by Shane Henson — February 22, 2013—Minneapolis recently became the first city in the Midwest to pass a Commercial Building Rating and Disclosure Policy. Given Minneapolis’ brutally cold winters and hot summers, reining in building energy use and increasing efficiency is bound to result in substantial savings for building owners, promoters say.
Beginning in 2014, large commercial buildings in Minneapolis must report energy and water use annually to comply with the new ordinance that city leaders approved to increase energy awareness. The ordinance is a tool that uses market forces, rather than performance or design mandates, to motivate owners and tenants to invest in efficiency improvements, ultimately saving energy, lowering energy costs, reducing pollution and spurring local green jobs, according to city officials. Commercial buildings reportedly account for roughly 35 percent of greenhouse gas pollution in Minneapolis.
The city of Minneapolis and other public entities will lead by example and begin publicly disclosing energy and water use in their buildings larger than 25,000 square feet starting in 2013, it says. Private commercial buildings larger than 100,000 square feet will begin reporting June 1, 2014, and publicly disclosing in 2015, and private commercial buildings larger than 50,000 square feet will begin reporting June 1, 2015, and publicly disclosing in 2016.
The required free software, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, measures the building’s energy and water performance and generates a score and other metrics, similar to a fuel economy rating on a vehicle. The system takes into account such information as building age, operating hours, workers per square foot, occupancy rates and space usage.
City officials say the city will partner with the Center for Energy and Environment to offer training for building owners starting in early 2014, before the first reporting deadline. The Center for Energy and Environment is a nonprofit that specializes in commercial energy efficiency solutions.
