February 21, 2013

Minneapolis latest to require energy disclosure

As a way to incentivise landlords to compete for lower operational costs, Minneapolis is the latest US city - and the first in the Midwest - to adopt an energy benchmarking and disclosure rule for commercial buildings.

Private commercial buildings larger than 50,000 square feet in Minneapolis must report energy and water use annually beginning in 2015. The policy - already adopted in Austin, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. - is meant to bolster market forces, rather than requiring building design mandates, and motivate owners and tenants to invest in energy efficiency improvements.

The city of Minneapolis and other public offices will lead by example and begin publicly disclosing energy and water use in buildings larger than 25,000 square feet starting this year. [Business Green]

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