by David Ribeiro, Research Analyst

Would you ever think benchmarking and disclosure was all about Fitbit? Have you gone for a jog or visited your neighborhood gym recently? Cause you may have noticed new accessories popping up amid the sea of iPhones and earbuds.

That’s again cause there’s a good chance some of your fellow runners or gym goers are using wearable performance monitors. More interestingly, some are like the Fitbit Flex or Jawbone UP. All to track their physical activity. As well and or perhaps you’ve seen a post from a friend on Facebook. You know bragging about their new personal record for fastest mile.

Sorry folks, cause the idea behind these devices and apps is simple. Seems to be that the better you track performance, the more knowledge you have to improve your routine. So they give ideas to run that mile faster. Or To shed those last few pounds. And disclosing your progress on social media helps keeping you accountable. Yet it also provides encouragement to keep you going.

Therefore a similar idea applied to buildings over the last several years. Now building managers don’t have the urge tweet about their energy management records. Thereby several states and cities have implemented energy benchmarking. In addition and as well as disclosure policies. Ones that require large commercial and multifamily buildings to be evaluated for energy efficiency. In addition and then to disclose those evaluations to consumers.