St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance
What is St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance?
Per St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance, As of 2017, privately owned and municipal buildings in St. Louis, with a size of 50,000 square feet or more, are obligated to undergo benchmarking. Owners must annually disclose energy and water consumption. For privately owned buildings, the initial benchmarking and reporting deadline falls on May 1 each year. Building owners will utilize the Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a free online tool, for benchmarking.
What buildings are required per St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance?
- City buildings over 50,000 square feet.
- building that are held in the condominium form of ownership and are governed by the same board and exceed 50,000 square feet.
Your building may qualify for an exemption from reporting if the building owner can establish any of the following criteria:
General
- Building is under the minimum 50,000 square feet size threshold for gross floor area.
- A demolition permit was issued during the prior calendar year, provided that demolition work has commenced and energy-related systems have been significantly compromised.
- The owner is unable to benchmark due to the failure of either a utility or a tenant (or both) to report the information necessary for the owner to complete any benchmarking submittal requirement.
- Due to special circumstances unique to the applicant’s facility and not based on a condition caused by the actions of the applicant, strict compliance with provisions of this ordinance would not be in the public interest.
- Building is owned by the State of Missouri or the federal government.
Financial hardship
- Building had arrears of property taxes or water or refuse charges that resulted in the property’s inclusion, within the prior two (2) years, on the city’s annual tax lien sale list.
- Building had a court appointed receiver in control of the assets due to financial distress.
- Building is owned by a financial institution through default by the borrower.
- Building has been acquired by a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
- Building has a senior mortgage subject to a notice of default.
Building Use/Occupancy
- The property is primarily used for manufacturing or other industrial purposes for which benchmarking results would not meaningfully reflect covered property energy use – characteristics due to the intensive use of process energy.
- Building is a Group 2 covered property and all or substantially all of the property is used for communications infrastructure.
- The property does not have a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy for all 12 months of the calendar year being benchmarked.
- The building had average physical occupancy of less than 50 percent throughout the calendar year for which benchmarking is required.
What is the penalty for non-compliance?
The fines for non-compliance range from $50 to $200 per offense. Buildings not in compliance with St. Louis Building Energy Awareness ordinance would not be eligible for the issuance of new residential or commercial occupancy permits.
What is the compliance process?
Building owners must report their energy usage data to Energy Star Portfolio Manager, a reporting tool that allows building owners to compare their building’s energy efficiency with similar buildings.
What is the deadline for St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance?
- All municipal buildings of at least 50,000 square feet must comply no later than December 31 of each year.
- Owners of non-municipal buildings (institutional, commercial, & multifamily residential) of at least 50,000 square feet must comply no later than May 1 annually.
What utilities are required for benchmarking reporting?
- Water
- Electricity
- Natural Gas
- District Energy
- Any other purchased fuel
What is the purpose for St. Louis Building Energy Awareness Ordinance?
The mandate for large buildings to annually benchmark and report their energy usage has demonstrated effectiveness in prompting behavioral, operational, and capital improvements to enhance building energy performance.
Empowering building owners, managers, and stakeholders, energy benchmarking furnishes insights into a building’s energy consumption by comparing its performance with similar structures. This information enables informed decision-making, the identification of opportunities for enhanced energy efficiency, and potential cost savings. Existing evidence supports these advantages: an analysis of data from more than 35,000 buildings utilizing Portfolio Manager and obtaining an ENERGY STAR score between 2008 and 2011 revealed an average 7% decline in energy use, as reported by the US EPA.
Interested in benchmarking help?
If you are interested to learn more how Energy Fave can help with Energy benchmarking for your building or if you have more questions about the whole reporting process, feel free to email us: [email protected]