Energy & Water Efficiency

Announcements

• The reporting deadline for the 2025/2026 data cycle is April 1st, 2026.
• View the 2024 Energy and Water Efficiency Report. Thank you to all properties who reported data.
• The Environmental Services Team will be hosting virtual Benchmarking Office Hours every Thursday for property owners to ask questions regarding the data submission process and ordinance. View the schedule for Office Hours below.  

Benchmarking Office Hours

Join the Environmental Services Team Office Hours meeting room from 10:30am-11:30am Pacific Standard Time every Thursday starting January 8th, 2026, until April 1st, 2026.

Program Details

In 2019, the City of Reno passed the Energy and Water Efficiency Program ordinance (RMC Chapter 14.30) which requires that the largest commercial buildings in Reno report their energy and water data to the city. The purpose of a benchmarking and transparency ordinance is to establish a program that encourages large commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings to invest in energy efficiency to improve building performance, which will result in lower carbon emissions from the commercial building sector. Energy benchmarking is the process of measuring a building’s energy use over time. Benchmarking will give owners the information they need to identify opportunities to cut energy waste and understand how their building performs relative to similar buildings.

A benchmarking and transparency ordinance is a proven, local government intervention that results in decreased energy use and reduced carbon emissions. It will also assist the city with targeting sectors most in need of technical assistance, incentives, and training. This policy is a market-based tool designed to overcome barriers and create demand for energy efficiency improvements in commercial, institutional, and multifamily buildings.

Voluntary participation for buildings under the current minimum threshold and buildings owned by the State of Nevada or federal government are highly recommended to benchmark and join ReEnergize Reno.

Reporting Deadline

Energy and Water data is due for covered properties on April 1st of each year.

How to Report Energy and Water Data to the City of Reno

First: Determine if Your Property is Covered

Check to see if your property is on the Covered Property List (updated February 2026). If your building is on this list, you must report your energy and water data.

If your building is not on the Covered Properties List, but it meets the requirements outlined in RMC 14.30.003, you are still required to report energy and water data under the ordinance. If you have questions about whether you are a covered property, please email ReEnergize@reno.gov.

Second: Benchmark with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

To benchmark energy and water use, building owners and facilities managers will use the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM), an online tool designed to measure and track energy and water consumption. Portfolio Manager gathers basic property information, building details such as gross floor area, and energy and water usage data. If you are having trouble navigating ESPM, there are ongoing training opportunities as well as recorded webinars available to the public on the Portfolio Manager Training webpage.

Create an ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

All covered building owners will need to create an ESPM account. This is where you will enter your building’s basic information such as address, Parcel ID number, square footage, and building use type.

Add Meters and Energy and Water Data

Once you have created a profile for your building, you will need to create meters for the property and upload your energy and water data. It is recommended that you have all 12 months of the previous year’s energy and water bills on hand for this process. If you are having trouble uploading this data, please view the training materials on the Portfolio Manager webpage or attend an Office Hour session with the Sustainability Team.

Share Your Profile with the City of Reno

Once you have created your building’s profile in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, and you have uploaded your data, you can then share your profile with the City of Reno.

In ESPM, you will first need to add the City of Reno as a contact. To do this:

1. Click "contacts" in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. 
2. Search the "username" box for "Reno7068" 
3. Select "connect" to Reno Benchmarking Team.

Next, share your property with the City of Reno. To do this:

1. Go to the "Sharing" tab in Portfolio Manager. 
2. Click "Share (or Edit Access) to a property". 
3. Select your properties and click "Apply Selection". Please note: If you are sharing a campus with multiple buildings, share both the campus and the individual buildings within the campus. 
4. Select "Reno7068" as the recipient. 
5. Select "Personalized Sharing & Exchange Data ("Custom Orders") and click "Continue". 
6. Select "Exchange Data" for each property. A pop-up window will appear. Specify data attributes and permissions for each property. 
   • Select "Read Only Access" for "Property Information" and "All Meter Information".
   • Select "None" for "Goals, Improvements, & Checklists" and "Recognition".
   • Select "No" for "Share Forward".
7. Click "Apply Selections & Authorize Exchange". 
8. Once you’ve completed Exchange Data access for each property, click "Share Property(ies)".
9. Please make sure that you have entered your building’s Parcel ID Number into the Reno Parcel ID field. This step is critical, as this ID number allows the City of Reno to track your compliance. This field is located in the "Unique Identifiers" section under the "Details" tab. 

Third: Monitor Your Buildings Compliance Status with BEAM

Beginning in 2023, program management will take place through a third-party platform called Building Energy Analysis Manager (BEAM). You can now sign up and claim your properties. Claiming properties in BEAM will allow building owners to view their compliance status. Check out the BEAM Knowledgebase for a complete BEAM User Guide as well as additional benchmarking tutorials. IMPORTANT: Reporting will still take place through Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM). You will want to complete reporting steps before claiming your properties. 

Exemptions and Deadline Extensions

Buildings may qualify for a deadline extension or an exemption to the reporting requirements. To view qualifying exemption criteria, visit RMC RMC Chapter 14.30. If you believe you qualify for an extension, or would like to receive an extension, please fill out this Energy and Water Efficiency Program Exemptions and/or Extensions Request. Requests will be processed every Friday.

Benchmarking Consultants

There are numerous organizations that provide benchmarking assistance to properties across the United States. Below is a list of consultants that frequently assist property owners within the city of Reno. If you would like your company added to this list, please email ReEnergize@reno.gov.

• Efficient Mechanical Systems
• Conservice
• Vert Energy Group
• Aus Energy - Alternative Utility Services, Inc.
• RealPage
• Burton Energy Group
• Touchstone Energy Cooperatives, Inc.
• Sheehan Engineering
• AEI Consultants
• Nova Group, GBC
• Viable LLC - Viable Green Building Specialists
• Partner Energy
• Green Econome
• McKinstry
• Firefly Building Performance
• EBI Consulting | Building Value Sustainability
• Verdafero Inc.
• UL Solutions|

Non-Compliance

Properties that are on the Covered Property List, but do not report data or file for an exemption or extension by the April 1^st deadline will be subject to penalties. As outlined in Chapter 14.30 of the Reno Administrative Code, properties that are non-compliant will be sent a warning notice. If data has not been reported or an exemption has not been filed within 30 days of the warning notice, a penalty fine of $100 will be billed to the property owner. Penalty fines will increase, as long as the building is non-compliant. For more information on penalties, please view Chapter 14.30.014 of the Reno Administrative Code.

Reports

The City of Reno provides a summary report on the progress of performance for all covered properties, including but not limited to, compliance rates, trends observed, correlations of benchmarking scores and audit recommendations, correlations of benchmarking scores and retuning measures completed, the impact of audits and retuning on EUIs and ENERGY STAR Scores. 

There are additional performance reporting requirements beginning April, 2026. Performance reporting requirements and targets, and all additional provisions can be found in Chapter 14.30 of the Reno Municipal Code.

ReEnergize Reno