The city of Philadelphia announced on Friday that it is extending its first energy benchmarking reporting deadline by almost a month to November 25. It had been previously scheduled for October 31.
Because of the government shutdown, the tool used to submit the mandated reports -- EPA's Portfolio Manager -- was offline for 18 days, necessitating an extension, according to city officials.
So for all you building owners and managers out there, think of this as a snow day on the day of a big test. You now have extra time to prepare! (Okay, so the snow day was not just a day -- it was 16. And it cost $24 billion in lost economic output, but we're trying to make lemonade out of some pretty sour lemons.)
The city will be announcing open office hours to assist with benchmarking in the coming days. If you have any questions, you can email the Mayor's Office of Sustainability at benchmarkinghelp@phila.gov.
PennFuture worked as part of a coalition to advocate for benchmarking legislation in Pennsylvania's largest city. In 2012, Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed legislation requiring all commercial buildings 50,000 sq. ft. or greater to annually benchmark and report energy and water use to the City of Philadelphia.
The law promotes transparency in the commercial real estate market, drives improved energy performance, and promotes savings for building owners and tenants.
PennFuture is working to bring the momentum from Philadelphia's benchmarking success to smaller cities in the state. It has put together a webinar for municipal policymakers to help them take the first steps toward a benchmarking regulation. It will be available at PennFuture.org on October 24.
