"You can't manage what you don't measure, and benchmarking thecity's buildings lets us determine where energy costs can bereduced," Mayor Michael Bloomberg says in a statement."Understanding the consumption across the city's portfolio is acritical component of meeting our goal of reducing city governmentcarbon emissions 30% by 2017. As the largest building owner in thecountry's largest city, we can serve as a model for all buildingowners—particularly those required to benchmark next year."

Working with 28 separate city agencies, the Department ofCitywide Administrative Services began the benchmarking project ayear ago. Benchmarking measures the total electricity, natural gas,steam and fuel oil consumed in a property and adjusts for otherfactors—including building type, year of construction, number ofworkers and gross square footage–to help determine which facilitiesoperate inefficiently. The idea is to allow the city to prioritizebuildings for energy efficiency investments and monitor performanceover time, according to a release.

The project was undertaken using the US Environmental ProtectionAgency's Energy Star Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool, which isa prerequisite in the US Green Building Council's LEED rating forexisting buildings. Among the benchmarked buildings are libraries;police stations; firehouses; schools; courthouses; health,community, and family centers; and government offices.