Portfolio Manager Instruction Guide BGE Smart Energy Savers Program®

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Add a Property To get started, log in to Portfolio Manager at

www.energystar.gov/benchmark. Then, follow these instructions to create a

property and to enter property information.

1. Click “Add a Property” on the MyPortfolio tab.

Steps to Receive Usage Data from BGE

Add a Property Enter Meter Information Connect with BGEWebservices Share Property and Meter

Information

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2. Answer questions about your property and click “Get Started!”

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3. Enter basic property information and select the boxes next to the statements that apply to your property.

Then click “Continue.”

4. Enter use details such as gross floor area, operating hours and number of workers for each type of use.

NOTE: Mouse over the use detail to see a definition.

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5. Click “Add Property.” When you have successfully added your property, you will see the property’s Summary tab.

If you have additional types of uses on the property, you can add them at any time.

1. Click the property’s Details tab, and then select a use type from the Add Another Type of Use dropdown menu.

Click “Add.”

2. Enter use details for the property and then click “Save Use.”

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Enter Meter Information To receive an accurate picture of your building’s performance, you need to tell Portfolio Manager how much and what

kind of energy. Follow these steps to enter meter information for your property.

1. Click on your property from the MyPortfolio tab and then select the Meters tab.

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2. Click “Add Another Meter.”

3. Select the sources of your property’s energy. You should enter one Electric meter (purchased from the grid) and/or

one Natural Gas meter.

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4. Click “Get Started!”

5. Click on a meter and change your meter names from “Electric Grid Meter” and/or “Natural Gas” to your Automated

Benchmarking Tool Virtual Meter Number(s).

6. Enter units (kWh for Electric, and therms for Gas) and first bill date. Then click “Create Meters.”

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7. Click “Continue” on the next page.

8. On the Property Totals page, ensure that all of your virtual meters are checked and select “These meter(s) account

for the total energy consumption for this property.”

9. Click “Apply Selections.”

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You have now added your virtual meters and can receive usage data via

Web Services once you connect and share your property and meter

information with BGE.

Share Properties and Meter Information with Baltimore Gas & Electric The Automated Benchmarking Tool (ABT) works in conjunction Portfolio

Manager to make it easier to receive up-to-date usage data from BGE and get updated ENERGY STAR scores for your

properties. In order to receive usage data automatically, you must first connect with our service in Portfolio Manager

and then share your property and meter information. Follow these steps to share your properties.

Connect with Baltimore Gas & Electric

In order to share a property with us, you must first be “connected” to our account in Portfolio Manager. To send a

connection request (or confirm that you’re already connected) go to the Contacts page.

1. Click Contacts in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. The directory shows your current list of contacts,

including those with whom you are currently “connected.”

Tip: Meter Information

Since all of your meters have been aggregated using the Automated Benchmarking Tool, you should enter 1 as the number of meters for each energy source.

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2. Click “Add Contact.”

3. Find us by searching for our name, Baltimore Gas & Electric, or our Portfolio Manager username, BGEWebservices.

Click “Search.”

4. When you find Baltimore Gas & Electric on the Search Results page, click “Connect” to send us a connection

request.

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5. You will be prompted to read and acknowledge the Terms of Use required to exchange data via Web services. Click

“Send Connection Request.”

6. After the connection request is sent, you can accept the request on the BGE ABT site by clicking Admin, connect/

share

7. then press the “Connect All” button

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Once you do this, a green dialog box on the ABT site will pop up describing the number of account requests, property

request, meter requests, and meters that match buildings.

After the connection is made, you will also see a notification for confirmation on the MyPortfolio tab of Portfolio

Manager. You are now connected and can share properties with Baltimore Gas and Electric!

Share Properties and Meters

You can now share your property or properties with BGE. To start sharing,

click the Sharing tab. Click: “Share (or Edit Access to) a Property,” and then

follow these steps:

1. Select the properties you want to share from the dropdown menu. You

can select a single property, multiple properties or all properties in your

account. You also can select properties by using filters by primary

function or state/province.

How to Share Property and Meter Information

Select Properties Select People (Accounts) Choose Permissions

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2. Select Baltimore Gas & Electric by clicking on the name in the list. If you

do not see our account in your list, check to see if we are listed on your

Contacts page and have accepted your connection request. Note that

the service provider name will appear in the list as “Gas & Electric,

Baltimore.”

3. Select Exchange Data as the access level and follow prompts to choose specific properties and/or meters that will

be managed via Web services.

4. You should also provide BGEWebservices with Full Access to Property Information and All Meter Information including

any external meters that you may have added to your property. 

Exchange Data

Exchange Data allows you to share your property with an organization that exchanges data with Portfolio Manager through Web services.

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5. Click on Apply Selections and Authorize Exchange.

6. Click on Share Property (ies).

Connecting and Posting Data to Portfolio Manager (all steps are performed on Automated Benchmarking Tool Site)

After you have set up your Automated Benchmarking Tool account, your Portfolio Manager account, and have linked

the two, the next step is to get your data to post to Portfolio Manager.

1. On the ABT site, click on Connect/Share under Admin on the Registered Building Profiles page.

2. Press “Connect All” button on the right.

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3. After you press “Connect All” your results will be displayed dependent on the number of accounts, property

requests, meter request, and meters that match buildings. You will also see the “status” of your meters update to

“connected”.

4. Next, click on “Post Data” under the action arrow for your property.

5. After you post data, you will see your score appear under the “score” column, along with a reference date, and

score type.

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You will also see your score in Portfolio Manager match the score on BGE ABT.

Important Note:

Portfolio Manager calculates a score based on the last 12 months of usage

data that all active meters in your property contain usage data. If you are

able to see a score in Portfolio Manager but not in the Automated

Benchmarking Tool (ABT) it may be because your external meters do not

have up to date usage information, or they may be inactive and need to be

deactivated in Portfolio Manager.

The score displayed in ABT is based on the last month of usage data supplied to your virtual meters through ABT.

Therefore, if your active external meters in Portfolio Manager do not have usage data up to the latest usage date

supplied to your virtual meters through ABT, you will not receive a score through ABT even though you may see one in

Portfolio Manager. In this case, the score you see in Portfolio Manager is not based on the most not recent virtual

meter usage data.

You can verify whether or not the score displayed in Portfolio Manager is the most current score based on your BGE

virtual meter usage data by reviewing your property’s Goals Tab.

Under the Energy Performance Section you will see the date of your most current score (Oct 2014 in the screenshot

below).

If the month and year of your latest ABT virtual meter usage data is after the most current score date shown on the

goals tab, it means that all of your meters are not update or you need to deactivate your inactive meters.

Tip: In order to see your score in ABT you must do one of the following

1) Update the usage data for your active external meters, or

2) Deactivate your inactive external meters in Portfolio Manager.

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To deactivate any inactive meters in Portfolio Manager:

1. Go to the Meters Tab.

2. Select I want to under Actions.

3. Select Edit Basic Meter Information.

4. Uncheck Still In Use.

5. Enter Date Meter became Inactive.

6. Select Save Changes.

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Eligibility Criteria for the 1–100 ENERGY STAR Score In Portfolio Manager, this benchmark is called an ENERGY STAR score and is expressed on a scale of 1 to 100. To get an

ENERGY STAR score, your property must meet several criteria related to its:

1. Property Type

2. Property Use Details

3. Energy Data

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Property Type

The ENERGY STAR score compares your building to its peer group of buildings in the national population. This peer

group is identified through nationally representative survey data, such as the Commercial Building Energy Consumption

Survey (CBECS), a survey conducted every four years by the U.S. Department of Energy.

To identify your building’s group of peers, more than 50 percent of your building’s gross floor area (excluding parking

lots and garages) must be defined as one of the eligible property types.

List of property types that are eligible to receive a 1–100 ENERGY STAR score.

Bank branch Barracks Financial office K-12 school Supermarket/grocery store Wholesale club/supercenter Hospital (general medical & surgical) Medical office Multifamily housing Senior care community Hotel

Residence hall/ dormitory Office Courthouse Wastewater treatment plant Worship facility Retail store Data center Distribution center Non-refrigerated warehouse Refrigerated warehouse

The remainder of your building may house other property types, and you can still get a 1–100 ENERGY STAR score.

However, that’s subject to a few restrictions:

a. Your parking garage can’t be bigger than your building. Or in technical terms, the combined floor area of all

enclosed and unenclosed parking structures can’t exceed the total gross floor area of the building.

b. You can’t have more than 25 percent of your floor space be ineligible for a score. The combined floor area of

any property use types that do not have an ENERGY STAR score (i.e., types not listed on the link above) can’t

exceed 25 percent of your total floor area.

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Property Use Details

You might be too short or too tall to ride.

Portfolio Manager asks you to enter data for key property use details. To be eligible to receive a 1–100 ENERGY STAR

score, there are minimum and maximum thresholds for these values. These limits are designed to make sure that your

building operates similarly to the peer group used for comparison. To be eligible to receive a 1–100 ENERGY STAR

score, your building must meet the thresholds listed below.

Property Type Requirement (Property types must...)

All buildings Be at least 5,000 square feet. There are four exceptions to this rule: o Banks may be as small as 1,000 square feet. o Religious worship facilities may be as small as 1,000 square

feet. o Hospitals must be at least 20,000 square feet. o Data centers do not have a square-foot minimum.

Be in operation at least 30 hours per week. There are two exceptions to this rule:

o This does not apply to buildings for which the system does not ask for hours of operation, such as hotels and hospitals.

o This does not apply to religious worship facilities. Have at least 1 worker during the main shift, when this is asked. This does not apply to K–12 schools in the United States; it only

applies to K–12 schools in Canada.

Hospitals Have at least 1 bed set up and staffed for use.

Multifamily housing Have at least 20 units.

Municipal wastewater treatment plants Have an average daily wastewater flow greater than 0.6 million gallons per day (MGD).

Have an average influent biological oxygen demand (BOD5) level greater than 30 and less than 1,000.

Have an average effluent BOD5 level greater than 0.

Offices, bank branches, financial offices and courthouses

Have at least 1 personal computer (PC).

Residence halls/dormitories and barracks Have at least 5 rooms.

Retail stores Have at least one cash register. Have an exterior entrance to the public. Be a single store only.

Senior care facilities Not have an average number of residents that exceeds the resident capacity.

Religious worship facilities Have at least 25 seats and no more than 4,000 seats.

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Energy Data

To receive a 1–100 ENERGY STAR score, you must enter energy meters that account for all energy use for all fuel types

in the whole building, regardless of who receives or pays the utility bills. To ensure accurate analysis, EPA applies

limitations on this data as follows:

You must include all energy used by the property (e.g., electricity, gas, oil, steam, onsite renewable energy, etc.).

There must be at least 12 full consecutive calendar months of energy data for all active meters and all fuel types.