Cook County benchmarking compliance, filed for you
The Cook County Building Energy Benchmarking Ordinance requires covered buildings to report energy and water use every year. We gather the data, check it, and file it — usually within a week.
Who’s covered
County-owned buildings larger than 35,000 sq ft. Private buildings in Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park report to their city or village instead.
Annual deadline
August 1 for the previous calendar year.
Verification
No routine third-party verification — but the program runs its own data checks, so accuracy still matters.
Penalties
Applies to county buildings; private owners in Cook County should check their city or village program.
What to report
All energy and water used by the whole building — including tenant spaces — for January 1 to December 31:
- Electricity — every meter serving the building
- Natural gas
- District steam, hot or chilled water, if you have it
- Delivered fuels (oil, diesel, propane) — all delivery receipts for the year
- On-site solar production, if any
- Water — whole-building water use
Leave out backup generator fuel. Note any meters added or removed during the year.
Good to know
- Results are published for the public.
- Cook County aims to cut emissions from its own buildings 80% by 2050.
What we’ll need from you
- Building address, plus any utility service addresses that differ from it
- Gross floor area for the whole building and each use (office, retail, residential…), number of units and year built
- Your Building ID (we can look it up)
- Utility data for the full calendar year, January 1 – December 31 (usually 13 months of bills)
- If tenants pay their own utilities: whole-building (aggregated) data from the utility, or signed tenant authorization forms
- Access to your ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account, if you have one
- Any notice or letter you received about this law
Cook County benchmarking questions
When is the Cook County benchmarking deadline?
Does Cook County benchmarking apply to my building?
What happens if I miss it?
Official program information: Cook County benchmarking website. Requirements change — we confirm current rules for every filing.