The City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment has released the “2011/2012 Seattle Building Energy Benchmarking Analysis Report” that lays out guidelines to business and building owners to reduce the energy use of buildings by 20% by 2020 and save them money.

Building owners provided energy-use information to the City as required under a city ordinance. The report summarizes the benchmarking results of more than 2,600 private-sector buildings representing nearly 228 million sq. ft., including offices, hotels, apartment buildings, retail stores, religious and educational institutions, and more.

The analysis of the data showed a few key findings, including that although many Seattle buildings are already more energy efficient than comparable buildings nationally, Seattle buildings have high energy—and therefore, high money—savings potential. For example, after benchmarking its buildings, Horizon House staff and residents went on to make energy-saving improvements to the complex, which have saved them $80,000 on utility bills over the last two years.