Buildings · Analysis
I.How the reports work
The mechanics are simpler than the paperwork suggests. Each covered building reports a year of energy and water use through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (a free federal tool that standardizes the math so a hospital and an office aren't judged by the same yardstick), and the city then publishes the results. Philadelphia's benchmarking law covers commercial and multifamily buildings of roughly 50,000 square feet and up, so it's the big blocks, not your rowhouse, that show up in the file.
Two numbers do most of the work. One is energy use intensity, or EUI, which is just total energy divided by floor area, the energy a building burns per square foot in a year. The other is the ENERGY STAR score, a 1 to 100 rank that compares a building to similar buildings nationally, where 50 is average and 75 or above can earn certification. A tall glass office from the 1980s and a renovated warehouse in Fishtown can carry very different numbers for reasons that have nothing to do with how carefully anyone flips the lights off.
II.Which buildings look worst, and why that's tricky
Sort the public data by raw EUI and hospitals, labs, and data-heavy buildings sit near the top every year, and that's expected. A hospital runs around the clock, moves a lot of air, and can't dim its operating rooms to save a few dollars. Comparing it to a half-empty office is not a fair fight, which is exactly why the ENERGY STAR score tries to grade each building against its own kind.
Once you compare like with like, the buildings that look worst tend to be older offices and older multifamily towers, the kind with single-pane windows, aging boilers, and heat that residents can't control room by room. That matters to renters directly. In a building with a poor score and electric heat, your winter PECO bill is partly a story about the building's bones, not just your thermostat.
III.What disclosure actually changes
Disclosure alone doesn't retrofit a boiler. What it does is turn a private cost into a public fact, and Philadelphia has paired it with a second rule, the Building Energy Performance Program, which asks large non-residential buildings to either prove high performance or complete an energy tune-up on a repeating cycle. The honest answer on how much that has moved real energy use is: it depends, and the city is still early in measuring it.
For a tenant or a condo buyer, the practical value is leverage. You can look up a building before you sign, ask an owner why the score is low and what the tune-up found, and read a high bill against the building's record instead of guessing. None of that is automatic. The data is public, but someone still has to go read it, and that someone is usually you.
IV.Worth watching this month
1. The city's benchmarking dataset usually refreshes on the OpenDataPhilly portal in the fall, so watch for the most recent reporting year to post and compare it against the prior one.
2. Building Energy Performance Program tune-up deadlines run on a staggered schedule by building, so if you're in a covered property, watch the city's program page for your compliance window.
3. PECO's energy efficiency rebates for commercial and multifamily upgrades reopen on roughly annual cycles, and the terms can shift between years, so check before assuming last year's offer still stands.
4. City Council periodically holds hearings on building emissions and heating rules, routine until one isn't, so watch the Council calendar for anything naming benchmarking or building performance.
5. Philadelphia Gas Works and the city continue to debate clean-heat options for large buildings, a slow matter worth a glance whenever the next report or plan is released.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I look up a specific building's energy report?
- Yes, for most buildings over roughly 50,000 square feet. The city publishes the benchmarking results on its open data portal, searchable by address, though the most recent year can lag by several months.
- Does a bad score mean my rent or bill will go up?
- Not directly. A low score signals an inefficient building, which often means higher heating and cooling costs that can show up in your bills or in common-area charges. The score itself isn't a fee.
- Is this the same as the gas ban debates I've heard about?
- No. Benchmarking only measures and discloses energy use. Rules about gas hookups or clean heat are separate policy fights, though they draw on the same data.
- What counts as a good ENERGY STAR score?
- The scale runs 1 to 100, with 50 as the national average for that building type and 75 or higher eligible for certification. A score in the 20s or 30s is a sign the building is burning more than most of its peers.
Sources on the bench
City of Philadelphia, Building Energy Benchmarking Government program page: who must report, the deadlines, and how the city publishes the results. · www.phila.gov/programs/building-energy-benchmarking
City of Philadelphia, Building Energy Performance Program Government page explaining the tune-up and high-performance requirements for large buildings. · www.phila.gov/programs/building-energy-performance-program
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (US EPA) Federal government tool buildings use to report; explains EUI and the 1 to 100 score. · www.energystar.gov/buildings/benchmark
OpenDataPhilly, Building Energy Benchmarking dataset The actual public dataset, searchable by building, with yearly reporting you can browse yourself. · opendataphilly.org
PECO, Ways to Save Utility page listing rebates and energy audits for commercial and multifamily upgrades. · www.peco.com
Philadelphia Energy Authority Local authority with guides and financing programs tied to building energy work in the city. · philaenergy.org