Contact Information Contact Information
- Kirk Longstein
- YnVpbGRpbmdzY29yaW5nQGZjZ292LmNvbQ==
- 970.416.2733
BEWS Updates BEWS Updates
The Building Energy and Water Scoring program (Ordinance 2018-144) requires transparency of energy and water efficiency of commercial and multifamily buildings 5,000 square feet and above. Comparing the energy and water performance of one building against another in the same sector allows commercial real estate stakeholders such as building owners, operators, and tenants, to evaluate the highest-performing, lowest-operating cost option, and to monitor their performance in the market place.
Benefits:
- Improve your building’s net operating income (NOI)
- Identify and prioritize future building improvements
- Advertise your building’s performance and differentiate yourself in the marketplace
- Retain tenants and improve occupancy
Each year, owners of covered buildings are required to benchmark energy and water use, and report to the City using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®.
Want to learn more? Find program details here and see an example of how benchmarking can help you track and plan efficiency improvements here.
- Do I need to comply?
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Look up an address using the search bar below to see if your building is included in the 2020 reporting requirement. Addresses and building level data provided by the Larimer County Assessor record and may not include all buildings covered.
For more information, contact YnVpbGRpbmdzY29yaW5nQGZjZ292LmNvbQ== or call 970-416-2733.
- How do I comply?
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Compliance with the City of Fort Collins Building Energy and Water Scoring Ordinance is a two-step process that must be completed annually.
Step 1 - BENCHMARK
Identify the necessary information to Benchmark.
Portfolio Manager is designed to be user-friendly and accessible for in-house staff to benchmark their buildings.
- Resources are provided by Fort Collins Utilities for collecting energy and water use data.
- Determine your property use type.
- The Portfolio Manager Data Collection Worksheet can be used to start collecting your information.
Step 2 – REPORT
Submit your report to the City of Fort Collins annually starting March 1, 2020
Starting March 1 every year, all buildings covered by the ordinance are required to report their energy and water performance for the previous calendar year. All compliance instructions and links for 2020 will be available here summer, 2019. Keep checking back for more information!
Reporting requirements follow a phased implementation. See below for details on first reporting dates by group.
Group Total Building(s)** Square Feet
First Data Year First Reporting Deadline A – Commercial
20,000
2019
2020
B - Multifamily
20,000
2020
2021
C – Commercial
10,000
2020
2021
D - Multifamily
10,000
2021
2022
E – Commercial
5,000
2021
2022
F – Multifamily
5,000
2022
2023
** Commercial covered buildings are defined by ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®. Multifamily buildings include apartments and condominiums three stories or more in height above grade and representing multifamily structures defined by a typical R-2 occupancy by the International Building Code. Row homes and townhomes are excluded.
Before submitting your REPORT to the City
- Enter all energy, water, and space use information in Portfolio Manager® . Data should be entered from January 1 - December 31 for the calendar year being reported for each covered building.
- Ensure that you run Portfolio Manager's tool to check for possible data errors prior to submittal to ensure that you have no errors in your data submission. The Data Quality Checker time frame should align with the calendar year being reported.
- Building Definitions and Scenarios
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Building owners are required to report if the building footprint is equal to or greater than 5,000 SF. Building owner includes any person or entity including common interest ownership groups that have a legal or equitable interest in real property and the associated asset features of the building(s) located on the parcel. Review Fort Collins Building Scenarios to learn if you are required to report.
- Violations and Non-compliance
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The Building Energy and Water Scoring program is enforceable under Sec 12-207 of the Fort Collins Municipal Code (including a $1,000 fine for each year of noncompliance), and the failure to comply in any calendar year shall constitute a single violation in that calendar year. Fort Collins staff will send out a Notice of Need to Comply letter followed by a Notice of Violation to any building owner of a covered building who does not comply within 30 days following March 1 of each year, and citations will be issued March 1 of the year following the required reporting year.
Note that Fort Collins staff is available to provide technical assistance and resources to any building owner to help them comply with the ordinance. Contact YnVpbGRpbmdzY29yaW5nQGZjZ292LmNvbQ== or call 970-416-2733 for additional questions.
- How do I apply for EXEMPTION
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The Ordinance includes exemptions to the requirements based on capabilities of Portfolio Manager® and unique building characteristics. Covered building owners who do not submit a report are required to apply for one of the following exemptions:
- Building with average physical occupancy of less than sixty (60) percent
- Building with demolition permit
- Building with financial distress
- Building used for industrial or agricultural processes
- Building with confidential business practice
- Building with unique circumstances, if approved by the City Manager’s Office.
The City will review exemptions that are submitted by September 1 prior to the reporting deadline, and will respond to inquiries within 90 days after the September 1 deadline.
To apply for an exemption, please fill out the Exemption Request Form.
Compliance
Additional Compliance information, including reporting link and exemption requests.
Resources
Resources available from Fort Collins Utilities, including ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager support and Data Requests.
Recognition
Get ahead of the Curve: Track, SAVE, and Win through the Multifamily Benchmarking Challenge.