What Is The Importance Of LL84 Benchmarking? You may have heard of LL84 benchmarking but not know exactly what it is or why it's important. This post will give a short overview of LL84 benchmarking, its purpose, and how it can be used to improve your building performance.
LL84 Benchmarking LL84 benchmarking is the process of measuring a buildings energy and water usage in order to compare it against similar buildings. The function of this is to find ways to make your Building more efficient and reduce energy waste. But what you may not know is that LL84 also requires buildings to track energy data using the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager tool. While this may sound like another requirement to add to your already long to-do list, benchmarking your Building's energy performance can be a very valuable exercise. The data collected through LL84 benchmarking is used to create a citywide water and energy usage database. This database is then made available to the public through the New York City department of Building. You can also get an energy star score for the energy and water consumption data making it reliable for efficient buildings. By benchmarking your Building against others, you can better understand where your property stands in terms of energy efficiency and give an insight into your annual energy usage. This information can then be used to make informed decisions about your energy efficiency improvements.
Importance Of LL84 Benchmarking Aside from the legal implications of not completing an annual benchmark report, there are other reasons LL84 is essential. Some of them are:
It Can Help You Save Money on Energy Bills
One of the main reasons for benchmarking your Building's energy performance is to identify opportunities for saving money on your energy bills. When you track your Building's progress over time, you can see how changes in operating hours, equipment upgrades, or changes in occupancy affect your overall energy consumption. This information can be used to make decisions about future investments that could result in significant savings. For example, suppose you see a spike in energy usage data during a particular season. In that case, you may want to investigate ways to improve your Building's insulation or heating and cooling systems.
It Can Help You Improve Your Building's Environmental Performance Benchmarking your Building's energy performance can also help you reduce its environmental impact. By tracking your progress over time, you can see how changes in your operating procedures are affecting your Building's carbon footprint. If you find that your emissions are going down, you can share this information with prospective tenants or investors as part of your marketing efforts. And if they're going up, it may be time to reevaluate your Building's operations and consider ways to reduce your environmental impact.
It Can Help You Comply with Local Laws and Regulations In some cases, benchmarking your Building's energy performance may be required by local laws or regulations. For example, the City of New York now requires all newly Constructed large buildings (50,000 square feet or more) to submit data on their annual energy and water consumption to the city as part of the Local Law 84 reporting process. This water and energy consumption data will then be made available to the public through the city's online database. While this may not seem like a compelling reason to benchmark your Building's energy performance, it's important to remember that compliance often comes with its own set of rewards—including avoiding potential fines or penalties for noncompliance.
Conclusion As commercial building owners or operators in New York City, it's essential to understand the requirements of Local Law 84 and how benchmarking your Building's energy performance can help you save money, improve your environmental performance, and comply with local laws and regulations.
While it may seem like just another item on your to-do list, taking the time to track your Building's energy consumption and benchmark its progress can provide valuable insights into ways you can improve its overall efficiency—and bottom line.