Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB)

Benchmarking to Reduce Your Building’s Energy and Water Costs

Reminder: the annual EWRB reporting deadline is July 1st

If you own, manage or represent a large building, you might not know that energy and water usage can represent some of your largest operating costs. With the help of Ontario’s Energy and Water Reporting and Benchmarking (EWRB) initiative, you can make your building more energy efficient and save money.

The City of Greater Sudbury has expressed its support for, and commitment to, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through declaring a climate change emergency in May 2019. The City finalized the Community Energy and Emissions Plan (CEEP) in 2020 and has a goal of becoming a net-zero community by 2050. As space heating is responsible for 62 per cent of all building emissions within Greater Sudbury, greater building energy efficiency is integral to reducing emissions.

By annually reporting your energy and water usage data, you can begin to track your consumption. This can help you identify opportunities to improve your building’s efficiency and reduce your energy and water usage, along with your costs. The initiative will also provide you with energy and water consumption data for similar buildings, so you can see how your building compares.

Currently under EWRB, prescribed buildings in Ontario that are 100,000 sq. ft. or larger are required to report their energy and water consumption data to the Ministry of Energy annually. Due to the challenges created by COVID-19, the ministry has amended O. Reg. 506/18 to delay the roll-out of the EWRB program to buildings between 50,000 and 100,000 sq. ft. until 2023. This will give owners of smaller buildings additional time to prepare for compliance with the EWRB regulation. However, the ministry will continue to support voluntary reporting for owners of buildings within this size range who are looking to track their energy and water consumption.

 The Guide to Energy and Water Reporting will help you determine if you need to report or are eligible for an exemption.

 

Requesting your data

If your building meets EWRB criteria and is in Greater Sudbury, you must provide the aggregated amount of water the City of Greater Sudbury supplied to your building, as well as the usage data for all forms of energy your building uses (electricity, natural gas, diesel, fuel oil, propane, etc.)

Water Data can be accessed through GSU by:

Energy data can be accessed through your service provider and building owners can find contact information on their invoice. Here are three major providers in the Greater Sudbury area:

 

Do you have a building that does not meet criteria?

Buildings smaller than 50,000 sq. ft. can still use Energy Star Portfolio Manager, but EWRB does not collect the data. If you are interested in participating in local monitoring and environmental programs, please contact earthcare@greatersudbury.ca.