Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure (ECAD) Ordinance for Owners of Commercial Buildings

Get Help Submitting Your Commercial
ECAD Report
Austin Energy is offering free workshops to help you with your ECAD report. At this free, hands-on workshop you will:

• Enter building and energy data into the online ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager tool
• Get your building's energy benchmark rating
• Prepare to report your rating in order to comply with the ECAD ordinance

Mark your calendar to attend one of these workshops.

• Tuesday, June 4, 2013
• Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Get all the details and RSVP today

About ECAD for Commercial Buildings
The Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure (ECAD) ordinance requires City of Austin commercial buildings that receive electricity from Austin Energy to submit an energy benchmark rating to the City of Austin annually by June 1, with a start date scheduled as follows:

Manufacturing Exemptions
A facility used primarily for the manufacturing, processing, or fabricating of tangible personal property that has qualified for a Predominant Use Exemption under state law (Texas Tax Code, Section 151.317) for the entire facility utility account is not required to calculate an energy use rating.

Definition of a Commercial Building
The ECAD ordinance defines a commercial building as one used for civic, commercial or industrial purposes that is not used for manufacturing.

Condominiums
Condominiums are not categorized as commercial buildings under this ordinance. Please use these guidelines:

• Individual owners of a single condominium must follow the ordinance requirements for single-family properties, unless an exemption exists.
• Owners of five or more units at a single property must follow the
  ordinance requirements for multi-family, unless an exemption exists.

Commercial Building Energy Rating Systems
If the building is not exempt, it will need a benchmark rating from the Austin Energy-approved energy rating tool, Portfolio Manager, from ENERGY STAR®.

Portfolio Manager can be used to rate a variety of building types such as banks/financial institutions, courthouses, data centers, dormitories/residence halls, hospitals (general medical and surgical), hotels, houses of worship, K-12 schools, medical offices, offices, retail stores, senior care facilities, supermarkets, wastewater facilities, and warehouses.

Your Energy Performance Rating
Portfolio Manager gives you an Energy Performance Rating score and/or a Current Site Energy Intensity.

The Energy Performance Rating score is a single number between 1 and 100. This number indicates the overall energy use of your building compared to similar buildings. Factors such as weather and operating hours are part of the calculation. Portfolio Manager requires at least 12 months of utility data to calculate a benchmark rating. Even if your building does not have 12 months of utility service data, reporting is still required.

In some cases, Portfolio Manager may not generate a rating score, however the tool will generate an energy use index and the reporting is required.

Interpreting Your Rating
Austin City Council has set the following voluntary goals to help you interpret your rating.

Rating your building and submitting the rating to Austin Energy is required by law. Improving your rating and making your building more efficient is voluntary. Rebates and tax credits can help you pay for improvements and lower your energy bills.

How to Report Your Building Rating
Starting in February of each reporting year, a reporting link will be posted on the Austin Energy ECAD Commercial reporting page. By clicking on the link, you can login to Portfolio Manager which will allow you to release your building rating to Austin Energy. Submissions prior to that date are not available. Please maintain your building energy data up to date until you report the building rating.

Energy-Efficiency Improvements
The ECAD ordinance seeks to improve Austin’s energy efficiency. Although commercial building owners need only to report the building’s energy use rating, improving energy efficiency can benefit the bottom line by lowering monthly energy bills. Austin Energy provides rebates and excellent commercial energy-efficiency offerings and special programs for small businesses to help building owners make energy-efficiency improvements.

Enforcement and Penalties
Non-compliance with the ECAD ordinance, Austin City Code, Chapter 6-7, is a Class C misdemeanor with fines from $500 to $2,000.

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