Buildings are the single largest user of energy in the State
of New York. The poorest performing buildings typically use several
times the energy of the highest performing buildings for the exact
same building use. As such, this chapter will use building energy
benchmarking to promote the public health, safety, and welfare by
making available good actionable information on municipal building
energy use to help identify opportunities to cut costs and reduce
pollution in the Town of Riverhead. Collecting, reporting and sharing
building energy benchmarking data on a regular basis allows municipal
officials and the public to understand the energy performance of municipal
buildings relative to similar buildings nationwide. Equipped with
this information, the Town of Riverhead is able to make smarter, more
cost-effective operational and capital investment decisions, reward
efficiency, and drive widespread continuous improvement.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
BENCHMARKING INFORMATION
Information generated by Portfolio Manager, as herein defined,
including descriptive information about the physical building and
its operational characteristics.
BUILDING ENERGY BENCHMARKING
The process of measuring a building's energy use, tracking
that use over time, and comparing performance to similar buildings.
COVERED MUNICIPAL BUILDING
A building or facility that is owned or occupied by the Town
of Riverhead that is 1,000 square feet or larger in size.
ENERGY
Electricity, natural gas, steam, hot or chilled water, fuel
oil, or other product for use in a building or renewable on-site electricity
generation, for purposes of providing heating, cooling, lighting,
water heating, or for powering or fueling other end-uses in the building
and related facilities, as reflected in utility bills or other documentation
of actual energy use.
ENERGY PERFORMANCE SCORE
The numeric rating generated by Portfolio Manager that compares
the energy usage of the building to that of similar buildings.
GROSS FLOOR AREA
The total number of enclosed square feet measured between
the exterior surfaces of the fixed walls within any structure used
or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
PORTFOLIO MANAGER
ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, the internet-based tool
developed and maintained by the United States Environmental Protection
Agency to track and assess the relative energy performance of buildings
nationwide, or successor.
UTILITY
An entity that distributes and sells energy to covered municipal
buildings.
WEATHER NORMALIZED SITE EUI
The amount of energy that would have been used by a property
under thirty-year average temperatures, accounting for the difference
between average temperatures and yearly fluctuations.
The Department shall maintain records as necessary for carrying
out the purposes of this chapter, including but not limited to energy
bills and other documents received from tenants and/or utilities.
Such records shall be preserved by the Department for a period of
three years.
This chapter shall be effective immediately upon passage.
The invalidity or unenforceability of any section subsection
paragraph sentence clause provision, or phrase of the aforementioned
sections as declared by the valid judgment of any court of competent
jurisdiction to be unconstitutional shall not affect the validity
or enforceability of any other section, subsection, paragraph, sentence,
clause, provision, or phrase, which shall remain in full force and
effect.