Regional benchmarking pitch: DVRPC and Green Building United urge Radnor to adopt model benchmarking ordinance

Lauren Palowski, senior program coordinator in DVRPC’s Office of Sustainable Energy, and Emily Pagles, policy and program director at Green Building United, presented a regional building‑energy benchmarking program and an accompanying model ordinance to the Radnor Environmental Advisory Council.

Palowski said the eight‑page model ordinance was drafted with local solicitors and outside experts and reviewed by Fox Rothschild. "Our legal opinions concluded that enactment of the model ordinance would be consistent with the police powers of the covered municipalities and is likely to withstand a challenge to its validity," Palowski said.

Pagles described benchmarking as a data‑collection step that measures a building’s annual energy consumption and key characteristics in Energy Star Portfolio Manager to produce energy‑intensity metrics and an Energy Star score. "This is not a requirement to reduce energy usage," Pagles said. "It's really just to get a baseline and start measuring." She added that the region’s Beam tool connects Energy Star data to a municipal reporting workflow and a benchmarking help desk.

Under the ordinance example presented, municipal and county‑owned buildings in Radnor above 5,000 square feet would report first (a municipal deadline of June 30 in the first year), while other covered properties (commercial and multifamily buildings over 25,000 square feet) would phase in with a June 30, 2028 deadline. Palowski said Radnor has three municipal buildings that exceed the 5,000‑square‑foot threshold—the municipal building, an activity center and the public works garage—totaling about 100,000 gross square feet. At the 25,000‑square‑foot threshold the presenters estimated the policy would capture about 109 buildings (roughly 18% of commercial buildings) but about 74% of gross floor area.

The presenters summarized municipal‑building audits done by the local utility/contractor referred to in the presentation as "PICO," noting potential municipal savings through common measures. "PICO identified a potential annual savings of $37,710, or 29% of current energy cost, and the township could avoid up to 224 tons of carbon emissions per year," Pagles said.

Palowski and Pagles said municipalities can customize public reporting (interactive maps vs. lists), set fine schedules for non‑reporting, and decide how identified data will be shared. They emphasized that benchmarking programs succeed when paired with outreach and incentives that connect building owners to audits and rebates.

Next steps identified for Radnor included finalizing a covered‑properties list, completing municipal building benchmarking, and scheduling a policy proposal for a future board meeting; DVRPC/GBU said they will support operations planning, stakeholder engagement and grant applications for continued funding.