Building portfolio benchmarking that tells you which site to fix first
Ranking buildings by total use rewards small sites and punishes busy ones. Aqueduct ranks every site on intensity per square foot or per visitor and on performance against its own weather-normalized baseline, so attention goes to the sites with the most recoverable waste.
A league table is only useful if the comparison is fair.
Why benchmarking rarely changes anything
- Unfair comparisons
Size, climate and occupancy differ, so raw totals mislead.
- Annual data
A yearly benchmark arrives too late to act on.
- No route to action
A ranking without a cause leaves site teams with nothing to do.
Why benchmarking now carries consequences
NYC buildings above this size face Local Law 97 emissions limits, which tighten in 2030.
Source: NYC Department of Buildingsworst-performing EU non-residential buildings must be renovated by 2030 under the recast EPBD.
Source: European Commissionper sq ft: US commercial energy intensity in 2018, down from 80,000 in 2012.
Source: US EIAFrom ranking to action
Normalize
Intensity per square foot and per visitor, against each site's own seasonal baseline.
Rank two ways
Top improvers and sites that need attention, by energy or by cost.
Drill in
From the portfolio to the site, line and hour where the excess sits.
Track the change
Each site's position moves as fixes land, measured against its baseline.
Portfolio metrics
| Metric | What it tells you | Act when |
|---|---|---|
| Energy or water use intensity | Efficiency per square foot | A site ranks in the bottom group. |
| Use per visitor | Efficiency per person served | It rises while visits fall. |
| Performance against baseline | Real change after weather | A site moves above expected. |
| Metered coverage | Whether the ranking can be trusted | A site has gaps. |
sites in 21 countries run on Aqueduct.
and 9 clinics in one of India’s top hospital chains.
US airport running water intelligence on Aqueduct.
of commercial real estate under Aqueduct.
FMCG manufacturing campus.
operations run on Aqueduct.
Related
Common questions
Yes, by type, region and country, and sorted by baseline performance, name, visitors or floor area. Rankings can be exported for board and asset reviews, so the same list drives decisions. See aQ Core.
Yes. Water and energy portfolios use the same intensity and baseline method, with water use intensity per square foot or per visitor. Sites can be filtered by type and region too. See aQ WaterGuard.
Any number. Benchmarking is most useful from a handful of comparable sites upward, and each site is also compared with its own baseline, so even one building gets a fair score. See for real estate leaders.
Aqueduct supplies the metered energy and water figures Portfolio Manager asks for, per building and period. Your team submits them, and benchmarking laws that use Portfolio Manager draw on the same figures. See ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.
See Aqueduct on your own facility.
Bring a site, a utility bill or a question. We will show you where the loss is.