings 20,000 SF or larger. Once you have completed all the required steps to make annual updates or benchmark a building for the first time, and updated Portfolio Manager contact information, you can check the compliance status on the online portal, which will be regularly updated throughout the reporting period.
Not Compliant Status*
If the building is designated "Not Compliant" in the compliance portal, the reason will be listed under the issue column. Common reasons for non-compliance are:
- The benchmarking data in Portfolio Manager has not been shared with City of Seattle.
- The benchmarking data in Portfolio Manager shared with City of Seattle is missing complete energy data for 2022.
- The benchmarking data in Portfolio Manager shared with City of Seattle has been flagged for possible energy or building use detail errors and requires account verification.
Follow the directions in the 'Next Steps' column to correct the issue. The 'Compliance Resources' section at the top right of the portal provides guidance on how to address common issues in Portfolio Manager.
*Please note, buildings can be non-compliant for multiple issues.
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Compliant Status
If the building is "Compliant", your benchmarking report is complete, and you are all set for 2022 reporting. You'll need to report again next year so make sure to save your Portfolio Manager username and password.
In the meantime, you can review your building’s performance. Customized building performance profiles available via the benchmarking data visualization site now have annual performance and energy use trend data from 2015-2021. Search for your building and click on "View Building Report" to see performance over time.
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PSE Now Using EnergyCAP® Software for Data Uploads
Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has completed implementation of their new EnergyCAP® tool, a utility reporting platform that replaced MyData. If you had an existing MyData account, you must ensure that the migration process from MyData to EnergyCAP® has been completed for your building(s).
Troubleshooting MyData to EnergyCAP Migration Issues
Buildings that migrated to EnergyCAP successfully should have complete data for 2022 in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager. If you were enrolled in automated data uplolads with PSE through MyData and you have incomplete data for 2022 in Portfolio Manager after July 2022, your building(s) did not migrate to EnergyCAP and you must take action to complete the process. See Guidance for troubleshooting PSE MyData to EnergyCAP migration errors.
If you have acquired a building through change of ownership or management and need to re-start the benchmarking process from the beginning—you will need to create a new EnergyCAP® account and complete the steps to enroll in automated data uploads to ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager.
For questions and assistance on EnergyCAP automated data uploads, contact energycap@pse.com. When emailing PSE support staff, it is best practice to copy energybenchmarking@seattle.gov so Seattle benchmarking help desk staff are kept in the loop of ongoing technical issues.
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New to Portfolio Manager - Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
A new property use type called “Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station” has been added to Portfolio Manager as of February 2023. Buildings with EV chargers can now input use details to track the number of Level 1 and 2 EV charging stations as well as the number of DC fast EV charging stations. Many commercial and residential buildings have EV charging stations, and many of them are not separately metered. Because the purpose of Portfolio Manager is to assess the energy efficiency of the building, it is important to exclude the energy used to charge electric vehicles when benchmarking a building. The EPA is planning to add an adjustment to estimate and subtract the energy use of EV chargers, similar to the way parking and swimming pools are handled today in late 2023.
Get a jump start this year by adding this new use detail to your building’s Portfolio Manager account. See EPA guidance on when to enter an EV Charging station.
EV Charging Station Types
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Level One EV Charging Stations are smaller charging units that usually come with the vehicle itself, and plug into a standard 120VAC outlet. Outlets that are specifically dedicated to EV charging may count as a Level One EV charger.
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Level Two EV Charging Stations are higher voltage chargers that must be purchased separately from the vehicle, which must be plugged into a 240VAC outlet. Most public charging stations are level two.
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DC Fast EV Charging Stations are the highest voltage chargers available, and not typically found in most locations given the demand of electrical infrastructure. These offer the quickest way to charge an electric vehicle, and as opposed to level one and level two chargers which utilize AC (alternating current), DC Fast charging uses DC (direct current).
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HELP DESK EnergyBenchmarking@seattle.gov 206-727-8484
(Non-residential Buildings 50,000 SF+)
Second Cycle Tune-Up for Cohort I due October 1
Building owners of Cohort 1 buildings (200,000 SF +) must complete their second cycle tune-up by October 1, 2023.* Visit the program website for information on compliance resources, including FAQs, how to find a Tune-Up Specialist, and steps required to complete a Tune-Up. Email our help desk at buildingtuneups@seattle.gov for questions or to communicate the status of your building’s tune-up.
*Does your building also have to comply with the Washington State Clean Buildings requirement? Get started on a path to carbon neutrality by reviewing your customized building report, including EUI and carbon emission metrics, to align your tune-up with the Washington State Clean Buildings requirement. See our FAQ for further guidance on how to align a Seattle Building Tune-Up with the new state requirement.
Alternative Compliance for Cohort II Buildings
The alternative compliance deadline for Cohort II buildings (100,000 SF – 199,999 SF) is April 1, 2024. Building owners are encouraged to plan ahead if seeking an alternative compliance exemption. For buildings applying for the Certified ENERGY STAR Score alternative compliance pathway, all Portfolio Manager accounts must update property use details (workers on main shift), adjust for vacancy where applicable, and verify the building is reporting whole building energy consumption, prior to submitting to the EPA certification process. ENERGY STAR Score Alternative Compliance applications without updated property uses and details are deemed inaccurate, and risk being flagged and not accepted for tune-up alternative compliance.
See EPA guidance on calculating annual workers on shift and Seattle Energy Benchmarking Annual Update Checklist for guidance on updating Portfolio Manager accounts.
HELP DESK BuildingTuneUps@seattle.gov 206-727-8863
OTHER BUILDING NEWS
Clean Building Accelerator Recruiting - The Seattle Clean Buildings Accelerator is a no-cost technical support and training program for building owners and managers to meet the Washington State Clean Building Requirements and reduce emissions. The next cohort starts in May 2023. Register here for an informational session on May 2. If you are interested in taking advantage of this free coaching opportunity email cleanbuildings@stillwaterenergy.com and/or fill out this short enrollment form.
Seattle Building Emission Performance Standard Update –The City of Seattle hosted an “Estimating Your Building’s Emissions and Draft Targets for the Proposed Seattle Building Emissions Performance Standard (BEPS)” webinar on March 23. A recording of the presentation, slides, and additional proposed legislation updates can be found online. If you have questions or comments on the draft emissions targets email cleanbuildings@seattle.gov.
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