Drawing of large high rise buildings with 63, 75, and 54 energy scores displayed on different buildings

Report your building’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions data

What you need to know

If you own or manage a large commercial building greater than or equal to 9,290 square metres (100,000 square feet) in Vancouver, you are required to:

Report energy and carbon data
File your completed report by June 1, 2024, and June 1 for each subsequent year to avoid a penalty

Starting January 2025, all commercial buildings greater than or equal to 4,645 square metres (50,000 square feet) and multi-family buildings greater than or equal to 9,290 square metres (100,000 square feet) will be required to report their energy and carbon data.

Steps to report your building’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions
Ask for an extension
Regulations and benefits of reporting energy and carbon data
Resources (guides, FAQ, webinars)

Steps to report your building’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions

Owners and managers of large existing commercial buildings greater than or equal to 9,290 square metres (100,000 square feet) in Vancouver must submit energy and carbon data by June 1, 2024.

Not sure if your buildings are subject to an energy and carbon reporting requirement?

Look up your building

Before you begin: Review the Annual Energy and Carbon Reporting Reporting How-to Guide (2 MB)

Set up an account with ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® (ESPM)
Share a complete profile with City’s ESPM account. (This step is necessary before you file your BPRS report.)
Claim your building in our Building Performance Reporting System (BPRS)

Step 1: Get information about your building
Identify and confirm your:
- City of Vancouver building ID (BID)
- Official building address (Use the address provided in the building lookup tool.)
- Gross building area (Reported in square feet or square metres.)
- Look up your building ID and address: Covered Building List (108 KB)
- Find your building information: Building lookup tool
What is gross floor area or gross leasable area?

Your building floor area is your:
- Gross floor area, OR
- Gross leasable area
Your gross leasable area:
- Is the sum of your building’s rentable area
- Include it if your building’s parking areas are heated or cooled
Step 2: Report your energy and carbon data in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®
ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® (ESPM) is a free online software tool developed by the US Environmental Protection Agency and managed in Canada by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

A. Create an ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® account (if you don’t already have one)

Log in to ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®

Add your buildings and provide details of your building:
- Gross floor area
- Building use type
- Weekly operating hours
B. Get your energy use data

Get your energy use data by:
- Connecting your utilities directly to your ESPM account for automatic updates, OR
- Contacting your energy utility or supplier to get past bills and manually enter to ESPM
If you own or manage a multi-tenanted commercial building you may need to secure the consent of your residents or tenants before collecting utility data from BC Hydro and Fortis BC.

C. Report all the energy uses

All energy uses includes:
- Electricity
- Natural gas
- District energy
- Any other energy source
D. Run a data quality check

Add anything that might be missing.
E. Connect and share your date with the City

This step is necessary before you file your Building Performance Reporting System (BPRS) report.

Connect your ESPM account with the City of Vancouver by:
1. Adding a new contact
2. Searching for the username "CityofVancouver."
3. Connect
Share read-only access to your data with the City of Vancouver:
1. Share (or edit access to) a property
2. Select “CityofVancouver” as the recipient
Step 3: Complete the GHG By-law Reporting Form
Complete a GHG By-law Reporting Form for each of your buildings in our Building Performance Reporting System (BPRS) owner dashboard.

This form collects required and optional information that cannot be reported to ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® (ESPM).

What you will need to do
1. Create an account
2. Claim your building(s)
3. Create a report for each building
Create an account and submit a report(s)

When you submit your report, you’ll receive a notification from the Energize Vancouver team on your compliance status.
Review this email carefully. In some cases, we may need you to follow up to correct errors and provide supplemental documentation.
Step 4: Preserve your records
We encourage you to retain records for at least 5 years, including:
- Records necessary to demonstrate compliance with data reporting (including any back-up information, such as utility bills).
- Emails confirming data submission through ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® (ESPM) and the Energize Vancouver Reporting Form.
- Records of requests to tenants made for information needed for compliance.
- Requests for extensions of reporting deadlines and associated correspondence.

Need an extension?
Energy and carbon reports are due on June 1 of each year.

Building owners and managers who are facing extenuating circumstances may request a 2-month extension for reporting their energy and carbon data.

How to ask for an extension

Submit GHG By-law Extension Form by May 1 in the year that your report is due to apply for an extension. In the form, include:
- The building’s address.
- A statement attesting that energy use data was unavailable from the utility more than 30 days before the deadline.
- A signature from the owner’s representative.
- Owner and contact information.
- Owner’s representative and contact information (if signed by representative).
Review the Annual Energy and Carbon Reporting How-to Guide (2 MB) for details on where to send your request

Regulations and benefits of energy carbon reporting

Benefits of reporting energy and carbon data
Regularly reporting energy and carbon data, also known as energy benchmarking, is a widely adopted practice for tracking the performance of a building over time.

How reporting helps you

By measuring your building's energy use and greenhouse gas emissions intensity and comparing those values to similar properties, you can:
- Better understand your performance
- Identify opportunities to reduce carbon pollution and cut energy waste
How reporting helps us

Provides us with the data needed to:
- Inform effective policy development
- Support programs
- Show compliance with the regulation
Fines for not reporting data
Though the initial setup does take a bit of time and effort, we’re providing resources and support to help you comply with the requirements of our by-law.

When you could be issued a by-law notice

If you’re responsible for a building that is subject to energy and carbon reporting, you may be issued a by-law notice of $500 if you don’t:
- Claim it in the Energize Vancouver Building Performance Reporting System (BPRS)
- File your complete report by June 1 .
You could be issued a by-law notice if you:
- Submit incomplete and inaccurate data
- Submit your data after the June 1 deadline without an approved extension
- Don’t submit your data
We may issue multiple by-law notices.

Paying the by-law notice does not bring you into compliance with the by-law if you are subject to it. You will need to file your energy and carbon report.
Who will see your data

Resources

Guides, FAQs, and building list
- Covered Building List (107 KB) (Use to find building ID and building address)
- Annual Energy and Carbon Reporting How-to-Guide (2 MB)
- Fortis BC Energy Star Portfolio Manager® Quick Start Guide
- BC Hydro Energy Efficiency Benchmarking (Use the City How-to-Guide for benchmarking and reporting steps)
- FAQs (815 KB)
- Creative Energy ESPM Quick Start Guide (202 KB)
- Connection Issues: ESPM and BPRS (173 KB)
- Gross Floor Area Discrepancies (206 KB)
Coming soon
- Greenhouse Gas Intensity Limits How-to-Guide
Webinars
Slides and recordings from our training webinars

Annual GHG By-law: How-to live demo and resolving report errors (May 28, 2024)
- Presentation (May 28, 2024) (908 KB)
- Recording (May 28, 2024)
Annual Greenhouse Gas and Energy Limits By-law: How-to live demo and BC Hydro tutorial (May 7, 2024)
- Presentation (May 7, 2024) (960 KB)
- Recording (May 7, 2024)
Annual Greenhouse Gas and Energy Limits By-law: How-to live demo energy (May 1, 2024)
- Presentation (May 1, 2024) (960 KB)
- Recording (May 1, 2024)
Annual Greenhouse Gas and Energy Limits By-law and how to complete energy and carbon reporting overview (April 16, 2024)
- Presentation (April 16, 2024) (3.5 MB)
- Recording (April 16, 2024)
Videos
Policy overview
Energy Star® Portfolio Manager®
- Navigating Energy Star® Portfolio Manager®
Building Owner Dashboard
Programs and incentives
Energy resources and programs available for residents or owners
- Support for multi-family buildings
- Support for commercial buildings

Need help?

Review FAQ, guides, and training videos that explain how to register properties in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager® and our Building Performance Reporting System.

If you can’t find an answer to your question, contact us and schedule and appointment by:

Phone: 604-330-3797 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)
Email: energycarbonreport@vancouver.ca

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Report your building’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions data

What you need to know

Steps to report your building’s energy and greenhouse gas emissions

Step 1: Get information about your building

Step 2: Report your energy and carbon data in ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager®

Step 3: Complete the GHG By-law Reporting Form

Step 4: Preserve your records

Need an extension?

Regulations and benefits of energy carbon reporting

Benefits of reporting energy and carbon data

Fines for not reporting data

Who will see your data

Resources

Guides, FAQs, and building list

Webinars

Videos

Programs and incentives

Pay GHG By-law notice

Commercial buildings

Multi-family buildings and hotels

Need help?

Subscribe for updates

Contact information, partner agencies, and website policies