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.
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.
In 2021, building 50,000 square feet and over: and in 2022, buildings 20,000 square feet and over will have “additional” requirements every five years:
Proof of compliance must be submitted once every five years on May 1st. The schedule is based upon the last digit of your building tax assessor parcel number.
A. The Property is new and has been occupied for less than five (5) years from its first compliance due date, based on its Temporary Certificate of Occupancy or Certificate of Occupancy; or
B. The Property has achieved one (1) or more of the Energy standards and one (1) or more of the water standards as set forth below for at least two (2) of the three (3) calendar years preceding the Property's compliance due date in Part 5:
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.
The ordinance requires the audit to be certified by a California licensed engineer or architect, or Qualified Auditor or Retro-Commissioning Professional. If you have such talent in-house with the right skill set, you may have your licenses professional sign-off on the audit report. If you do not have that talent in-house or have a better use of their time, Pegasus can conduct your energy and water audit.