Columbus benchmarking compliance, filed for you
The Columbus Energy & Water Benchmarking and Transparency 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
Commercial and multifamily buildings of 50,000 sq ft or more, and city buildings of 25,000 sq ft or more.
Annual deadline
June 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
The city can enforce against owners who don’t report — contact us if you’ve received a notice.
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
- Columbus is developing a Building Performance Standard that would add energy or emissions targets.
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 Columbus 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
Columbus benchmarking questions
When is the Columbus benchmarking deadline?
Does Columbus benchmarking apply to my building?
What happens if I miss it?
Official program information: Columbus benchmarking website. Requirements change — we confirm current rules for every filing.