BenchmarkYYC
What is BenchmarkYYC?
BenchmarkYYC helps building owners measure, track and share energy use, water use and emissions data. This enables smart choices to improve energy and water use and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It also aids in planning for long-term improvements.
New to BenchmarkYYC: Water use data
Collect and track your water use data to understand, manage and optimize your building’s water consumption.
How to collect whole-building water use data:
- Contact ENMAX Customer Care at 310-2010 (or 1-877-571-7111 if calling from outside Alberta) and select Municipal Services.
- Request historical, monthly water usage bills for up to three years (i.e. Jan 2022-Dec 2024)*
- Receive PDF copies of your bills and enter the water usage values into your ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Account. Only whole-building water usage data should be shared with BenchmarkYYC.
* ENMAX handles billing and customer support for water services in Calgary. This service is free of charge. –
How does BenchmarkYYC work?
- All buildings on the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager list of property types can join.
- The buildings can be of any size and must be in Calgary.
- Owners must sign up for the program and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Owners must use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to track monthly, whole-building energy and water consumption.
- Each year, owners share their energy, water and GHG data with BenchmarkYYC and receive a Building Performance Scorecard, access to discounted training opportunities and timely notifications of new building retrofit funding and financing programs.
- Owners can choose how to disclose their building energy, water and GHG emission performance. Learn more about our disclosure options.
What does BenchmarkYYC track and share?
BenchmarkYYC tracks and shares your buildings’ energy, water and GHG emissions data.
The Building Performance Scorecards provides:
- Your energy use, water use and GHG intensity compared to the previous year and other similar buildings.
- Your monthly energy and water use trends compared to similar buildings.
- A breakdown of the main systems in your building that use energy and create greenhouse gases.
- Insights and recommendations on how to improve your energy, water and GHG emissions performance.
- Estimated cost savings associated with performance improvements.
The goal is to equip Calgary building owners and operators with essential data insights about their building performance to confidently implement energy, water and GHG emissions measures that will save money.
See the Terms and Conditions for the full list of the data collected.
How are emissions calculated?
All energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data reported through BenchmarkYYC are collected using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, ensuring standardization of calculation methodologies. All data submissions are analyzed by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Managers Quality Check and subsequently reviewed by a Certified Energy Manager. All data quality concerns are communicated to the representative of the participating organization.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager calculates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using methodologies consistent with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This ensures that the calculations are relevant, complete, consistent and transparent.
How do I share my energy, water and GHG emissions data?
- BenchmarkYYC collects energy, water and GHG emissions data from May to October each year.
- Each building should have a minimum of 12 consecutive months of whole-building energy consumption data.
- If sharing water use data, a minimum of 12 months consecutive months of whole-building data is needed.
- Owners share their data using the Data Request Links below.
Submit your data:
View program summary reports
Building energy data rebate
A limited-term rebate of up to $10,000 per participant per data collection year offsets the fees associated with obtaining monthly, aggregated, whole-building utility data for multi-tenant buildings. This data is needed to properly measure, track and manage energy and GHG performance.
Learn more about the rebate and how to apply:
Additional resources
- The City of Calgary’s Climate Strategy
- Alberta Ecotrust Retrofit Accelerator
- A Benchmarking Primer (NRCan)
- Energy Benchmarking Basics (NRCan)
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions Technical Reference (ESPM)
- Emissions-Neutral Building Information Exchange (ENBIX)
- How to access whole-building energy use data
- Whole-building water data access
Contact us
Building Performance Scorecard
All enrolled buildings get an annual scorecard which displays key building performance metrics. The scorecard ranks your buildings against similar ones, helping you stay on track with your GHG emissions targets.
Download a PDF version.
Building Performance Map
The Map shows the locations and property attributes of buildings involved in Calgary. It also displays their energy performance metrics and greenhouse gas emissions.
Building energy and emissions data
BenchmarkYYC annually shares aggregated building energy and emissions data by property type on Open Calgary.
This dataset reveals Calgary’s building performance trends over time. These trends are calculated using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
Alberta Ecotrust Retrofit Accelerator
The Alberta Ecotrust Retrofit Accelerator offers free coaching for sustainable building upgrades. Coaches help identify and minimize issues during the retrofit process.
As a BenchmarkYYC participant, you’ll receive the data needed to work with the program.
Learn more and apply at Retrofit Accelerator - Alberta Ecotrust.
What is a "deep retrofit?"
A “deep retrofit” upgrades a building’s systems and framework to reduce:
- emissions
- energy consumption
- operating costs
This process can lessen a buildings’ environmental impact.
BenchmarkYYC awards
The BenchmarkYYC Awards recognize the top-performing commercial buildings annually. Participants track their energy use and GHG emissions and report their findings for continuous improvement.
Learn more about award-winning properties by viewing their case studies on the Energy Performance Map.