Submit a Benchmarking Report

Each year by May 1, representatives of all St. Louis buildings 50,000 square feet and larger must:

• Prepare and submit a ‘benchmark’ report of their energy and water use.
  
  OR
• Obtain an exemption from or extension of benchmark reporting requirements.

OBP begins accepting benchmarking reports for the previous calendar year in February each year.

Benchmark reporting has been shown to be an effective driver of behavioral, operational, and capital improvements to building energy performance.

The following instructions take building representatives through the annual benchmark reporting process.

1. Confirm that your building is in the Benchmarking Program.
2. Locate your St. Louis Building ID. You will need to enter this ID in your report. Alert us if you have issues locating your Building ID by emailing benchmarking@stlouis-mo.gov or calling 314-622-5689.
3. Collect all data needed for benchmarking.
4. Create an Energy Star Portfolio Manager account or log in to your existing account.

1. Benchmark your Property

Following the steps outlined in the ENERGY STAR Quick Start Guide or in the quick demonstration videos.

1. Set up your property in Portfolio Manager.
2. Set up energy and water meters.
3. Add energy and water data.

Do any of the following apply to your building? Refer to the additional guidance below.

• Multiple buildings share water or energy meters: Buildings that share energy or water meters should benchmark together, following the instructions outlined in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s Campus Benchmarking Guide. More details are available under the Enter Building Information Questions section in the FAQs tab.
• Properties that generate green power onsite with wind turbines or solar panels should refer to How to Benchmark Green Power Generate Onsite (PDF).

2. Check for Errors

Use Portfolio Manager's Data Quality Checker to find potential issues. Click on the link that reads "Check for Possible Errors" on your property's Summary Tab.

3. Add your St. Louis Building ID

This ID is required to track compliance.

• To add your St. Louis Building ID to your property, click on your property's Details tab. Look for the Unique Identifiers section in the bottom left. Click Edit. Locate the Standard IDs section, choose St. Louis Building ID from the drop down menu, and enter your ID number. Click Save.

4. Submit Report

Generate and submit your energy and water report using the St. Louis Benchmarking Data Request.

• Access Data Request
  Click on Report Data on the homepage of stlbenchmarking.com.
• Create a Response
  You will be directed to the St. Louis's Benchmarking Report Data Request. Select the property or properties you'll be reporting and whether you are submitting data on your own behalf or on behalf of someone else. Click Generate Response Preview.
• Preview Response
  You will be redirected to Portfolio Manager's Reporting page. You may then preview your response by selecting Preview Response (to view in your browser window) or Download Preview in Excel.
• Resolve any Data Quality Alerts
  If Portfolio Manager determines your energy or water metrics cannot be calculated for one or more properties in the request, a pink alert box will appear after you generate the response preview. Click the "Read More" link in the box to go to the alert page, which will list all the properties affected. Links within the alerts will take you to the specific screen where the data issue can be fixed. After updating your properties to fix errors or omissions, click "Generate an Updated Response" to refresh the report. If any alerts remain, the pink alert box will appear on the Reporting tab after the revised report is generated.
• Submit Response
  After you have reviewed and confirmed the data in the report, select Send Response from the dropdown menu next to the report's name on the Reporting page. E-sign the following page and click Send Data to complete the response. You will receive a confirmation email and a copy of the data submitted.

Download a PDF of our reporting checklist with added screenshots for reference.

Begin online

Using Energy Star Portfolio Manager and submitting a report to Office of Building Performance is free. Penalties apply for noncompliance.

• Portfolio Manager will email a Receipt for Data Request Submittal to the account holder confirming that OBP will receive the report.
• OBP will make contact by phone and email if it discovers quality issues which prevent acceptance of a report.
• OBP (benchmarking@stlouis-mo.gov) will email a notice of Benchmarking Report Accepted which confirms that a report passed all quality checks and has complied with the annual benchmarking reporting requirement. 

OBP is available 9 AM-5 PM Central to support properties throughout this process.