Benchmarking Resources
Benchmarking Resources for Starters
The California Building Performance Resources Hub offers several pathways for building owners and managers to learn about and complete building benchmarking, a requirement for most large buildings in California and one of the first steps in improving your building’s performance.
Benchmarking 101
Start with our overview guide to understand what benchmarking is and why it is important. Identify whether benchmarking is required for your building on our California policy page.
Check out the benchmarking page in our Strategic Decarbonization Guide to learn how to Benchmark on your own, or with third-party support.
Hands On Benchmarking Help with the Hub’s Help Desk
Starting in 2026, the Hub is planning to offer no-cost technical support, including support for benchmarking. Use the Hub contact form to get on our waiting list.
Benchmarking Resources for Professionals
For sustainability consultants, property managers, and building performance professionals, the following sections provide resources to support compliance reporting, certification pathways, and ongoing performance management — whether you're working on a single asset or a large portfolio.
Are you using benchmarking to achieve the following goals?
01
Stay compliant
02
Achieve certification / recognition
03
Improve and manage performance
Resources and guidance for building owners to stay compliant
-
Most commercial and multifamily buildings 50,000 sq ft or larger are required to benchmark and report energy use annually under California's AB 802 program, with a June 1 deadline each year.
Several cities — including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San José, and Berkeley — have their own programs that may apply to smaller buildings and include additional steps such as energy audits or retro-commissioning. Use our California Policy page to find the requirements for your jurisdiction.
-
Before you can report, gather the following:
Property information: building type, gross floor area, year built, number of units or occupants
Utility data: at least 12 consecutive months of electricity, natural gas, and any other fuel — from bills or direct utility feeds
Building use details: operating hours, occupancy rate, and other use-specific inputs required by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager
Many California utilities offer direct whole-building data uploads into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, which reduces manual entry significantly.
-
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM) is the primary free tool used for state and local compliance reporting, and is required for AB 802 submission.
The Hub also partners with Measurabl, a free platform that syncs with your ESPM data and adds compliance tracking, data quality checks, and portfolio-wide dashboards. Learn more about Measurabl →
-
Step 1 — Set up ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Create a free account and add your property at energystar.gov/buildings/benchmark.
Step 2 — Enter 12 months of utility data Connect your utility accounts directly if supported, or enter manually from bills. Use ESPM's data checker to catch errors.
Step 3 — Review your benchmarking metrics ESPM calculates your Site EUI, Source EUI, and ENERGY STAR Score once data is complete. These are the metrics your jurisdiction will review.
Step 4 — Submit to your jurisdiction AB 802 reporting is submitted through ESPM directly to the California Energy Commission. City programs may use separate portals — check your city's program page for instructions.
Need hands-on help? Starting in 2026, the Hub offers no-cost benchmarking support. Get on the waitlist →
Resources and guidance for achieving certification through benchmarking
-
Benchmarking data opens the door to several recognition programs that validate your building's performance publicly:
ENERGY STAR Certification — awarded to buildings that score 75 or higher on the ENERGY STAR 1–100 scale, placing them in the top 25% of similar buildings nationwide. Certification is annual and requires third-party verification by a licensed professional.
LEED O+M Certification (Operations + Maintenance) — a comprehensive certification covering energy, water, waste, indoor environment, and more. Managed through the Arc platform, LEED O+M is recognized globally and can qualify buildings for compliance pathway exemptions in several California cities.
-
The ENERGY STAR Score rates your building on a scale of 1–100 relative to similar buildings of the same type across the US, normalized for climate, occupancy, operating hours, and other factors. A score of 50 represents the national median; 75 or above qualifies for certification.
Not all building types are eligible for an ENERGY STAR Score — ESPM will show you whether your property type qualifies. For types without a score, some California compliance programs accept alternative performance metrics such as a percentage improvement in EUI.
Your score is calculated automatically inside ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager once you have 12 months of complete utility data entered.
-
Arc is the platform that powers LEED O+M certification and Arc performance scoring. It connects directly with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager data and tracks performance across five categories: energy, water, waste, transportation, and human experience.
To get started:
Create a project at arcskoru.com — free for performance tracking; LEED certification requires a registration fee.
Connect your ESPM account or enter data directly into Arc.
Review your Arc Performance Score and identify which categories need improvement before pursuing certification.
When ready for LEED O+M, work with a LEED AP or accredited professional to complete the certification review.
USGBC California offers training and support resources for Arc and LEED O+M. View training options →
-
Yes — in several California cities, holding a current certification can exempt your building from certain "Beyond Benchmarking" requirements:
Los Angeles (EBEWE): ENERGY STAR Certification for the compliance year (or 2 of the 3 preceding years) exempts a building from the Energy Audit & Retro-Commissioning requirement.
San José (Beyond Benchmarking): LEED O+M Certification or an ENERGY STAR Score of 75+ (for 2 of the 3 preceding years) satisfies the Performance Pathway.
Chula Vista (BESO): ENERGY STAR Score of 80+ or LEED EB Certification (3 of 5 years) qualifies as the High Performance compliance pathway.
Brisbane (BBEP): ENERGY STAR Score above 80 satisfies the Performance Pathway for Beyond Benchmarking compliance.
See the California Policy page for full details by jurisdiction.
Resources and guidance for improving and managing building performance
-
Your benchmarking data is the starting point. Once you have at least 12 months of utility data in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, review these three core metrics:
Site EUI — your building's total energy use per square foot. Compare against national medians for your building type using ESPM's performance comparison feature.
ENERGY STAR Score — if your building type is eligible, this score shows how you rank against similar buildings nationwide (50 = average, 75+ = top performer).
Greenhouse Gas Intensity (GHGI) — your building's carbon emissions per square foot, broken into OnSite (fossil fuels) and Total (including electricity grid emissions).
Use our Performance Calculator to model how improvements would affect your metrics.
-
For ongoing performance management — especially across a portfolio — both Hub partner platforms offer capabilities beyond basic ESPM:
Measurabl is designed for portfolio-scale tracking. It provides month-over-month trend visualizations, data quality alerts when gaps appear, goal-setting tools aligned with California's decarbonization targets, and compliance deadline tracking across all your properties. It's free to sign up and syncs automatically with ESPM. Get started with Measurabl →
Arc tracks performance across five impact categories (energy, water, waste, transportation, human experience) and produces a continuous Arc Performance Score that updates as your data changes. It's particularly useful if you are also pursuing LEED O+M or want a holistic view of building health beyond just energy. Explore Arc →
Both platforms connect with ESPM — you don't need to re-enter data you've already collected.
-
The highest-impact measures depend on your building type and current performance, but the most commonly effective actions for California commercial buildings include:
Retro-commissioning (RCx) — optimizing existing systems (HVAC, controls, lighting) without capital investment. Often delivers 5–15% energy savings and is required under several California city programs.
Lighting upgrades — switching to LED and adding occupancy controls is typically low-cost with short payback periods.
HVAC upgrades and electrification — replacing aging gas heating systems with heat pumps addresses both energy efficiency and GHG intensity simultaneously.
Building envelope improvements — insulation, window upgrades, and cool roof installations reduce heating and cooling loads.
Utility data automation — eliminating manual data entry errors through direct utility feeds improves data accuracy and reveals hidden consumption patterns.
Use our Decarbonization Guide for a building-type-specific walkthrough of improvement pathways.
-
Once you've made changes to your building, your benchmarking data is the clearest way to measure impact. Track these signals in ESPM or your platform of choice:
Year-over-year EUI change — a consistent downward trend confirms real energy savings
ENERGY STAR Score movement — score improvements indicate your building is outperforming more of its peers over time
GHG Intensity reduction — especially important if electrification measures were part of your retrofit
For financing support to fund your next round of improvements, visit our Financing & Incentives page →
Featured Partners
The Hub is dedicated to providing high-value information to enhance building performance. The resources on this page have been developed in collaboration with our preferred partners, who offer industry-leading, no-cost tools to help you benchmark and optimize your building's efficiency.
