SE Minnesota News

June 2, 2023 – ROCHESTER, MINN. – The City of Rochester invites owners and operators of buildings 50,000 ft2 and larger to attend an upcoming open house to learn about the City’s Proposed Building Energy Benchmarking Policy. Attendees will learn more about the proposed parameters, how to benchmark their facility, and what to expect with the recently passed statewide Energy Benchmarking bill.

Building Energy Benchmarking Policy Open House
Tuesday, June 7
5:00 – 8:00 p.m.*
City of Rochester’s Development Services & Infrastructure Center/North Precinct
4001 West River Parkway, NW
*Formal presentations at 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Benchmarking is the on-going review of building energy and water performance to ensure a building is using energy and water as anticipated. It compares its own performance over time as well as to the performance of peers. This information provides insights to building owners, occupants, and efficiency resource providers that is valuable to building management, investment, sale, and lease decisions.

The City of Rochester has had a volunteer benchmarking program since 2018 and currently has 143 buildings participating. In fall 2022, the City began exploring a benchmarking ordinance for buildings 20,000ft2 and larger. One of the main benefits of a local benchmarking ordinance is that city teammates would provide direct support and technical assistance, as well as handing the responsibility of reporting benchmarking data to the state. Learn more about the City’s program here.

The State of Minnesota recently passed HF2269 that will require building owners to annually benchmark and share data with the state. Class 1 buildings (100,000 ft2 total floor area and larger) will need to benchmark by June 1, 2024 and Class 2 buildings (50,000 – 99,999 ft2 total floor area) will need to benchmark by June 1, 2025. Under the bill, annually benchmarking is required for these buildings.

Original source can be found here.