Commercial Energy Planner
The Commercial Energy Planner helps owners and managers of existing commercial, institutional, and multi-unit residential buildings in Saskatoon benchmark and understand their building’s energy and water performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and plan actions to reduce carbon emissions. It aims to make energy planning simple, aid in decision-making and improve long-term building performance. Property owners and managers can benchmark their buildings through the Commercial Energy Benchmarking map and get further insights by completing a Virtual Decarbonization Plan. These tools are run by Open Technologies.
Commercial Energy Benchmarking
Benchmark your building's energy and water performance to understand how efficiently it is performing and compare it with similar buildings. An interactive map, powered by Open Technologies' GRID platform, will display all participating buildings' energy, water, and carbon performance.
Participants can:
- Submit energy data through an online portal
- Receive data review and validation
- Track benchmarking progress
- View building performance on an interactive map
- Access performance scorecards
- Receive program updates and support
To access Benchmarking, first register for the Commercial Energy Planner above.
Virtual Decarbonization Plans (VDP)
VDP is a virtual planning tool that uses information you provide about your building's energy consumption data and planned retrofits to create a customized decarbonization roadmap. The VDP helps building owners identify and prioritize high-impact energy upgrades and informed investment decisions before undertaking detailed in-person engineering studies or energy audits.
The VDP provides insights into:
- Energy efficiency retrofit opportunities
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction pathways
- Estimated energy and cost savings
- Decarbonization scenarios
- Project costs and payback periods
To access VDP, first register for the Commercial Energy Planner above.
Why participate?
The initiative is offered at no cost to help building owners and managers:
- Understand how your building is performing
- Track energy use and greenhouse gas emissions
- Compare performance over time (year-over-year)
- Identify opportunities to reduce energy costs
- Access support, planning tools and financing
- Prepare for future building improvements and retrofit projects
Program Participation Criteria
- The program is open to the following building types located within Saskatoon:
- Multi-unit residential buildings
- Commercial buildings
- Institutional buildings
- Industrial buildings
- Non-profit buildings
- Participants must have or create an ESPM account with their building's electricity, natural gas and water (utility) consumption data entered. If you don’t have any of this data, ask your building manager or operator for it. (See how to set-up ESPM)
- Participants must provide at least one full calendar year (January–December 2025) of monthly utility consumption data. Registration opens in October 2026, with participants submitting monthly utility consumption data for the 2025 calendar year.
- Beginning in January 2027, participants can also submit monthly utility consumption data for the 2026 calendar year (January–December 2026).
- Participants must be willing to provide additional utility information (e.g., district energy) where available to improve performance maps and scorecard accuracy.
How to Participate in the Commercial Energy Planner
Follow these steps to participate in the Commercial Energy Planner. More help can be found in the How-to-Guide and a Program Coach is available to support you through the process.
Step 1 – Submit your registration
Register for the Commercial Energy Planner using the Registration Form
Step 2 – Create or Connect Your ESPM Account
Building owners and managers can access a secure portal to submit data and link their ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager (ESPM) account. Visit the How to set up ESPM guide to learn how to set up an ESPM account and access your ESMP ID.
Step 3 – Onboarding and Support
Work with a Program Coach to complete the setup and benchmark your building.
Step 4 – Benchmark Your Building Performance
Track your building's performance year after year and compare it with similar buildings.
Step 5 – Access Virtual Decarbonization Plan
Participants may access VDPs and information on financing opportunities.