Property Size

Residential and non-residential buildings 20,000 Sq. Ft. or larger.

Annual benchmarking reporting requires 12 calendar months of whole-building energy, water, and building use data. For example, in 2026, building owners must report 12 months of 2025 data.

May 1, annually. Benchmarking reports must be submitted on an annual basis using the previous year’s data via ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®. This is the EPA’s benchmarking tool that is used for compliance reporting in most ordinances across the country.

Building Performance Standards (BPS) are often considered Phase II of these building energy use ordinances. After reporting your benchmarking data, many ordinances require you to make changes to the building’s operations or equipment to lower energy use over time.

San Jose BPO requires covered properties to comply with their “Beyond Benchmarking” program which allows covered buildings to select one of two pathways to compliance.

Performance Pathway

Properties that are highly efficient or demonstrate improved efficiency can comply with Beyond Benchmarking requirements via the Performance Pathway. Owners will submit a performance report that verifies their building has performed better than the energy and water performance targets set by the city.

Improvement Pathway

If a property cannot meet either energy or water performance target, they must complete one of the following Improvement Pathways:

1. Complete an energy and/or water audit and submit the audit report to the City
2. Perform energy and/or water retro-commissioning, making low-cost improvements to existing building systems and submit a retro-commissioning report to the City
3. Install energy and/or water efficiency improvement measures as defined in the ordinance and submit an efficiency improvement report to the City

BPS Due Date

Below are the initial deadlines for Beyond Benchmarking. Compliance due every 5 years from the buildings first reporting deadline.

Third-party data verification requires owners/managers of covered buildings to hire a third-party expert who will independently review and verify the building’s benchmarking data.

Under San Jose BPO, data verification was required for buildings complying with Beyond Benchmarking via a Performance Pathway.

Failure to comply with San Jose BPO annual benchmarking may incur a monetary penalty from $25-$50 per day of non-compliance, up to $5,000 per calendar year.

CONTACT US HERE to learn more and get started with compliance.

San Jose Energy and Water Building Performance Ordinance (BPO) compliance can be confusing and hard to navigate. Bringing on a consultant like VCA Green streamlines the entire process while ensuring accurate reporting. We also offer free consultations with our benchmarking clients to review the reports and identify inefficiencies to improve.

Ordinances such as San Jose Building Performance Ordinance are already in effect across the country, and deadlines are rapidly approaching. Retrieving historical building data will take time, especially when coordinating with property managers and utilities.

Waiting until the last minute risks missing compliance windows resulting in fines and enforcement penalties. VCA Green takes every measure to ensure complete and accurate data collection. The sooner you reach out, the sooner you will reach compliance.