Benchmarking with Portfolio Manager

Topics covered on this page include:

Register for a New Portfolio Manager Account
Add a New Property to Portfolio Manager
Input Utility Data for a Property
Set Baselines and Targets

Looking for a 3^rd party provider to input data, manage your energy portfolio, and send your benchmarking submission for compliance? The EPA provides a (partial) listing of service providers here.

1. Register for a New Portfolio Manager User Account

Step 1 – Register for an Energy Star Portfolio Manager user account via the following link: https://portfoliomanager.energystar.gov/pm/signup.

Step 2 – Choose a username and password.

Step 3 – Enter user details.

Step 4 – Enter organization name and set preferences for web services. Answer “No” to questions 3 and 4 for now.

Step 5 – Set preferences for searchability by other Portfolio Manager users.

Step 6 – Pick security questions for password recovery and complete account registration.

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2. Add a New Property to Portfolio Manager

Step 1 – Click Add a Property on the MyPortfolio tab.

Step 2 – Answer questions about your property and click Get Started!

Step 3 – Enter basic property information and select the boxes next to the statements that apply to your property. Then click Continue.

Step 4 – Select the space-use types that are applicable to your facility. By default, the gross floor area entered on the previous screen will be used for the primary space-use type. This value will need to be adjusted, if your facility contains more than one space-use type.

Step 5 – Enter space attribute details such as gross floor area, operating hours, and number of workers for each type of use. You can use default or temporary values at this time and enter more accurate data later.

Hover over any items in blue text to see a brief definition of the term.

Step 6 – Click Add Property. When you have successfully added your property, you will see the property’s Summary Tab.

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3. Input Utility Data for a Property

Step 1 – Click on your property from the MyPortfolio tab and then select the Meters

Step 2 – Click Add Another Meter.

Step 3 – Select the sources of your property’s energy and your property’s water usage, identify the number of meters, and then click Get Started!

Step 4 – For each utility meter, assign a recognizable name, confirm the utility type, and select the appropriate units for consumption (i.e. electricity: kWh, natural gas: therms, water: CCF). Enter a First Bill Date that corresponds to the earliest bill entry that you would like to enter for the selected meter.

In naming meters (if there is more than one), it may be helpful to include the actual account or meter number or other descriptor that will enable you to identify it later. This is especially useful when transferring maintenance of the accounts to another person.
If the selected meter is no longer in use, click the checkbox under In Use? and enter the last meter read date under Last Bill Date. For all meters that are presently in use, the Last Bill Date field should be ignored.
Some fuel types, such as fuel oil or propane, are typically delivered to a building rather than metered from a pipeline. The default option for these fuel types is to Enter as Delivery. For most utility types, the Enter as Delivery? field should be ignored.
If you would like to add additional meters (not bill entries), then click Add Another Entry and fill in the requisite information. Note that all meters do not need to be setup at once, and you can always add additional meters later. If this is your first time, it is highly recommended that you setup only one meter.
To delete a meter, click the checkbox next to the meter name and choose Delete Selected Entries.

Click Continue after the details of the meter(s) have been completed to enter monthly bills.

Step 5 – There are two options for inputting utility data: a) manual data entry or b) upload data from spreadsheet. Instructions for each option are detailed below.

3a: Manual Data Entry

Manually enter data for each billing period. This method works best if you are inputting data from physical copies of bills, inputting only a few bills, or making corrections to previous entries. To learn how to access data from utilities electronically, click here.

Select Click to add an entry to enter the first month of the bills for the meter. Click Add Another Entry to add a new row/bill. Add a new entry and input data until all bills have been entered for the selected meter.

The Estimation field should be ignored.

Bill Entry Input Tips

Ensure that the correct units are applied to the bill entries. Return to Step 4 to change the energy/water consumption units, if necessary.
The billing period (i.e. duration between Start Date and End Date) cannot exceed 65 days.
Billing periods should not overlap (e.g. End Date for Bill 1 is 05/01/2013. Start Date for Bill 2 needs to be 05/02/2013; not 05/01/2013).
Bills can be entered in any order: ascending, descending, or random. If a bill is accidentally omitted, then you can input the missing bill as the last entry instead of repeating all bill entries.
Utility cost information is strongly recommended because it enables ESPM to quantify the cost savings from your efforts.

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3b: Upload Data from Spreadsheet

To learn how to access data from utilities electronically, click here.

Step 1 – Click the Choose File button and browse for the completed template file stored on your computer.

Upload Tips

Fill out all fields in each row in the upload spreadsheet in the same number format as the template (e.g. cost of 630; not $630).
Input “FALSE” for each entry in the Estimated Value
Do not paste or enter formulas into the upload spreadsheet. Copy data from another spreadsheet or source, then right click and choose “Paste Special” then select “Values Only”.
Use the meter upload template file from Portfolio Manager. Please note that a different template file is used for energy generated onsite (e.g. solar or wind).
Save the upload spreadsheet file in Excel 2003 format with a file extension of “.xls”.

After the file has been selected, the name of the file will appear to the right of the Choose File button. Click the Upload button to input the template data into the meter entry fields.

Step 2 – Many errors, such as the duplicate bill entry shown below, will be flagged as errors by Portfolio Manager; however, it is still easy to make a small mistake (e.g. add an extra zero) that have a large impact on your energy/water use. Review all bill entries, then click the Finish Meter Set Up button when you are finished.

Step 3 – Select the boxes of the meters that total your property’s energy and water use on the Meters to Add to Total Consumption page. Click Apply Selections.

Metering Configuration Tips

Utilities that are submetered from a main utility meter should not be included in the energy metrics for the property, if the consumption for the main meter has been separately input. For example, cooling tower make-up water should not be included in the water use metrics for the property if it is submetered from the main meter.
Energy or water generated onsite, if applicable.

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4. Set Baselines and Targets

Establishing a baseline and setting a target for improvement is a way to drive savings and to motivate all members of a building’s community to participate in achieving improved building performance. No savings target is required to comply with the Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance, but targets may help buildings meet their performance goals.

Step 1 – Select your property from the My Properties

Step 2 – Click on the Goals Tab.

Step 3 – The Current Baselines and Targets for your property will be displayed in the Current Baselines & Target By default, Portfolio Manager will select the earliest 12 months of energy/water data as the baseline period.

It is recommended that the Target is set to “20% Better than Baseline”, since this is a goal many buildings are pursuing in Atlanta and across the nation, but the target can be any value you choose.

Click Set Baselines or Target to change the baseline or target.

Step 4 – Set the baseline by selecting the billing period from the dropdown menu next to the Select Baseline: It is recommended that the baseline period is manually specified rather than selecting Let Portfolio Manager automatically set my baselines.

Step 5 – Set the target by selecting Target % Better than Baseline from the dropdown menu for the Target Metric Input “20” into the Target Value field to aim for a 20% savings. Click Save & Calculate Other Metrics to save your selection and refresh the data in the table.

The information displayed in the table below is very useful for seeing where the performance of your property started (Baseline), where it is currently (Current), and the performance goal for 2020 (Target). The table also displays the energy use metrics for a median property (i.e. typical building of the same space-use, location, and space-attributes) as a point of reference.

Click Save Baselines & Target to finish.