In 2009, New York City enacted several local laws as part of the city’s Greener, Greater Buildings Plan to address energy waste in its existing structures and contribute toward the city’s goal of reducing emissions 80% from 2005 levels by 2050.
One of these laws, New York City Benchmarking Law (Local Laws 84/09 and 133/16), mandates the owners of mid-sized and large buildings submit an annual analysis of their energy usage using an online benchmarking tool created by the EPA. Benchmarking energy and water use enables owners, managers, residents, and building professionals to better understand their buildings’ performance.
Under Local Laws 84 and 133, single buildings larger than 25,000 square feet or groups of buildings on a single lot larger than 100,000 square feet are required to benchmark annually.
Required Usage Data
By May 1* every year, building owners are required to submit their usage for the following utilities:
- Electricity
- Gas
- Fuel oil or steam
- Water
The law does not require that the usage for individual dwelling units be submitted into the online tool, but rather the building’s aggregate energy use, which includes total residential, commercial, and common area usage.
EPA Portfolio Manager
The utilities data from January 1 to December 31 for the previous year must be entered into the EPA’s Portfolio Manager.
The Portfolio Manager
enables owners and
managers to track energy
and water usage
for their buildings.
The Portfolio Manager enables building owners and managers to track and assess energy and water usage for their buildings, identify under-performing buildings, verify energy efficiency improvements, and receive EPA recognition for superior energy performance (for eligible properties). Using the Portfolio Manager, owners and managers will be able to analyze their building’s energy use over time and compare it with other buildings of similar size and type.
New York City posts benchmarking scores and reports for residential, non-residential and city-owned buildings on the OneNYC website.
Obtaining Utilities Data
Energy and water usage can be obtained from the building’s utility bills or the following:
Energy Usage Data: Con Edison will provide electrical and gas usage in Excel format: Aggregated Consumption Data from Con Ed
Buildings serviced by National Grid can request their aggregated consumption data here: Aggregated Consumption Data from National Grid.
Water Usage Data: The Portfolio Manager feature that enables buildings with automatic water readers to upload water usage directly from the meter is not currently available, so water usage information has to be entered manually. For assistance, see the manual water benchmarking tutorial and the Frequently Asked Questions.
Covered Buildings
Buildings subject to Local Law 84/09 and Local Law 133/16 can be found on the list of Covered Buildings. Property owners should have received the following Local Law 84/09 letter from the Department of Finance notifying them that their buildings must comply with the new law.
NYC Benchmarking Law Compliance Deadlines
| May 1 | Energy and water usage due date in EPA’s Portfolio Manager |
| Aug 1 | Second quarterly deadline (if May 1 deadline is missed) |
| Oct 1 | Download energy efficiency letter grade via DOB NOW Public Portal |
| Oct 31 | Post energy efficiency letter grade on-site |
| Nov 1 | Third quarterly deadline (if May and Aug deadlines missed) |
| Feb 1 | Fourth quarterly deadline (final chance to file for the previous calendar year) |
Penalties for Non-compliance
Buildings that do not submit their utilities data as required under NYC Benchmarking Law will be fined $500 per quarter, up to $2,000 per year.
Local Law 33 of 2018: Energy Efficiency Grades
Owners of buildings that are subject to NYC Benchmarking Law are required to post energy efficiency letter grades issued by the city per Local Law 33 of 2018 as amended by Local Law 95 of 2019.
Based on the benchmarking data submitted, buildings will be assigned energy efficiency scores. The scores will then be rated from A to F as follows:
- A – score is equal to or greater than 85;
- B – score is equal to or greater than 70 but less than 85;
- C – score is equal to or greater than 55 but less than 70;
- D – score is less than 55;
- F – for buildings that didn’t submit required benchmarking information;
- N – for buildings exempted from benchmarking or not covered by the Energy Star program.
Building Energy Efficiency Rating labels will be available in the DOB NOW Public Portal annually on October 1. Building owners must print and display the label in a conspicuous location near each public entrance by October 31* of each year; failure to do so will result in a DOB violation and an annual fine of $1,250.
*Just for 2025 – the deadline to post current energy efficiency letter grades issued by the city is December 31, 2025. The labels are available starting December 1, 2025.
RAND’s Benchmarking Services
RAND provides the following services to help buildings comply with NYC Benchmarking Law:
- Create an account log-in and building profile on the Portfolio Manager website.
- Compile relevant building information, including building gross square footage and gross floor area of both residential and commercial spaces.
- Assist building owners and managers with obtaining energy usage information.
- Analyze energy use data for completeness, ensuring it is suitable for entering it into the Portfolio Manager, and modifying as necessary in accordance with Local Law 84/09 guidelines.
- Enter energy use data into the Portfolio Manager.
- Using the Portfolio Manager, generate the custom Energy Report required for submission to the New York City Department of Finance. The Energy Report will include the building’s profile, summary information, and estimates of its energy usage (BTUs and dollar amount per square foot).
- Provide a written report that includes an explanation of how to access the energy data and the calculation methods used for analysis, copies of the data entered into the Portfolio Manager, a confirmation e-mail from the EPA, and the final Energy Report. All information will be retained for three years after the May 1 deadline.
- Answer any follow-up questions that owners, managers, and boards may have about the Energy Report.
For More Information
Visit OneNYC’s website for additional information on NYC Benchmarking Law. You can also contact RAND at 212-675-8844; info@randpc.com if you have questions or would like to request a proposal for our benchmarking services for your building.