Ontario Regulation 506/18: Reporting of Energy Consumption and Water Use

Under Ontario Regulation 506/18, privately-owned buildings in Ontario over 50,000 square feet need to report energy and water use every year to the Government of Ontario.

Who needs to Comply?

Privately-owned commercial, industrial, and multi-residential (multifamily) buildings need to report annual energy and water use if the following conditions are met:

Buildings have a gross floor area of 50,000 square feet or more
In the case of multifamily buildings, the building has 10 or more units

When does Compliance Reporting Start?

First Reporting Year (July 1 deadline)	Calendar Year’s Data to Report	Commercial / Industrial Buildings	MultiFamily Buildings
2018	2017	250,000+ sqft	Does not need to report
2019	2018	100,000 – 250,000 sqft
2023	2022	50,000 – 100,000 sqft

What Needs to be Reported

Gross floor area (square footage) of the building
The building’s property use type(s). Multifamily or office are examples of property use types.
- Some buildings may have more than one property use type. Each, and their respective gross floor areas, need to be reported.
All energy and water usage for the entire building for the previous calendar year (see summary table above).

If multiple buildings exist on the property, it is best practice to report these buildings separately.

If the building is 100,000 square feet or more, the building owner needs to verify building information in the first year, and every fifth year thereafter. Property owners can delegate verification to certified third parties.

Who is Accountable to Report?

It is the property owner(s), or in the case of a condominium, the condo board, that is accountable for an accurate report submission under the regulation.

The accountable party can delegate authority to staff and/or third parties.

What Collected Information will be Disclosed Publicly?

Building Identifiers

Property name
Parent property name (when multiple buildings are reported together)
Address
City
Postal Code
Province
EWRB ID (Unique identifier for the reporting building)

Performance Metrics

Whether the reporter verified their data (if required)
Whether the reporter ran the Data Quality Checker
Electricity use intensity (kWh/ft2)
Weather-normalized electricity use intensity (kWh/ft2)
Natural gas use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Weather-normalized natural gas use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Source energy use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Weather-normalized source energy use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Site energy use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Weather-normalized site energy use intensity (ekWh/ft2)
Water use intensity (kgal/ft2)
Greenhouse gas emissions intensity (kgCO2/ft2)
ENERGY STAR score

Building Characteristics

Primary property use type
Secondary property use type(s)
Year built
Number of buildings on the property (when multiple buildings are reported together)
Third-party performance certifications

A list of additional information that may be disclosed at an aggregated level can be viewed here.

What will not be Disclosed

The Government of Ontario will not disclose, for any specific building, the:

Total energy and water use
Total greenhouse gas emissions
Gross floor area

How is the data reported?

Ontario Regulation 506/18 specifies the use of Energy Star Portfolio Manager software to report information under the regulation. Information on the process is provided here.
Efficiate can also handle all the compliance requirements for property owners. Read more about Efficiate’s Energy and Water Compliance Reporting service here.

Reporting