Does my apartment building have to benchmark under AB 802?

Your multifamily building must report if it has more than 50,000 square feet of gross floor area and 17 or more residential utility accounts. The CEC counts each residential unit as a utility account, whether it has its own meter or sits on a master meter. Condominiums and buildings with 1 to 16 residential accounts are not required.

See what AB 802 covers.

How are units counted?

For compliance, each residential unit is one utility account, directly metered or master-metered. A master-metered building with more than 50,000 square feet and 17 or more residential units must comply.

Who is not required to report?

Condominiums (as described in the California Civil Code), buildings with between 1 and 16 residential utility accounts, and buildings with more than half of the floor area used for industrial or scientific purposes. Buildings with 50,000 square feet or less are not required, unless a single meter serves multiple buildings that total more than 50,000 square feet.

What about properties with several buildings?

Report at the building level when possible. The CEC says multiple buildings should be reported as one if they are on the same or adjacent parcels, share at least one energy meter, total more than 50,000 square feet on the shared meter, and have 17 or more residential utility accounts. You may create a parent property in Portfolio Manager to track buildings separately.

How does utility data work for apartments?

Utilities must give whole-building data when a building has three or more utility customers. Keep the utility's notice if tenants do not respond. Whole-building data includes tenant-paid electricity.

When did multifamily reporting start?

In 2019. The annual deadline is June 1. See the AB 802 deadline.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Building Energy Benchmarking Program
• Building Energy Benchmarking FAQ
• 20 CCR 1681

Beacon is a private benchmarking service provider and is not the California Energy Commission (CEC).