Let’s start with a brief history lesson. Over a decade ago, local and state governments recognized that energy use in buildings contributes the majority of emissions in most jurisdictions. So it made sense that as these jurisdictions sought to reduce their emissions footprint, they would need to engage with building owners. And so, the building benchmarking law was born – requiring buildings of all types to assess their energy use annually, report it to the jurisdiction, and often have it disclosed publicly.
Fast forward to 2026, and more than 60 jurisdictions in North America have passed a building benchmarking law, including both the State of California and numerous California municipalities. If you’re an owner with buildings in a major California city, odds are your buildings are subject to both a local law as well as the state’s benchmarking law. But as if that weren’t enough, somewhere along the way the local and state governments correctly realized that benchmarking alone doesn’t actually reduce energy use and emissions – owners need to take action on the benchmarking results. So the policies evolved into BPS, where owners would be required to meet stringent energy use or emissions targets over future periods, or face potential financial penalties.
What’s a Building Owner to Do?
Probably the most critical task that owners can undertake to simplify the compliance process is getting organized around their data. When building performance data is centralized, kept complete and up-to-date, and actually reviewed on a regular basis—not just pulled together once a year for reporting—benchmarking and building performance standards (BPS) compliance starts to look a lot less like a burden and a lot more like a useful management tool. Owners can see how their buildings are performing, where they’re falling behind, and where action is likely to have the biggest impact. That’s what turns compliance into something that delivers value.
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager provides the trusted foundation for this data organization, as well as valuable insights for owners on the performance of their buildings. But over the last decade, additional tools have been developed that leverage the data in Portfolio Manager to provide even more added value. Owners need a clear view of which buildings in California are subject to which requirements, confidence that the underlying data is accurate, and a straightforward way to set targets and track progress toward those goals. By leveraging the data in Portfolio Manager, and adding visibility into regulatory exposure, enhanced data quality checks, and tools to monitor the implementation of projects, platforms like Measurabl’s recently launched free solution can help owners stay ahead of compliance requirements, and use their data for more than just filing reports.
Better Data, Better Outcomes
When owners take this more disciplined approach, the nature of compliance changes. Benchmarking data becomes something that informs day-to-day operational decisions rather than a static record assembled for a filing deadline. Owners can identify performance trends across their portfolios, prioritize interventions where they will have the greatest impact, and better align capital planning with both regulatory requirements and organizational objectives.
This shift is equally important for the jurisdictions putting these requirements in place. Benchmarking and BPS policies are designed to drive real-world reductions in energy use and emissions, not simply the submission of reports. When building owners have access to consistent, high-quality data, and tools to plan for building improvements, they are far more likely to take meaningful action. The result is a closer alignment between regulatory intent and on-the-ground outcomes, helping cities and states meet their climate goals rather than just collecting monetary penalties (which believe it or not, is not their preferred outcome).
Building Toward Long-Term Performance Improvement Through Technology
As California’s regulatory landscape continues to evolve, success for building owners will depend less on reacting to individual deadlines and more on leveraging durable systems for managing building performance data. By getting organized, ensuring data quality, and actively using benchmarking information to guide decisions, owners can reduce compliance risk, unlock financial value, and contribute to the emissions reductions that will benefit all members of the communities in which they operate.
We at Measurabl are pleased to partner with USGBC California to bring free technology and support to building owners through the California Building Performance Hub, to address the complex landscape of compliance by providing a single statewide data management tool. We look forward to supporting owners and jurisdictions as they move ahead toward reducing energy use and emissions from the built environment.
*Please be sure to join the USGBC-CA hosted upcoming live webinar “Compliance Simplified: A Step-by-Step Guide to Energy Benchmarking” on Feb. 11 from 12-1pm PT.
Posted 2/5/26
About the Author
Mike Zatz is SVP of Global Data Ecosystem & Partnerships at Measurabl, where he leads efforts to build a consistent, trusted global data ecosystem for real estate sustainability and the partnerships required to support it. His work focuses on connecting owners, managers, lenders, investors, policymakers, NGOs, and solution providers around decision-grade data that can streamline real estate transactions for all parties.
Prior to joining Measurabl in 2025, Mike spent 21 years with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he managed the ENERGY STAR® Commercial Buildings Program. In that role, he helped establish ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager as the industry-standard benchmarking platform across the U.S. and Canada, now used by more than 350,000 properties to track energy, water, waste, and emissions across a wide range of building types.
