Energy-Use Reporting Mandated in California

A law requiring annual energy-use reporting for all California’s nonresidential buildings takes effect in January 2009, and the state Department of General Services has been working closely with utilities to streamline the reporting process. Beginning in 2010 owners of commercial buildings must disclose their energy usage and Energy Star rating to potential buyers, leasers, and financiers. The legislation, which is similar to a European Union (EU) requirement that took effect in 2006–7, was signed into law in October 2007.

While this law does not directly require public disclosure of the energy performance of individual buildings, as mandated by Washington, D.C.’s new Clean and Affordable Energy Act (see EBN Vol. 17, No. 9), real-estate listing services are likely to include it. “My expectation is that for most buildings it will actually be made public,” reported Douglas Mahone, principal of the consulting firm Heschong Mahone Group.