Collect Building Data

The Montgomery County Building ID (MBID) is your building’s unique identification number. DEP’s Covered Buildings Inventory lists the MBID for each covered building.

Enter this MBID number in Portfolio Manager (Under the Details tab, locate the “Unique Identifiers (IDs)” box. Select “Montgomery County (MD) Building ID” from the “Standard IDs” drop-down menu, and enter your MBID. Screenshots to help you enter your MBID can be found here (PDF, 381KB).

Without entering the MBID in Portfolio Manager exactly as it appears, we cannot see your report, and your property will not be compliant.

If you are unsure of your MBID or have a special case to discuss, please contact us for guidance on which MBID to use in your submission.

Resources:

• DEP's Covered Building Inventory 
• Online GIS map 
• The Building Look Up tool

You will need to know the building’s Gross Floor Area. This is the total property square footage, as measured between the exterior walls of the building. It includes all finished areas inside the building including supporting areas.

While the Covered Buildings Inventory lists an estimated gross floor area for each covered building, it is essential that benchmarkers verify this number before reporting.

To get accurate Gross Floor Area, you will need blueprints, architectural Plans, or BOMA documents:

• SDAT real property look-up tool
• The plat/survey document for the property (note you’ll need the plat # from SDAT)
• If neither of these two options are available, a site visit and physical measurements may be necessary. The Green Bank's Technical Assistance program may be able to connect you to a vendor to assist with GFA measurements and subsidize the cost of doing so.

Portfolio Manager requires accurate property use and operating information. You must select the property type(s) that most accurately represents your building’s usage and operations.

• If you are unsure what type of property your buildings is, view Portfolio Manager’s property type definitions of the 18 broad building type categories and, within those, 80 choices for property type. 
• If your building contains multiple property uses, you should document each use with the floor area and operating information.
  Break out all property use types and gross floor area in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager if they meet one of the following criteria:
  • The space accounts for at least 10% of the property's total GFA
  • The space is a high-intensity use type (like data center, laboratory, restaurant, supermarket, swimming pool, etc).
• Selecting the most accurate property type is critical as this informs the Building Energy Performance Standards your building will eventually be held to.

Use Portfolio Manager to find out what information will be required for your property type and to download a Data Collection Worksheet.