Energy benchmarking open house seeks to outline expectations for Rochester's largest buildings

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·3 min read

Jun. 5—ROCHESTER — Owners and operators of 50,000-square-foot and larger buildings are being encouraged to attend an open-house forum Tuesday to learn about

Rochester's proposed energy benchmarking policy

.

Benchmarking is the ongoing review of building energy and water performance to monitor how efficiently a building is using energy and water as anticipated.

The city has been running a voluntary program since 2018, aimed at logging energy efficiency in local buildings and businesses. A mandatory component has been discussed for larger buildings — 20,000 square feet or more — next year.

Amid city-level discussions,

Minnesota lawmakers recently passed legislation

that will require owners of 50,000-square-foot or larger buildings to annually benchmark and share the collected data with the state.

The data-collection process helps compare a building's performance over time, while also providing a way to compare similar buildings. The information can provide insights for building owners and occupants when it comes to building management, investment, sale and lease decisions.

The programs do not require updates based on the data collected.

Under adopted state requirements, buildings with more than 100,000 square feet of floor area, will need to start the benchmarking process by June 1, 2024, and buildings of half the size will be required to participate by June 1, 2025.

The proposed city policy suggested a 2024 deadline for buildings with 50,000 square feet or more, with requirements for buildings with 20,000 to 50,000 square feet added the following year.

Lauren Jensen, Rochester's sustainability coordinator, said the open house slated for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the city's Development Services and Infrastructure Center, 4001 West River Parkway, will focus on the larger buildings with 50,000 square feet or more, since they fall under the new state requirements.

Formal presentations are planned for 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. during Tuesday event to inform attendees about the proposed policy parameters, how to benchmarking works and what to expect with the recently passed statewide benchmarking requirement.

While the city and state are working toward benchmarking larger buildings, the state legislation would exempt any buildings benchmarked in the city program, if the local program is determined to be more equivalent or more stringent when compared to state requirements.

Under the local proposal, city staff would provide direct support and technical assistance, as well as handle required state reporting of collected data.

Rochester staff has been working with Minneapolis-based Center for Energy and Environment to adopt a benchmarking requirement similar to policies already used in five Minnesota metro-area cities.

The city goal would be to track and document energy use in three ways:

* Logging energy-use intensity, which would allow comparisons between buildings with similar uses.

* Creating Energy Star scores for buildings, so efficiency ratings can be compared between buildings with different energy needs.

* Tracking greenhouse gas emissions.

To meet expectations, building owners would need to enter data into the established system and update it from their energy bills each year. City staff, as well as representatives from an established metro-area collaborative would be available to assist with the process, and efforts are being made to see if Rochester Public Works can help automate the process.