Frequently Asked Questions

Energy benchmarking is assessing and analyzing a building’s annual energy use. Energy benchmarking enables building owners and operators to understand current energy use patterns, identify opportunities to save energy and money, and track changes over time. Importantly, benchmarking does NOT require a building to meet a prescribed level of energy use. 

Energy savings can vary from building to building. Research by U.S. EPA shows that buildings that benchmark their energy use see an average annual energy savings of 2.4% per year that accrues over time, resulting in a total of 8 – 10% reduction in annual energy use. 

Commercial building energy use accounts for 30% of Madison’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To meet our goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions community wide by 2050, we must reduce emissions from all sources, including our built environment. 

Yes, over 50 other cities, counties, and states have exiting building energy efficiency legislation. Visit the Building Performance Policy Center for additional information and a map summarizing adoption of these policies across the U.S.  

The Building Energy Savings Program uses free benchmarking and reporting tools, including the Building Owner Portal and ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM).  ESPM is the nationally-preferred tool to measure and track building energy and water use. There is no fee for benchmarking.

Building energy benchmarking in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager can be performed by anyone, including a building owner, property manager or operator, leasing agent, a 3rd party energy consultant or others. For those new to Portfolio Manager, EPA provides free online resources to help you get started and trainings.

Benchmarking takes an average of a few hours annually. If your building has tenants, you will need to work with the tenants to access whole-building energy data. Start this process early.

All non-residential, commercial buildings with floor space of at least 25,000 square feet (sq. ft). In mixed-use buildings, only the non-residential portion of a building counts toward the size threshold and is covered by the program. 

• Buildings less than 25,000 sq. ft. 
• Residential buildings or residential portions of buildings. 
• Buildings used for industrial or manufacturing purposes and listed on the State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue's manufacturing real estate rolls.

Buildings required to comply with the program are included on the Covered Buildings List, which is updated annually. 

The City will also mail notifications to building owners at the beginning of the annual compliance cycle - around March 1.

Energy benchmarking is completed in four steps:

1. Check the Covered Buildings List
   The 2026 Covered Buildings list includes all buildings that must benchmark this year.
2. Claim your building using the Building Owner Portal
   Log in to claim your building(s) and connect to Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
3. Benchmark your building using Energy Star Portfolio Manager
   Set up your property in EPA's Energy Star Portfolio Manager and enter whole-building energy use data.
4. Report to the City using the Building Owner Portal
   Review and submit your building's benchmarking data in the Building Owner Portal.

Visit our Benchmarking Page to get started.

ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager collects the following data for all properties: 

• Property Name 
• Property Address 
• Total Gross Floor Area of Property 
• Irrigated Area 
• Year Built/Planned for Construction Completion 
• Occupancy 
• Number of Buildings 
• 12 consecutive months of whole-building energy data, including electricity, natural gas, propane, etc. 

Additional data may be needed based on the selected building type. Check out the data collection worksheet to get a complete list of the information needed for each building type. If you do not have precise values for fields, you can use approximate values or estimates provided by Portfolio Manager. 

Some property types are eligible to receive a 1 – 100 ENERGY STAR score in Portfolio Manager, which compares the property to similar properties nationwide. A score of 50 represents median energy performance, while a score of 75 or higher means your building is a top energy performer. When you benchmark your building in Portfolio Manager, EPA provides an ENERGY STAR score for your building if it is eligible. This score is included in your benchmarking report.  

Sometimes, such as in tenant occupied space, a building owner may not have all information necessary to receive an ENERGY STAR score on an eligible building type (e.g. number of computers in a tenanted office space). In these case, owners may utilize EPA estimates as a proxy. 

Energy benchmarking data will be used by the City in two ways. First, the City will provide the building owner a customized annual report for each covered building that includes: a summary of whole-building energy use over the year; how the building’s energy is changing from year to year; info on how the building compares to others in Madison; customized recommendations for saving energy and the benefits those changes could bring; and information on resources building owners can leverage to improve performance, including rebates, incentives, and financing. 

Second, the City will aggregate the data received to learn more about our energy use and greenhouse gas emissions citywide and track changes over time. This data-driven approach allows the City to learn and communicate the impacts of the program, such as changes in overall energy use, efficiency, and GHG emissions; identify areas of success, such as particular sectors that show the greatest improvement; and opportunities for improvement, such as city, state, or federal programs that link up and provide additional resources or support.

Contact our Help Desk with questions about the Building Energy Savings Program or if you need assistance during the benchmarking process. 

A building tune-up is a process of reviewing of energy systems, controls, and maintenance practices, and making minor adjustments and fixes as needed to bring them up to a good state of performance. Meta-analysis by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) shows that tune-ups result in a median annual energy savings of 12% and a median annual cost savings of $0.16 per square foot for a building. 

It varies by building and mechanical systems. Research by PNNL shows that tune-ups typically reduce annual energy use by about 12%, but some buildings saw as much as 52% annual energy savings. 

Commercial building energy use accounts for just over 45% of Madison’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To meet our goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions community wide by 2050, we must reduce emissions from all sources, including our built environment. Building tune-ups expand the savings found through energy benchmarking under BESP by turning energy performance knowledge into action. 

Yes, over 50 other cities, counties, and states have exiting building energy efficiency legislation. Visit the Building Performance Policy Center for additional information and a map summarizing adoption of these policies across the U.S.  

Buildings owners can choose between four compliance pathways: 

1. Complete a building tune-up. 
2. Choose an Alternative Compliance Pathway that demonstrates you have a high efficiency building or have recently taken actions that substantially improved your building’s efficiency.
3. Apply for a 1-year extension if you meet one of the qualifying criteria:
   1. Recent change in building ownership.
   2. +50% of the building is vacant and not leased for at least 6 months of the previous year.
   3. Building is undergoing a major renovation.
   4. A building’s owner is experiencing financial hardship such as bankruptcy or foreclosure.
4. Apply for an exemption if the building is being demolished.

Tune-up must be carried out by a qualified tune-up specialist or a team under their supervision. It is the Tune-up Specialist's job to make sure that building systems are operating per the needs and expectations of the building owner and are not in need of maintenance or repair. A Tune-up Specialist can be on-site staff or a contracted service provider, as long as they have the proper qualifications.

Yes, but only if they meet the tune-up specialist qualifications. 

It depends on your building’s size and the complexity of your building’s systems. The tune-up specialist you select should provide you with a general estimate of the cost based on the size of your building and your mechanical systems.  

The walk-through and corrective actions are separate steps in the tune-up process that will vary based on the size and complexity of your building and its mechanical systems. Required tune-up corrective actions will be based on assessment findings.  

Yes! Focus on Energy incentives are available for building performance optimization and retrocommissioning, one of the Alternative Compliance Pathways. 

Building Performance Optimization

• Building Performance Optimization covers common building adjustments like boiler and chiller tune-ups, schedule and ventilation adjustments, and system repairs. The short application process and fixed rebates make participation easy.
• Source of funding for tune-ups.

Retrocommissioning (RCx) offering

• Provides $0.6/sq ft for completing retrocommissioning and reducing EUI by up to 3%.
• Additional $0.01/sq ft for every 1% reduction in EUI above 3%, capped at 15%.
• Up to $100,000 per project.
• Source of funding for those choosing the Retrocommissioning Compliance Pathway.

Contact a Focus on Energy Advisor to learn more and get started:

• Commercial Advisor - Adam Wagner - adam.wagner@focusonenergy.com
• School & Government Advisor - Joe Kottwitz - Joe.Kottwitz@focusonenergy.com

Start by identifying your Tune-up Specialist who can provide information about how long the tune-up process will take and how much it will cost for your building. Your Tune-up Specialist can also help you organize any existing reports or studies you have already done that can assist in tuning-up your building. Then, they can download and complete the tune-up report workbook.

All non-residential, commercial buildings with floor space of at least 50,000 square feet (sq. ft). In mixed-use buildings, only the non-residential portion of a building counts toward the size threshold and is covered by the program. 

• Buildings less than 50,000 sq. ft.
• Residential buildings or residential portions of buildings.
• Buildings used for industrial or manufacturing purposes and listed on the State of Wisconsin Department of Revenue's manufacturing real estate rolls.

Buildings required to comply with the program are included on the Covered Buildings List, which is updated annually. 

The City will also mail notifications to building owners at the beginning of the annual compliance cycle - around March 1.

Enclosed parking areas such as underground garages are included in the Gross Floor Area (GFA) square footage shown for a building on the Covered Buildings List, and energy use for this portion of the building must be accounted for in a specific way in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Please refer to the official guidance from ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager on how to enter parking areas for your property.

Stand-alone, above-ground parking garages are not included on the Covered Buildings List.

Yes, the building owner must coordinate with tenants about either accessing their space or cooperating on conducting a tune-up. There is one exception: tenant spaces that are 5,000 square feet or smaller, occupied by a tenant and where the tenant owns, operates, and maintains the mechanical equipment (e.g. heating, ventilation, air conditioning) do not need to be tuned up. Ultimately, the building owner is responsible for ensuring a single tune-up report for the building is submitted to the City, unless a single tenant occupies the whole building and has accepted responsibility for complying with the tune-up policy.

Not necessarily. Building owners have the option of working with the City to develop an alternative compliance schedule if they own 5 or more covered buildings. Large portfolio owners seeking alterative schedule(s) for compliance must submit a BESP Large Portfolio Compliance Plan for review and approval by the City. 

1. Check the Covered Buildings List
   The 2026 Covered Buildings List shows the tune-up year for all buildings that must meet this requirement.
2. Select a Tune-up Specialist
   A tune-up specialist can be on-site staff or a contracted service provider, as long as they have the proper qualifications.
3. Complete the Building Assessment
   The tune-up specialist will use the Tune-up Report Workbook as a guide for assessing the building’s systems or subsystems that use energy or impact energy consumption.
4. Implement and Verify Corrective Actions
   Required corrective actions must be implemented by in-house staff, service providers, or the specialist. The specialist verifies implementation and ensures systems function as intended. Voluntary actions may be completed at any time.
5. Submit the Tune-up Report Workbook using the Building Owner Portal
   Review and submit your building's Tune-up Report Workbook in the Building Owner Portal.

Base building systems or subsystems that use energy or impact energy consumption are checked during a tune-up, including: 

• building envelope 
• HVAC systems (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) 
• domestic hot water systems, including water softening equipment 
• and electrical lighting systems. 

For each system, the following elements (if present) are checked to make sure they are meeting the specifications defined by the building owner: 

• Sensors
• Schedules
• Set points
• Outside air control/ventilation
• Equipment controls
• Maintenance or repair needs
• Design recommendations

Operational adjustments or repairs are included in a tune-up when an element does not meet the building owner’s requirements or is in need of maintenance or repair.  

Yes. A tune-up specialist may review a sample of repetitive, identical minor equipment such as fan coils, plumbing fixtures, or lighting sensors on the same schedules. The sample must include at least 15% of pieces of identical equipment, and at least 10 of each in buildings 50,000 – 99,000 square feet or 20 of each in buildings 100,000 square feet and larger. Tune-up specialists will be asked to describe their sampling approach in the tune-up report. Sampling should not be applied to major systems, such as chillers, boilers, and air handling units.

Corrective actions are operational adjustments, maintenance, or minor repairs to existing building equipment or systems to resolve issues identified during the building assessment. Operational adjustments can be made to existing equipment without purchasing new equipment. Maintenance or repairs are what is commonly considered to be normal, routine actions. Appropriate corrective actions are included in the Tune-up Report Workbook. 

No. There are both required and voluntary correction actions. Required correction actions are operational adjustments or repairs to existing building equipment. The Tune-up Report Workbook details which corrective actions are required and voluntary. 

In-house staff or contracted service providers can complete the corrective actions. The qualified tune-up specialist must verify that the work was complete and fulfills the assessment recommendations. 

No. A building is not require to replace a major piece of equipment to comply with the BESP. We do, however, encourage building owners to consider installing the most efficient equipment possible, because it could potentially enable your building to comply with BESP through the alternative compliance pathway option related to energy use reduction. See the Alternative Compliance Pathways section for more information. 

The following are exempt from assessment and corrective actions during a tune-up: 

• Tenant-owned systems when the tenant’s leased space is 5,000 square feet or less and the system only serves that space.  
• Industrial processes. 
• Lighting associated with surface-level parking lots. However, lighting and HVAC associated with parking structures is not exempt from a tune-up. 

A building owner may apply for a one-year tune-up deadline extension for any of the following reasons:  

• A change of building ownership within one year of the compliance date 
• 50% or more of nonresidential floor area was physically vacant and not leased during a consecutive 6-month period within the year preceding the compliance date 
• Permitted mechanical improvements or renovations are underway, which must be complete before a tune-up can reasonably occur 
• Financial hardship is preventing on-time completion of a tune-up, such as bankruptcy or foreclosure 

The City may further grant an owner a reasonable extension of time to comply upon proof of technical difficulties. 

Extension requests, including accompanying appropriate documentation of the conditions above, must be received between January 1 and June 30 of the building tune-up compliance year. 

We recognize that many building owners are making great strides toward achieving energy efficiency. Rather than conducting a tune-up and to allow flexibility for owners, buildings that are already highly energy efficient, or those that have recently undergone improvements that substantially improve energy efficiency can apply for an Alternative Compliance Pathway by submitting proof of one of the follow conditions or certifications: 

• Certified ENERGY STAR score of +75 achieved within a year of the tune-up compliance date.
• LEED Gold or Platinum (O+M) within last 3 years
• Complete full commissioning or retro-commissioning within last 3 years
• Net Zero Energy Certification within last 3 years
• +10% improvement in energy efficiency over last 4 years
• Completing ASHRAE Level II audit and implemented recommendations with a simple payback of <2 years within last 2 years
• Demonstrate building has energy use intensity (EUI) of 20 kBTU/sq. ft. for at least 2 of the last 3 years
• Received any of the following awards within the last 3 years:
  • Dane County Climate Champion recognition in the category of Building Energy Use
  • Better Buildings Goal Achievers recognition from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge
  • BOMA 360 designation and received +6 points for Energy Star Benchmarking, Building Energy Management, and Energy Audit and System Commissioning
  • BOMA TOBY award in the Office or Earth categories with +5 or +6 points, respectively, for Benchmarking & Performance Rating

No. It just means that other pathways to compliance might be more appropriate. For example, you can still complete a building tune-up (see Compliance – Building Tune-Up section). Any building can undergo a tuneup assessment – regardless of age, energy use, or other characteristics. The corrective actions required as a result of a tune-up will be specific to your building and its existing systems, which means that you’ll be able to comply with the policy. Or, if you recently improved your building’s efficiency by 15% or more, you could still qualify for the alternative compliance pathway.  

The tune-up specialist's job is to make sure that building systems are operating per the needs and expectations of the building’s use and are not in need of maintenance or repair. For example, one type of building use may have higher ventilation needs than another, but a tune-up specialist could look at each and help ensure that it is running efficiently for that intended use and not wasting energy by identifying and addressing any hidden issues with operations or maintenance. 

A Tune-up Specialist must have at least three years of experience in building commissioning, tune-ups, energy auditing, or building energy system management and hold one of the following certifications:

• Professional Engineer (PE) in Mechanical or Architectural Engineering licensed in Wisconsin
• Building Operator Certification (BOC) Level II administered by Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (MWEEA)
• Certified Energy Manager (CEM), Certified Building Commissioning Professional (CBCP), or Existing Building Commissioning Professional (EBCP), issued by the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE)
• Building Commissioning Professional (BCxP) or Building Energy Assessment Professional (BEAP), issued by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
• Existing Building Commissioning Process Provider (EBCxP), Qualified Commissioning Process Provider (QCxP), Accredited Commissioning Process Authority Professional (CxAP), Accredited Commissioning Process Manager (CxM), Accredited Commissioning Process Technical Service Provider (CxTS), and Accredited Green Commissioning Process Provider (GCxP) issued by the University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering's Interdisciplinary Professional Programs
• Certified Commissioning Professional administered by the Building Commissioning Certification Board
• Commissioning Authority (CxA) administered by the AABC Commissioning Group (ACG)
• Energy Management Professional (EMP) certification issued by the Energy Management Association (EMA)
• Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM) issued by the American Hospital Association

The City of Madison does not maintain a list of qualified Tune-up Specialists. A Tune-up Specialist can be on-site staff or a contracted service provider, as long as they have the proper qualifications. 

To find qualified contractors, check out Focus on Energy's list of Trade Allies. Look for Trade Allies that perform the following services:

• Retrocommissioning
• Commissioning
• Energy Planning
• Energy Management
• ASHRAE Level 1 Audit