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Course 204 · Work course 74

Benchmark a Building Energy Record

Build a fictional building-energy brief with source/unit checks, whole-year site energy, floor-area intensity, fair comparison limits, anomaly questions and an evidence-based monitoring proposal.

Before you start

Paper or a local document and a basic calculator are enough; all required records are supplied.

Practical Math and Data for Work and Training See everything you’ll need

Free download · Original practice data · No external account required. Download the starter pack

What you’ll leave with

A fictional building-energy brief with source/unit checks, whole-year site energy, floor-area intensity, fair comparison limits, anomaly questions and an evidence-based monitoring proposal.

Start course Start without an account. Sign in to save lesson progress across devices.

Your project

Start with the practice files. Build your project one lesson at a time.

Practice files are free without an account. Sign in to save your project record in My Proof: a description, checklist, and optional work link. Keep the original files in your own app or notebook; saving a project record does not upload them.

  1. Get your materialsDownload practice filesSupplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.
  2. Make your projectView the project checklist Work in your own notebook, document, or software. Use the supplied practice examples when you prefer.
  3. Keep a private recordSave a project record Sign in to save a description and checklist, then return to update them.
Course handbook

Know the route before you begin.

Here’s what you’ll need and what you’ll make. You can return to this guide during any lesson.

Who this is for

Learners ages 14+ exploring work and adults preparing for an entry-level or next-stage responsibility. Work eligibility, supervision and occupational requirements remain separate.

Prepare before lesson one
  • Paper or a local document and a basic calculator are enough; all required records are supplied.
  • Recommended preparation: Practical Math and Data for Work and Training. Use fictional information throughout.
Your final project

Finish with proof you can use.

A fictional building-energy brief with source/unit checks, whole-year site energy, floor-area intensity, fair comparison limits, anomaly questions and an evidence-based monitoring proposal.

Save a project record in My Proof
See project checklist and review criteria

Keep your working files in your own notebook or software. Save a private description, checklist, and work link in My Proof.

What to include

  • Save audited annual energy inventory and excluded-meter list; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save fuel-specific conversion ledger and site total; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save site EUI with boundary/period/no score label; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save bounded building comparison and needed peer data; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save source/site scenario comparison with factor limitations; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.
  • Save building energy inventory/conversion/EUI/source/comparison brief; include the original-case decision evidence and a separate changed-case result.

Review and revise

Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.

  • The final packet uses the supplied task-specific constraints and all six records agree.
  • Every result can be traced to an identifier, input, calculation or stated decision rule.
  • Changed-case practice updates dependent records and keeps holds or uncertainty visible.
  • The packet states the learner role, authority boundary and specific next verification needed before real work.
Three ideas to help you along the way
Three useful ideas

The rules behind the steps.

01

Match the task-specific constraint

An energy benchmark requires matching period, building boundary, units and floor area; duplications or gaps can make a neat number misleading.

02

Keep decisions traceable

Preserve the original records and identify which person or policy can authorize a change; a plausible assumption is not approval.

03

Test the handoff

A benchmark brief explains energy boundary, conversion, intensity, comparison limits and next audit question; it does not prescribe physical retrofits or claim measured savings from a simulation.

What do these words mean?
Key words

Key terms worth knowing.

Site energy
Energy at the building boundary in common units.
Source energy
Energy including generation/delivery effects under applied method.
EUI
Annual energy divided by matching gross floor area.
Boundary reconciliation
Matching fuel meters, period and area for the defined building.
Illustrative factor
Supplied scenario input, not an asserted current official value.
Your route

6 lessons.
One useful project.

Work in order the first time. Each lesson makes something the next lesson can use.

  1. 1
    Up next

    Check a complete building energy boundary

    Save audited annual energy inventory and excluded-meter list. Explain how an energy benchmark requires matching period, building boundary, units and floor area; duplications or gaps can make a neat number misleading.

  2. 2
    11 min

    Convert energy to common site units

    Save fuel-specific conversion ledger and site total. Explain how site energy conversion puts fuel quantities into the same unit; conversion does not include upstream generation losses or source to site factors.

  3. 3
    11 min

    Calculate intensity using the matching floor area

    Save site EUI with boundary/period/no score label. Explain how energy use intensity divides energy by the matching gross floor area and period; it is not an energy efficiency score or proof that two buildings have same use.

  4. 4
    11 min

    Compare buildings with use and weather limits

    Save bounded building comparison and needed peer data. Explain how normalized energy per area allows a more useful comparison than total alone, but building use, hours, climate and weather can still differ.

  5. 5
    13 min

    Distinguish source energy and test a revised fuel mix

    Save source/site scenario comparison with factor limitations. Explain how source energy uses factors for upstream generation/delivery and therefore can rank fuel mixes differently; supplied factors must be labeled scenario inputs, not current official conversion rules.

  6. 6
    15 min

    Write an energy evidence brief without unsupported savings

    Save building energy inventory/conversion/EUI/source/comparison brief. Explain how a benchmark brief explains energy boundary, conversion, intensity, comparison limits and next audit question; it does not prescribe physical retrofits or claim measured savings from a simulation.

Use the tools

Tools to help you practice.

See all tools
ZIP · practice files

Benchmark a Building Energy Record practice files

Supplied practice cases, a blank working record, complete lesson instructions, and annotated worked examples.

Text worksheet

Your course project worksheet

A downloadable text worksheet with each lesson’s working output, space for your answers, and the shared final-project checklist. Save your own copy.

Source transparency

Sources and further study.

Explore the references behind the lessons and take your learning further. Source notes explain access and reuse.

What is Energy Use Intensity (EUI)? | ENERGY STAR
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Public agency or educational context; no source exercises are copied and no simulated threshold is presented as an official rule. Page title and relevant content inspected; no interactive controls or credential process tested.

Access: Readable official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

The Difference Between Source and Site Energy | ENERGY STAR
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Public agency or educational context; no source exercises are copied and no simulated threshold is presented as an official rule. Page title and relevant content inspected; no interactive controls or credential process tested.

Access: Readable official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

11-3013.00 - Facilities Managers
Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01

Occupational task and responsibility context; the exercise policies and quantities are original fictional inputs. Page title and relevant content inspected; no interactive controls or credential process tested.

Access: Readable official page retrieved with the web reader on 2026-10-01.

Reuse: All teaching cases, data, worked steps and questions are original. Link and limited paraphrase for context; no copied source exercises.

Ready when you are

Start with the first useful move.

You’ll always know what to do, what to make, and where to go next.

Start lesson one