Building owners participating in the State of Minnesota’s Large Building Energy Benchmarking Program will track their energy use using ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, a free online tool. Owners must enter their data into the system before submitting their annual report to the state by June 1.
Compliance Deadline
The state will be using a phased-in approach for reporting annual energy usage based on the gross floor area of the building, as shown below:
- Buildings 100,000 square feet and larger: June 1, 2025
- Buildings between 50,000 square feet and 99,999 square feet: June 1, 2026
How to Comply
Building owners will need to complete the following steps to comply with the Large Building Energy Benchmarking Program:
- Create an account in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager (ESPM) or log-in to an existing account
- Identify and add your State of Minnesota Building ID to your property in ESPM
- Upload 12 full months of whole-building energy data into ESPM
- Run the Data Quality Checker
- Connect and share your building with the State of Minnesota
- Create an account in the Large Building Energy Benchmarking Portal
- Complete the Energy Reporting Form & Submit report through the Large Building Energy Benchmarking Portal
Resources
To support this process, building owners have access to step-by-step guidance, including instructional documents and videos.
- How-to Guide – Provides detailed step-by-step instructions for benchmarking your property through ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager.
- Video Tutorial Series – Instructional videos to help you use ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager and submit your benchmarking report.
- How-to Request Utility Data – Provides information on to obtain 12 full months of energy data from your service provider(s).
- Compliance Checklist – A list of the energy benchmarking compliance steps.
- FAQs – Frequently asked questions regarding the Minnesota Large Building Energy Benchmarking Program.
Help Desk
The State of Minnesota has contracted with Touchstone IQ to provide help desk services for the Large Building Energy Benchmarking program. For assistance, contact the Minnesota Benchmarking Program Help Desk, 9am – 5pm Monday through Friday at (888) 458-2107 or support@benchmarkingMN.org. To schedule a phone appointment with the Minnesota Benchmarking Program Help Desk, please email the Help Desk at support@benchmarkingMN.org.