AB 802 covers both commercial and multi-family buildings over 50,000 square feet, but it does not include water benchmarking, nor does AB 802 require energy audits or “additional energy savings” actions. Exemptions and exceptions are not identical. See San Jose’s exemptions following.
Exemptions include:
To apply for an exemption, complete the form at sanjoseca.gov/benchmarking and submit to benchmarking@sanjoseca.gov.
Yes, buildings may be granted an extension of time up to 60 days. An additional extension of up to 180 days may be granted upon demonstration of a substantial hardship. To apply for an extension complete the form at www.sanjoseca.gov/benchmarking. Extension requests must be submitted by May 1st.
The ordinance applies to “buildings” not “properties”. So, if no one building exceeds 20,000 square feet the ordinance is not applicable. However, there is one important exception. If two or more buildings share a common meter (with no submeter) such that the energy or water use for a single building cannot be determined, then the square footage of the buildings sharing that meter are summed to arrive at the 20,000 square foot requirement. For example, if a 9000 square foot building and an 11,000 square foot building share a common meter, then the two buildings must be benchmarked as one.
An Energy or Water audit is required every 5 years unless:
Proof of compliance must be submitted on May 1st, once every five years. The schedule is based on the last digit of your building tax assessor parcel number.
There are four (4) possible pathways within the "Beyond" requirement:
RETRO-COMMISSIONING FOR ENERGY OR WATER: You may perform retro-commissioning instead of an audit. Retro-commissioning requires an energy specialist to evaluate the building's systems and equipment to identify problems and opportunities for improvement. Retro-commissioning can help address issues that arise over time, such as aging equipment or changes in how the building is used.
If you are not prepared to submit your report by the May 1st deadline, you should submit an extension request. The City of San Jose offers extensions of 60 to 180 days if you need additional time to fulfill requirements. Extension requests must be submitted by May 1st.
A. The Property is new and has been occupied for less than five (5) years from its first compliance due date or
B. The Property is a "HIGH-PERFORMANCE" building. A "High Performance" building has met one of the following criteria for at least two of the last three calendar years.
The High-Performance Exemptions for Energy
The High-Performance Exemptions for Water
Failing the "High-Performance" exemption, the next option is the "EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT" option. See the question below for the requirements for the Efficiency Improvement pathway
QUALIFYING FOR THE EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT OPTION
If you don’t meet the "High-Performance" exemption requirements, you may qualify for the Improvement option by completing two (2) measures below for both Energy and Water. (Partial lists shown) A Level I energy/water audit is required after completion.
Upon completion, a Level I energy and water audit is required.
The instructions may be labeled as simple, however the EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager software is anything but “user friendly” or easy to use. There is a rather long and steep learning curve exemplified by PG&E’s 35-page instruction manual (or Los Angeles’ benchmarking manual is 84 pages).
Most building owner’s find that is it not the most efficient use of their or their employees time to learn the software for an annual report. That’s where we come in. Pegasus has been preparing energy benchmark reports since 2012. We have made the process as simple as possible. You give us some basic information about your building - and we do the work! Give us a call at 415-937-5046.