September 2019
Benchmarking and reporting on energy and water use for buildings is coming. Mandatory reporting will include condo buildings. The approach is similar to what has been adopted in other urban areas including New York and Chicago.
Ontario’s Green Energy Act requires condo corporations to report energy and water use in their buildings starting in 2019. This covers all multi-residential buildings of more than 50,000 square feet (approximately 50 units).
Smaller buildings, those more than 50,000 square feet and less than 100,000 square feet, were required to file their first report by July 1, 2019 for the 2018 calendar year. Larger buildings, those over 100,000 square feet and more than 10 units, must file their first report by July 1, 2020 for the 2019 calendar year.
Non-filers could be publicly named by the Ministry of Energy, and denied access to funds available for utility cost reduction projects and energy efficiency incentives.
Ontario’s Open Data will be a public catalogue of information on energy and water use for large buildings. Condo owners will be able to determine how their building performs in energy and water use compared to buildings of similar type. Public visibility of poorly performing buildings is hoped to motivate them to improve building operations.
Energy and water costs can account for about half of a condo building’s expenses. Reducing these costs by improving building performance is expected to provide financial benefits to all condo owners. Public reporting of this information may encourage condo management to shift their focus from replacing old equipment to running existing equipment more efficiently.
