California’s commercial and apartment buildings annually consume 109 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, use 240 billion gallons of water, and emit 23 million metric tons of carbon. However, this information was not easily accessible in a single location until recently.
On May 28, Measurabl and the U.S. Green Building Council of California (UCGBC California) unveiled the California Building Performance Pulse. This free public dashboard provides insights into the energy, carbon, and water performance of the state’s commercial and multifamily buildings. It offers data spanning over six years and covering more than 1.3 billion square feet of floor space, allowing users to compare buildings by city, property type, floor area, and year built.
Data for Decision-Making
The California Air Resources Board reports that residential and commercial buildings contribute about a quarter of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions when considering electricity use, on-site fuel combustion, and refrigerant leaks. Notably, on-site fossil gas combustion alone makes up about 10 percent of the total, a portion that has been challenging to reduce compared to electricity or transportation emissions.
The difficulty in addressing this issue partly stems from a lack of visibility. While benchmarking laws have increased, requiring larger commercial and multifamily building owners in California to annually report energy use under state law, the data has remained scattered and inconsistent. This has made it difficult for both owners and the public to act on.
According to USGBC California’s compliance guidance, benchmarking alone does not reduce emissions; action based on the data is necessary. Building owners who cannot compare their properties with similar ones struggle to determine priorities for improvement.
The Pulse dashboard addresses this by showing median annual performance, percentile distributions, year-over-year trends, and geographic patterns across various building types, including office, multifamily, industrial, hospitality, and retail. USGBC California CEO Ben Stapleton emphasized that the tool aims to make energy, carbon, and water insights more accessible and actionable for those looking to improve building performance and resilience across the state.
Powered by Measurabl’s extensive data infrastructure, which monitors sustainability data across over 23 billion square feet in more than 90 countries, the California dataset expands as more building owners participate.
A Hard Look at Water Usage
The Pulse distinguishes itself by integrating water data, making it the only public California dashboard to do so along with energy and carbon data. Historically, benchmarking tools have focused more on energy and emissions.
Water usage intensity varies significantly by building type. Measurabl notes that hotels consume 7 to 10 times more water per square foot than offices. Federal data from the EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager aligns with this, showing that hotels and hospitals use over 50 gallons per square foot annually, compared to 13 to 14 gallons for typical office buildings.
This variance highlights the need for nuanced benchmarks to address different building types effectively.
Median water use intensity by property type
| Property type | Approx. water use intensity (gal/sq ft/yr) |
|---|---|
| Senior care | ~60 |
| Hospitals | >50 |
| Hotels | >50 |
| Office | ~13–14 |
California’s current water situation underscores the importance of these insights. After a particularly wet winter, the state exited drought status for the first time in 25 years by mid-January 2026, according to the Governor’s office. Despite this, experts from the California WaterBlog warn that a single wet season does not resolve the ongoing structural water challenges, such as groundwater depletion and Colorado River overdraft. Investing in water efficiency remains crucial for both wet and dry years ahead.
The Dashboard Arrives as Rules Tighten
The introduction of the dashboard coincides with significant regulatory changes. Under Senate Bill 48, the California Energy Commission is crafting a statewide strategy utilizing benchmarking data to manage building energy use and emissions, with a report expected in 2026. In February, USGBC California provided model building performance standard policy guidance to assist cities and counties in developing consistent rules. Typically, these standards establish emissions or efficiency targets that decrease over time, with penalties for non-compliance.
For building owners, the transition from merely reporting data to achieving efficiency targets is underway. Understanding how a building’s performance compares to others is crucial for prioritizing improvements before deadlines.
Initially, the dataset reflects the participation of building owners, with much of the benchmarking data self-reported rather than independently verified. While a public dashboard is a step toward transparency, it does not constitute a complete audit of all buildings in the state.
What You Can Do
- If you own or manage a building: Assess how your property type and city rank on the Pulse, then compare your energy and water use to the median. The disparity between your performance and the top quartile can guide your retrofit plans.
- Don’t ignore water: For hotels, hospitals, multifamily, and senior care facilities, water efficiency often presents a cost-effective opportunity compared to energy upgrades. Implementing towel-and-linen reuse, efficient fixtures, and leak monitoring can yield rapid benefits in high-use buildings.
- Get ahead of the standards: With SB 48 and local building performance standards progressing, treat current benchmarking as preparation for future goals rather than a formality. Organizing your utility data now will make future compliance easier.
- If you’re a tenant or resident: Inquire with building management about the property’s benchmarks and any planned efficiency improvements. Occupant demand can significantly influence building investment.
- If you set policy: Access to public, comparable performance data is essential for establishing credible standards. Tools like the Pulse facilitate designing targets based on actual building performance data rather than estimates.
