Philadelphia’s commercial buildings may become more competitive in their energy and water consumption, or so city council members hope after passing legislation to establish energy benchmarking.
Under the new law, submitted as Bill No. 120428-A, owners of non-residential buildings of more than 50,000 square feet will be required to measure energy and water consumption and post the results publicly starting June 1, 2013.

The bill is modeled after laws in other major U.S. cities including New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. City officials anticipate greater transparency will lead to greater marketplace competition, driving down water and energy costs and creating more efficient buildings. Energy will be tracked via the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager program.

The full Philadelphia bill is available here.