Building Energy and Water Scoring (BEWS)

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Reporting Deadline: June 1 (for reporting previous year):

2025 Reporting Link

What Is BEWS?

Fort Collins requires most commercial and multi-family buildings 5,000 square feet or larger to report on energy use each year. This helps everyone — building owners, tenants and operators — understand performance, reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Based on Chapter 12, Article XI of the Municipal Code.

View performance metrics of buildings around town to inform your next lease or purchasing decision:

View Performance Metrics of Buildings

Why It’s Important

Lower your operating costs and improve your building's net operating income (NOI)
Find and prioritize building upgrades
Showcase your building’s efficiency
Improve tenant retention and occupancy rates

Did you know? In Fort Collins, benchmarking saved as much energy as 1,600 homes use and over $1 million in direct utility savings in 2023 alone.

Am I Required to Comply?

You must comply if:

Your building is commercial or multi-family, and
It’s 5,000 square feet or larger

Some buildings may also be regulated by state benchmarking if they exceed 50,000 square feet

These building types are exempt from requirements:

Multi-family buildings under 3 stories above grade
Row homes
Townhomes
Industrial
Agricultural facilities

You may qualify for a waiver or exemption if your building meets certain criteria. See the "Annual Waivers" section for details.

Guide to Compliance

Step-by-Step: How to Report Your Building (Four Steps)

Step 1: Set up your ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

Create or log in to your account at energystar.gov/benchmark
Identify your building’s main use (e.g. office, multi-family, school)
Use the worksheet to gather building details: energy, water, and square footage

Step 2: Request your energy data

The City of Fort Collins is rolling out a new benchmarking reporting portal in 2026. The City will send out communications to building owners regarding this change before reporting season starts.

Step 3: Add data from other utilities

Include any natural gas usage (from providers like Xcel Energy)
You may need to contact your gas provider directly

To obtain your natural gas data, follow the instructions in the Xcel How-To Guide:

Xcel How-To Guide

Step 4: Submit your report by June 1

Use your City-issued Building ID
Ensure data covers Jan. 1-Dec. 31 of the reporting year
Double-check for errors before submitting in Portfolio Manager

Need help?

Reach out to our Help Center at buildingscoring@f ortcollins.gov or by calling 970-416-2733

Annual Waivers

You may request a waiver if your building meets any of these:

It’s a public building (as defined in the ordinance)
It was less than 60% occupied on average during the reporting year
It’s used primarily for industrial or agricultural purposes
It contains sensitive or confidential business data
It has unique circumstances, approved by the City Manager’s Office

Submit your request via the Waiver Request Form

Penalties for Not Complying

Avoid penalties—submit your annual report on time.

Missing the June 1 deadline may result in a $3,000 fine.

Here’s how the process generally works:

You may receive an initial warning and/or notices if the deadline is missed
Unresolved cases may result in citations or penalties

Need help? The City offers free technical assistance—reach out early to stay on track! Email us at buildingscoring@f ortcollins.gov

Reporting Tools and Quick Links

Find Your Building ID: Required for reporting.

Find your building ID

Benchmarking Map: See how other buildings are performing.

Access the Benchmarking Map

How to Request Your Energy Data

To complete your BEWS report, you’ll need data from your utility providers.

Step 1: Find your utility providers

Check who supplies your building’s:

Electricity
Natural gas

Step 2: Request Your Data

For Fort Collins Utilities customers:

The City of Fort Collins is rolling out a new benchmarking reporting portal in 2026. The City will send out communications to building owners regarding this change before reporting season starts.

For Xcel Energy customers:

View the Xcel Energy Benchmarking Guide

For other gas providers:

Contact your vendor directly and upload your usage data to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

Step 3: Check Your Data for Errors

After uploading all data to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager:

Run the Data Quality Checker Tool
Water is not required for reporting: please disregard error messages regarding missing and incomplete water and waste data

Help Center

Need Help with Compliance? We're Here for You

Navigating the path to compliance can be challenging — but you don’t have to do it alone. Our team is here to support you every step of the way.

Email us: BuildingScoring@f ortcollins.gov
Call us: 970-416-2733

Trainings and Resources

Special Topics and Earlier Trainings

Oct. 15, 2019 — Technical Training for Multi-family Properties

What you'll learn:

How to set up Portfolio Manager for multi-family buildings
How to track energy and water performance

Watch Multi-family Training

Oct. 9, 2019 — Tenant Engagement for Energy Efficiency