Building Energy Disclosure
Disclosure policies require commercial and/or residential building owners to disclose their building’s energy consumption to prospective buys, lessees, or lenders. Disclosure laws improve consumers’ awareness of the energy use of homes and buildings, which can have a significant impact on its economic value. Building owners must gather energy use data in order to comply with disclosure requirements, a critical step in identifying and prioritizing energy efficiency upgrades.
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2020
- Building type(s) affected: residential
Alaska statute AS.34.70.101 requires the release of utility data for residential buildings at the time of sale.
Last Reviewed: May 2022
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
- Building type(s) affected: commercial, residential multifamily
Assembly Bill 1103 requires nonresidential building owners or operators to disclose the energy consumption data consistent with the ENERGY STAR rating system to buyers, lenders, and lessees. It went into effect on July 1, 2013, for buildings over 50,000 square feet; January 1, 2014, for buildings over 10,000 square feet; and July 1, 2014, for buildings equal to or greater than 5, 000 square feet.
Assembly Bill 802 directed the California Energy Commission to create a statewide building energy use benchmarking and public disclosure program for commercial and multi-family residential buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. The Energy Commission’s regulations require building owners to report building characteristic information and energy use data to the Energy Commission by June 1 annually, beginning in 2018 for buildings with no residential utility accounts, and in 2019 for buildings with 17 or more residential utility accounts. Building owners will complete their reporting using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a free online tool provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The Energy Commission will publicly disclose some of the reported information beginning in 2019 for buildings with no residential utility accounts, and 2020 for buildings with residential utility accounts.
Last Reviewed: May 2022
There is no disclosure policy in place.
The “Energy Performance for Buildings” Statute (House Bill 21-1286) passed the Colorado General Assembly on June 8, 2021 and went into effect on September 6, 2021. This law requires owners of large commercial, multifamily, and public buildings 50,000 square feet or more to annually report their whole-building energy use to the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) beginning December 1, 2022. Thereafter, buildings will need to report their previous year's energy use by June 1. More information can be found here: www.buildingperformanceco.com
Additionally, several cities across the State have passed building commercial benchmarking policies including Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and Aspen.
Last Reviewed: May 2022
In mid-2014, Connecticut’s Home Energy Solutions program implemented a pilot home energy score and labeling program. On April 1, 2015, the HES program fully integrated energy scoring and labeling. Now, program eligibility rules require every enrollee to participate/receive an energy score and label.
Confidentiality laws that govern customer data prevent adoption of guidelines that require scores and labels to be publically disclosed. However, staff are required to educate participants about the value of disclosing energy scores and labels; persuading homeowners to voluntarily make their labels public. The goal is to transform the market, so that sellers and buyers use the label as a tool to guide energy efficiency improvements and real estate purchases.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Connecticut as the first state to implement the statewide adoption of home energy scores. As of Spring 2019, 33,952 DOE home energy scores have been distributed to Home Energy Solutions participants.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
- Building type(s) affected: commercial, residential multifamily
The Clean and Affordable Energy Act of 2008 requires that the energy and water performance of public buildings over 10,000 gross square feet and privately-owned commercial and multifamily residential buildings over 50,000 gross square feet be benchmarked using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® and the results reported annually to the District of Columbia Department of the Environment for public disclosure. The Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 lowered the square footage threshold for benchmarking, adding private buildings 25,000 square feet and larger starting in 2021, and private buildings 10,000 square feet and larger by 2024. Additionally, all buildings subject to benchmarking are required to obtain 3rd party verification once every three years, beginning in 2021 for buildings 25,000 square feet and larger, and in 2024 for those 10,000 - 24,999 square feet. Results from DC Government buildings are available in the Build Smart DC database. Results from privately-owned buildings are available in the District of Columbia Open Data Portal and via an interactive map.
The District of Columbia mandated, in the Sustainable DC Act of 2014, that both electric and gas utilities provide aggregated whole-building data upon request to a building owner, and make that data available as a download and though automated upload to ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®. The District was the first jurisdiction in the nation to put such a requirement into law.
The Clean Energy DC Act also established a building energy performance standard (BEPS) building on the benchmarking history. Buildings will be segmented by building type and assessed against the median ENERGY STAR score (or alternative metric, if applicable). Buildings will demonstrate that they exceed the local median ENERGY STAR score for their building type or will be required to follow either a performance or prescriptive pathway to achieve compliance. The Standard will be recalculated every five years and as smaller buildings are subject to the benchmarking requirements, they will also be required to comply with BEPS on a phased-in timeline.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
The Building Energy-Efficiency Rating System established in ss.553.990-998, F.S., provides that prospective purchasers of real property shall be provided with a copy of an information brochure, at the time of or prior to the purchaser’s execution of the contract for sale and purchase, notifying the purchaser of the option for an energy-efficiency rating on the building.
Last Reviewed: June 2022
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2018
- Building type(s) affected: residential
§508D-10.5 requires residential property owners to disclose energy-efficiency consumer information at the time of sale or lease.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
- Building type(s) affected: residential
HB 2036 requires builders or sellers of new residential single-family or multi-family buildings of four units of less to disclose information regarding the energy efficiency of the structure to buyers (or prospective buyers) prior to the signing of the contract to purchase and prior to the closing of the sale.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2018
There is no disclosure policy in place. However, under Chapter 38 of the Acts of the Maryland General Assembly of 2022, owners of covered buildings will be required to measure and report direct emissions data to the Maryland Department of the Environment beginning in 2025. A covered building is a commercial or multifamily residential building or a building owned by the state, and has a gross floor area of 35,000 square feet or more, excluding a parking garage area. A covered building does not include a historic property, an elementary or secondary school building, a manufacturing building, or an agricultural building.
Last Reviewed: May 2022
- Building type(s) affected: residential
SB 2746 requires the disclosure of information regarding the benefits of home energy audits to buyers of single-family homes or small multi-family homes at the time of closing.
DOER has been piloting a Building Asset Rating (BAR) reporting protocol to serve as a next step for cities that have a disclosure ordinance in place. The BAR pilot has completed assessments of 41 commercial office building and has developed protocols for these building assessments.
Through the Home Energy Labeling Information Exchange (HELIX) DOER is partnering with the Vermont Public Service Department and other Northeast states to make U.S. DOE Home Energy Score (HES) data accessible to local Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and other market interests (e.g., assessors, appraisers, lenders) through a publicly accessible database. The project will support the market valuation of energy efficiency in homes and kicked off in late April 2016. HELIX is supported by a U.S. DOE award of $786,103 (over three years), and by funds provided by DOER, as well as DOER staff time.
In addition, through the Energy Metrics to Promote Residential Energy Scorecards in the States (EMPRESS), the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (RI OER), and the National Association of State Energy Offices (NASEO) will further work to develop common building energy labeling infrastructure by harmonizing the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) used for new homes and the DOE Home Energy Score (HES) used for existing homes. Both HELIX and EMPRESS build from a DOE-funded two year pilot, called Home MPG, completed in 2014. Home MPG was a collaboration between DOER and three investor-owned utilities in which over 3866 homes received home energy performance scores (EPS) through the Mass Save home energy audit program, and 1593 of those homes (41%) received an updated EPS after completing efficiency upgrades.
In 2018, Governor Baker introduced bill number H. 4371 in the Massachusetts Legislature that would require home energy scorecards to be part of an MLS listing. Massachusetts has developed a standardized residential Home energy scorecard, and has voluntary reporting in place through home energy assessments made by 39 of the 40 municipal utilities in the state. HERS ratings of newly constructed homes also now integrate voluntary reporting of both the HERS index and the same MA residential home energy scorecard which are stored in the Home Energy Labeling Information Exchange (HELIX) database and the Green building registry (GBR). This voluntary program allows home owners and realtors to leverage this data since HELIX and GBR can make it accessible to local Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and other market interests (e.g., assessors, appraisers, lenders).
Last Reviewed: May 2022
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2022
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
At Governor Nixon’s request, the Division of Energy developed a voluntary Missouri Home Energy Certification that identifies and recognizes energy efficient new and existing homes in Missouri. It is designed to help homeowners convey the invested value of energy efficient measures in their homes to potential buyers. The Division of Energy worked with the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and convened stakeholder group meetings gathering input on the criteria and design of the certification that includes home energy ratings and highly efficient energy assets based on the 2012 IECC. The MHEC rolled out on February 20, 2015.
In addition, the Division of Energy worked with stakeholders to transition to the Green Building Registry as a means of storing green home data and disseminating it to regional MLSs, real estate companies, and municipalities. The Green Building Registry (GBR) for Missouri serves as an online listing of homes with an emphasis on the property's energy usage and efficiency scores by sourcing home energy data from utility companies, regional energy efficiency programs, and scoring and certification programs. The purpose of the website is to report accurate home efficiency data and provide real estate agents with a cloud-based data import that is capable of easily transferring data into multiple listing service (MLS) in a format consistent with national real estate (RESO Dictionary) and energy efficiency (HPXML) data standards. Since the inception of MHEC, more than 4,800 homes have received an energy assessment. This information can be made available at the homeowner’s consent through the GBR at the time of a real estate listing. The Division also constructed a continuing education course targeting real estate professionals that includes rating systems. The training module provides three continuing education units and was approved by the Missouri Real Estate Commission. Presentations of the course are planned. Division of Energy staff is working toward updating the course so that it is available online for free.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2018
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
The Clean Energy Act of 2018 (P.L.2018 c. 17 “Clean Energy Act”) provides that within five years the NJBPU require benchmarking by owners and operators of commercial buildings over 25,000 sq. ft. using the USEPA Portfolio Manager tool.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
- Building type(s) affected: residential
The Truth in Heating law requires the release of utility data of residential buildings at the time of sale or rental.
New York requires state-owned facilities over 25,000 ft2 that are able to receive a score from the EPA Portfolio Manager to annually benchmark and disclose those Portfolio Manager scores.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2018
Oregon has a Statewide Building Energy Scoring administrative rule for commercial and residential buildings. OAR 330--63-0000 describes the requirements for any scoring activities in the state. The City of Portland has mandatory disclosure for commercial buildings more than 20,000 sq. ft. For residential single family, a Home Energy Score is required at time of real estate listing. Mandatory scoring began in 2018 and more than 10,000 homes have been scored. Portland requires compliance with state Rule for scoring. State rule requires the USDOE Home Energy Score, but entities may adapt the outptut of the USDOE tool to localize the look of the scorecard. Rule requires local utility prices and energy GHG content be on each score. Residential scores are also available by utility score provider in Eugen, OR, Eugene Water and Electric Board, the first USDOE Home Energy Score Partner in the state. The Oregon Department of Energy is also a USDOE Home Energy Score Partner and operates a state-wide voluntary scoring program via in-market quality control contracts and state contactor board-licensed home in-market energy score energy assessors. There are about 200 licensed assessors in Oregon. In 2018, several other Oregon communities expressed interest in local ordinances for home and commercial scoring as part of their Climate Action Plans. These communities are moving through the process to create scoring programs.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
Pennsylvania passed an Executive Order (EO 2019-01) in January 2019, requiring benchmarking for public buildings over 20,000 square feet.
Last Reviewed: August 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place; however, a working group consisting of the Office of Energy Resources, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, the Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council, National Grid, and the Rhode Island Realtors Association was formed in 2014. The group developed a work plan to begin taking steps toward eventual legislation mandating energy disclosure for the residential and commercial sectors. Recognizing that such a mandate could be controversial, the state is starting by developing relationships, building a knowledge base, and piloting a voluntary program.
A National Grid pilot program will provide 150 homes with home energy scores as part of their energy audits, with work beginning in 2018 and concluding in 2019. Working in partnership with Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), Rhode Island has been utilizing their HELIX system to get RI home energy rated buildings listed in that database. Rhode Island also offered training to assessors and real estate agents providing education about the value and benefits of green buildings and how to incorporate that information into valuations. Lastly, the National Grid and Portfolio Manager automation and integration work has been completed and is being promoted to customers.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
- Building type(s) affected: residential
SB 64 established certain energy efficiency disclosure requirements for new residential buildings. This policy is triggered at the time of sale.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2017
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
Act 89 of 2013 requires the establishment of a working group to develop building energy disclosure tools for both residential and commercial buildings. The single-family residential disclosure tool and label are complete and will be rolled out for use by the state efficiency programs (including the state low-income weatherization program) starting this year. In 2014, a multi-family and commercial building working group identified the EPA Portfolio Manager as the tool to be used for disclosure. This Working Group will continue to meet to develop and launch the use of a label as well. By Dec 15, 2016, the Public Service Department is required to submit a report to the legislature with an update on the effectiveness of the voluntary disclosure and labeling efforts, including a recommendation on whether building energy disclosure should be made mandatory. In addition, the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) requested that the Public Service Board open a proceeding to address customer energy usage data aggregation to assist with benchmarking of buildings with multiple tenants. In coordination with DPS, the Commercial Building Energy Working Group filed recommendations to require data aggregation and release of aggregated data for buildings with more than four tenants. The VT General Assembly passed H. 63, which has new Building energy disclosure requirements and re-establishes the Residential and Commercial Building Energy Labeling Working Groups. As of May 2019, this bill had not yet been sent to the Governor for action.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place and Virginia statute does not allow localities to require energy benchmarking and disclosure for residential and/or commercial buildings.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
- Building type(s) affected: commercial
SB 5854 - 2009-10 requires all nonresidential customers and qualifying public agency buildings to maintain records of energy data with an energy star rating system. Resulting metrics will be disclosed to a prospective buyer, lessee, or lender. Benchmarking will be required to demonstrate compliance with the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 100-2018.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019
There is no disclosure policy in place.
Last Reviewed: July 2019