Energy and water benchmarking is the analysis of the performance of your building and comparing it to buildings with similar uses. Portfolio Manager is a free online tool that is easy to use. Enter the operating characteristics of the building along with monthly utility usage and Portfolio Manager will return a report on with greenhouse gas emissions and Energy Star Benchmark Score (https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/benchmark?s=mega).

The Clean Energy Act of 2018 mandated Energy and Water Benchmarking for large commercial buildings:
No later than five years after the date of enactment of P.L.2018, c.17 (C.48:3-87.8 et al.), the board (“NJ Board of Public Utilities”) shall require the owner or operator of each commercial building over 25,000 square feet in the State to benchmark energy and water use for the prior calendar year using the United States Environmental Protection Agency's [EPA's] Portfolio Manager tool.

The NJBPU created a program to certify people knowledgeable in Portfolio Manager along with the policy and procedures of NJ's Energy and Water Benchmarking program. The goal is to make it easy for building owners to comply with the program's requirements by finding someone who can readily complete a Portfolio Manager submission.

If you pass our certification test, you will be listed along with your credentials on the NJBPU benchmarking website. Building owners, who do not have staff trained in Portfolio Manager, may seek to hire a benchmarker to complete the Portfolio Manager submission.

The NJBPU is developing an online training, testing, and certification program designed to educate individuals on how to successfully benchmark the energy and water performance of facilities using ENERGY STAR'S Portfolio Manager Program. The online program will be available in Q1 2023.
If you are not experienced using Portfolio Manager, we recommend that you take our full suite of training sessions that cover both Portfolio Manager and the requirements of the State's mandatory certification program, followed by the online test.
If you already have experience using Portfolio Manager, we recommend that you only attend the training session on the State's mandatory certification program, and then take the certification test.
If you successfully pass the test, NJBPU will then list you as a NJ Certified Benchmarker on the NJ Clean Energy Program – Benchmarking webpage (https://njcleanenergy.com/commercial-industrial/programs/cea-benchmarking).

Training will commence in Q1 2023. Check back on this site or the BPU Clean Energy Program website for updates of the launch of the training program.