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What are disclosable buildings?

In California, disclosable buildings are generally large commercial or residential buildings that meet certain size thresholds and are subject to energy and water usage reporting requirements. Specifically:

  • Commercial buildings that are over 50,000 square feet in gross floor area are considered disclosable.
  • Multifamily residential buildings that are over 50,000 square feet and have 17 or more utility accounts also fall under the disclosable category.

The regulations, established under California Assembly Bill 802 (AB 802), require building owners to report their energy usage annually to the California Energy Commission (CEC) by June 1 of each year. Building owners are required to use the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to track and report energy data, ensuring transparency and efficiency improvements. Exceptions to the disclosure requirements include buildings primarily used for industrial or scientific purposes, buildings without a certificate of occupancy for over half the year, or buildings scheduled for demolition within one year​.

Regulatory Text

  • 974. Commercial, Industrial and Institutional water use best management practices for customers that exceed a recommended size, volume of water use, or other threshold

(a) By June 30, 2024, or the effective date of this section, whichever comes later, each supplier shall identify the disclosable buildings in its service area. In identifying the disclosable buildings within its service area, a supplier shall use the list of disclosable buildings the California Energy Commission has made available on its public website pursuant to California Code of Regulations, title 20, section 1683.

(b) For a building that meets the definition of a disclosable building in section 1681 of the California Code of Regulations at title 20, a supplier shall, upon the building owner or Owner’s Agent request, complete the following:

(1) For each meter, deliver the last four characters of the meter serial number serving the building.

(2) For each meter, aggregate water use data, in monthly intervals, for at least the previous year, by one of the following methods:

(A) A supplier not using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s Data Exchange Services shall send the data to the building owner or Owner’s Agent using the template provided by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or in a format compatible with the template.

(B) Suppliers using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s Data Exchange Services shall provide the data by direct upload to the building owner’s or Owner’s Agent’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account, or, at the building owner’s or Owner’s Agent’s request, send the data to the building owner or Owner’s Agent using the template provided by ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager or in a format compatible with the template.

Reporting to Owner

Upon request from the building owner or their agent, suppliers must provide:

  • The last four characters of the meter serial number serving the building.
  • Water use data, aggregated monthly, for at least the past year.
  • Data must be shared either via the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager system or in a compatible format.

Data Required

Building Identification:

  • The last four characters of the water meter serial number serving the disclosable building must be provided.

Water Use Data:

  • Monthly water use data aggregated for at least the previous year. This includes:
    • Water consumption figures broken down by month.
    • The data must be formatted using either:
      • The ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager template, or
      • A format compatible with ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

Reporting System:

  • If the supplier uses ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager’s Data Exchange Services, the data can be uploaded directly to the building owner’s Portfolio Manager account or provided in the template format.

Annual Reporting:

  • Suppliers must report annually on the number of disclosable buildings for which they provided the required data, along with the number of customers served.

Reporting

  • 975. Reporting

(a) Each urban retail water supplier shall submit to the Board, no later than January 1, 2024, and by January 1 every year thereafter, the report required by Water Code section 10609.24. The report shall reflect the conditions of the previous state fiscal year, except as specified in subdivision (b).

(b) No later than January 1, 2025, and by January 1 every year thereafter, each urban retail water supplier shall submit to the Board, on a machine-readable form provided by the Board, the supplier’s urban water use objective calculated pursuant to section 966 along with relevant and supporting data.

(3) Relevant data pursuant to section 974(a) and (b), specifically:

(A) The number of disclosable buildings identified pursuant to 974(a).

(B) The number of customers for which the supplier has provided the information required pursuant to section 974(b).