City Council has directed the Evanston Utilities Commission to begin exploring the creation of an energy efficiency benchmarking ordinance, the city announced Tuesday.

The potential Building Energy Efficiency Benchmarking ordinance would be based on the energy benchmarking process. The process tracks energy consumed by a building over time and compares the results of that building’s energy use to that a similarly-sized building or a pre-determined model of energy efficiency standards for a building of that size, according to a news release from the city. Chicago, among other U.S. cities, has already implemented similar policies to monitor its energy usage.

The Utilities Commission is a group of Evanston community members selected by the city with experience in utilities services, engineering and finance. The commission is just beginning the process of developing the ordinance for Evanston.

Representatives from the commission, as well as other community stakeholders in the project, will hold the first meeting for interest in the BEEB project at the Civic Center on June 9, the city said.

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