CEA Energy and Water Benchmarking
Building benchmarking compares a building’s energy and water performance against buildings of comparable use. The CEA Energy and Water Benchmarking Program is mandatory for all commercial buildings in New Jersey larger than 25,000 sq. ft.
Status
Active program
Schedule
July 1, 2026 - Submission deadline
Building owners will be notified in the first quarter of 2026.
Program Contacts
Relevant Audiences
On this Page
About the Program
New Jersey joins an increasing number of states and municipalities across the United States in establishing benchmarking programs to measure the energy and water performance of buildings. Through the CEA Benchmarking Program, all commercial buildings over 25,000 square feet in the State of New Jersey are required to benchmark energy and water use for the prior calendar year using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Portfolio Manager tool.
The video below explains more about the benefits of benchmarking a building:
Current Status
The 2026 reporting season has begun. Building owners and operators can now report their energy and water data from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. The deadline is July 1, 2026. If you are a building owner or operator with a building that should benchmark, you should receive an email or mailed notification to report. The notification letter contains your New Jersey Unique Building Identification (UBID), which is needed for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to track your benchmarking report. To check if your building is on a list to be benchmarked, please check our Covered Buildings List here.
NJ BPU is pleased to invite benchmarkers to use the BEAM Building Owner Portal. You don't need to use BEAM, but we recommend it especially if you have several covered buildings. Some benefits of using the portal include:
- Understand your building’s energy performance
- View the data that is used to assess benchmarking compliance
- Identify data flags and warnings early
- Track benchmarking progress throughout the reporting season
- Check compliance status for submitted reporting years
This web-based application platform allows building owners to view the compliance status of any submitted reports, previous compliance data, and past correspondence with NJ BPU related to the Benchmarking Program. The Building Owner Portal is open to all Building Owners/Reporters participating in the NJ BPU Benchmarking Program. For information on how to set up your account and navigate the portal, click this link.
How to Complete a Submission
- Who does the benchmarking submission? You may make the benchmarking submission yourself, if you are sufficiently familiar with how to benchmark a building. Alternatively, you may hire either a third party consultant familiar with Portfolio Manager or a NJ Certified Benchmarker to assist you.
- Apply for an exemption- You may request an exemption from benchmarking for the reasons listed here.To apply for an exemption go to the link below:
Apply for an Exemption - Familiarize yourself with Portfolio Manager - If you have never used Portfolio Manager, please watch this three-part training series:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 - Create Portfolio Manager account- If you do not already have a Portfolio Manager account, register with ENERGY STAR . From your Portfolio Manager account, create the profile(s) for your property(s) within Portfolio Manager.
- Assign Unique Building Identification (UBID) to your property(s)-
Your Property’s UBID is shown on your Property’s notification letter. Click here for instructions. - Request utility data- Building-level utility data must be entered for your Property’s profile. Our Utility Data Webpage addresses a diversity of situations and will guide you through how to request building-level data from your electric, natural gas, and water utilities.
- Submitting data for your property(s)- Submit data to the NJ Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
- Run a quality assurance check- To ensure that you entered your Property’s profile data correctly, please run a quality assurance check within Portfolio Manager. This will enable you to identify and correct inadvertent errors in data entry.
Portfolio Manager’s Data Quality Checker - Share your property(s) with the NJ BPU!
How to Share Property Data with BPU
Covered Buildings
Every year, if your building is covered , you will receive a submission notification from the Board. For this reporting year (2025), you will receive notification in the first quarter of 2026. Benchmarking submissions are due July 1, 2026.
For buildings owned by multiple parties, please provide your notification letter and information to your facility manager or operator to complete benchmarking on your behalf.
Exemptions
Building owners or operators may apply for and may be eligible for an exemption from the benchmarking requirement under the following conditions:
New Buildings – New buildings must be operational for a full calendar year before a building owner is required to benchmark that Covered Building. The New Jersey tax assessment database, MOD-IV, will be used to qualify new buildings as operational for purposes of benchmarking. A commercial building will not be added to the Covered Buildings list until the second year after the year-built, as listed in the MOD-IV database.
Demolitions – Recently- or soon-to-be-demolished buildings may be removed from the Covered Buildings list, provided that the building owner submits a certificate of approval for demolition.
Unoccupied – If a building is unoccupied for a full year (365 days), the building owner may receive an exemption, provided that the building owner submits an affidavit or certification of non-occupancy.
Foreclosure or Bankruptcy – If an action for foreclosure or bankruptcy has been filed during a particular reporting year, the building owner may apply to receive an exemption for the given reporting year.
Other Conditions – Certain other situations for good cause may be removed from the Covered Buildings list (e.g., the building’s size falls below the threshold, there is an error in the Covered Buildings list, or an unregulated utility does not apply the 4/50 rule and provide aggregated building-level data and refuses to provide individual data even with tenant consent), and after providing appropriate evidence justifying such removal.
Property Sales: Building owners, if your building was sold before 2025, please submit an exemption request. If you sold the building or made an addition during 2025, you must still benchmark and submit data by the submission deadline for the given program year.
To apply for an exemption, please follow these steps:
- Gather appropriate evidence for the exemption in the form of a pdf.
- Complete an Exemption Request Form.
- Click on the "Submit Ticket" button when the form is completed.
Additional Program Information
The BPU held a public stakeholder meeting on January 5, 2023 on the “Procedures for Building Owners to Meet Their Benchmarking Obligations.” See documentation below:
Portfolio Manager
US Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Portfolio Manager is an online tool to help building owners track and evaluate the energy and water performance of their buildings:
Additional Instructions on Portfolio Manager
If you need assistance completing your property's profile, see Data Collection Worksheet and click on prompts on that webpage. The worksheet will provide you with the data you need to complete the profile.
Policy Background
Program Implementation
Policy Development