Milwaukee benchmarking ordinance to reach new heights on energy efficiency
The City of Milwaukee has advanced its sustainability goals by passing an energy benchmarking ordinance as part of its Climate and Equity Plan. With extensive experience in developing benchmarking policies and programs, Center for Energy and Environment (CEE) played an important role in shaping this initiative.
CEE provided technical assistance in the development of the benchmarking policy. To achieve this, CEE developed and facilitated a three-workshop series to align City staff around policy design and implementation by leveraging CEE’s knowledge of best practices in energy efficiency and energy policies. CEE’s expertise in benchmarking stems from its work with cities across the Midwest to develop and implement similar energy disclosure policies.
With that support, the City of Milwaukee developed the Efficient Buildings Benchmarking Program, which requires large commercial building owners to track and report energy use as a first step to reduce emissions and support the city’s goal of a greener future.
Under the new benchmarking ordinance, owners of public buildings 10,000 square feet or larger and owners of commercial buildings 50,000 square feet or larger will be required to report their annual energy data starting June 30, 2025. Milwaukee’s ordinance will cover an estimated 450 commercial buildings and 200 public buildings. These large buildings make up roughly 67% of all building square footage in the city, according to a preliminary analysis by CEE and the City of Milwaukee.
CEE brings benchmarking expertise
CEE partners with jurisdictions across the Midwest on benchmarking, including Indianapolis, IN, the Cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and Rochester, and the State of Minnesota. In CEE’s experience, no two cities are alike. Each policy must be tailored to a jurisdiction’s unique situation to ensure success in engaging its large building owners to achieve climate goals.
Next steps and future updates
After passing its benchmarking ordinance earlier in the summer of 2024, Milwaukee received a $9M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop, adopt, and implement a building performance standard (BPS). The work under this grant builds on the benchmarking policy, requiring not just disclosure but improved efficiency based on a building’s benchmarked performance.
CEE’s partners at the State of Minnesota will also begin implementing a statewide benchmarking policy in 2025. The policy became law in 2023 with technical support from CEE and guidance from our city partners throughout Minnesota.
For more information on CEE’s community engagement work on similar policies and programs, visit our website or sign up for our quarterly newsletter.