Property Size

• All residential and non-residential buildings 20,000 Sq. Ft. or larger.
• All municipal buildings and campuses over 10,000 Sq. Ft.

Campuses are generally defined as 2 or more buildings with shared utility services, used for the purposes of health care, research, or education.

Annual benchmarking reporting requires 12 calendar months of whole-building energy and building use data. For example, in 2025, building owners must report 12 months of 2024 data.

Benchmarking is required annually on May 15. 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.

Providence requires energy assessments or actions of their covered buildings. Official guidance is yet to be finalized, but owners will be able to select either conducting an assessment or taking energy action. Below are some examples of each:

Energy Assessments

Providence will look at existing ASHRAE energy audit standards and build requirements accordingly.

Energy Actions

These may include retro-commissioning (low-cost upgrades to the base building systems) or executing energy management plans (EMPs).

Audit/Action Due Dates

Energy audits or actions (to be further defined by Providence) will be required within 5 years of the building’s initial benchmarking deadline, and every 5 years thereafter.

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.

Providence BERO does not require third party data verification at this time.

Failure to comply with Providence BERO will result in a written warning upon the first violation. Subsequent violations will be penalized based on the following schedule:

• Buildings over 50,000 Sq. Ft. – $40 per day; up to $4,000 per year
• Buildings over 20,000 Sq. Ft. – $30 per day; up to $3,000 per year.

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

Providence Building Energy Reporting Ordinance (BERO) 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 Providence BERO 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.