Introduction to Benchmarking and Targets

Benchmarking and target tracking are essential capabilities in modern smart building and portfolio management. They help organizations understand how buildings perform relative to one another, identify where inefficiencies are greatest, and track whether performance is improving over time.

In ABB Ability™ BuildingPro Suites, this is especially important because the platform is designed to connect data across assets, buildings, and portfolios and turn siloed operational information into actionable insights . When this data is made comparable across sites, it becomes possible to move from isolated reporting toward portfolio-wide performance management.

This page explains what benchmarking and targets are, why they matter in the smart building context, and how they are used in BuildingPro Suites.

What are Benchmarking and Targets?

Benchmarking is the process of comparing performance across buildings, systems, or portfolios using shared metrics. The goal is to understand which sites perform well, which sites underperform, and where differences deserve further investigation.

Targets are defined performance goals that help organizations measure progress over time. A target can represent a desired future state, a reduction objective, a baseline comparison, or an operational goal that should be reached and maintained.

In practice, benchmarking and targets belong together. Benchmarking shows where performance stands today in relation to peers or baselines. Targets define where performance should go next.

In the BuildingPro Suites context, the documented module Portfolio Benchmark & Targets helps organizations compare energy performance across buildings and portfolios using normalized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and shared baselines .

Why are Benchmarking and Targets needed in the Smart Building context?

Smart buildings and portfolios produce a large amount of operational and energy data. But data alone does not tell decision-makers where action matters most.

A single building may appear to perform reasonably in isolation, yet perform poorly compared to similar sites. Another building may improve over time, but still remain far from the organization’s strategic target. Without benchmarking and targets, these patterns are difficult to see clearly.

Benchmarking and targets are needed because they help answer questions such as:

• Which buildings perform best and worst?

• Which sites are true outliers?

• Are comparisons fair across buildings of different sizes or uses?

• Where should operations teams focus first?

• Are improvement measures delivering measurable progress?

• Are strategic goals being reached over time?

These questions become more important as organizations manage more sites, more data sources, and more sustainability and cost objectives.

Benefits of Benchmarking and Targets

Benchmarking and target tracking provide several important benefits in the smart building context.

Fairer comparison across sites

Raw values are often misleading when comparing buildings. Larger buildings, different use types, or different occupancy patterns can make simple comparisons unfair. Benchmarking with normalized KPIs helps create more meaningful comparisons .

Faster identification of outliers

When buildings are ranked and compared against shared baselines, it becomes easier to identify which sites lag behind and where further analysis is needed .

Better prioritization of action

Not every inefficiency has the same impact. Benchmarking helps organizations focus operational attention and investment where improvement potential is greatest .

Clearer performance goals

Targets turn broad ambitions into measurable outcomes. Instead of saying that energy performance should improve, organizations can define goals and track whether they are actually being achieved over time .

Portfolio-wide management

Benchmarking and targets help organizations move beyond one-time building-level reporting. They support continuous portfolio-wide performance management and align operations, management, and sustainability stakeholders around a shared view of progress .

Benchmarking in the smart building context

In buildings, benchmarking usually means comparing performance indicators across different sites, systems, or time periods.

The most useful comparisons are based on normalized KPIs. This means that the values are adjusted so they can be compared more fairly across different conditions. For example, a portfolio team may want to compare buildings not simply by total energy use, but by a normalized measure that reflects size, usage, or another shared basis.

According to the BuildingPro Suites documentation, the Portfolio Benchmark & Targets module is designed specifically to benchmark buildings and portfolios against each other, normalize KPIs so that sites can be compared fairly, rank sites, and identify outliers .

This makes benchmarking useful not only for reporting, but also for practical decision-making.

Targets and progress tracking

Targets define the performance level that an organization wants to achieve. These targets can be based on strategic goals, baselines, internal standards, or operational objectives.

In BuildingPro Suites, target tracking is part of the same portfolio performance management approach. The documented module supports defining targets and tracking progress over time .

This is important because progress is often non-linear. A building may improve quickly after an operational change, then plateau. Another site may remain stable but below target. By tracking performance over time against defined targets, organizations can see whether they are moving in the right direction and whether interventions are delivering the expected effect.

Targets also make communication easier. They provide a clear reference point for operational teams, management, and sustainability stakeholders.

Benchmarking and Targets in BuildingPro Suites

BuildingPro Suites includes the documented module Portfolio Benchmark & Targets within the Energy & Sustainability Intelligence suite .

The suite as a whole is described as helping organizations move from reporting to continuous performance management. It combines visibility, anomaly detection, benchmarking, target tracking, and carbon accounting so that operations, finance, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) stakeholders can work from one reliable source of truth .

Within this context, the Portfolio Benchmark & Targets module is intended to help teams:

• benchmark buildings and portfolios against each other

• normalize KPIs so that sites can be compared fairly

• rank sites and identify outliers

• define targets and track progress over time

• prioritize improvement actions where the impact is greatest

The module provides templates in Live Cockpit, access to Insight Analytics, report templates in Reports, and access to Map & Floor . This means benchmarking and target tracking are not isolated reports, but part of a broader operational and management environment.

Typical use of Benchmarking and Targets

A typical benchmarking workflow begins by collecting and structuring energy data across multiple buildings. BuildingPro Suites provides the broader platform foundation for this by connecting building and IoT data and turning it into portfolio-level insights .

Once comparable data is available, KPIs can be normalized and sites can be compared fairly. From there, teams can rank buildings, identify outliers, and define which sites require deeper analysis or action.

Targets then provide the next layer. They help teams define what level of performance is expected and whether a building or portfolio is moving toward that goal over time.

In this way, benchmarking answers the question, “How are we performing relative to others or to a baseline?” while targets answer the question, “Are we progressing toward where we want to be?”

Why Benchmarking and Targets matter for portfolio management

Benchmarking and targets are especially valuable at portfolio level. In a single building, teams may already know the local context well. In a larger portfolio, that becomes much harder.

Portfolio-level management requires a shared way to compare sites, surface outliers, and track improvement consistently. This is why the documented value of the Portfolio Benchmark & Targets module emphasizes portfolio-wide performance management, rather than scattered building-level reporting .

For management teams, this creates a clearer basis for decisions. It helps direct attention, budget, and operational effort to the places where they can create the greatest impact.

Conclusion

Benchmarking and targets are key tools for turning building and portfolio data into practical performance management. Benchmarking helps organizations compare sites fairly, identify outliers, and understand where performance differs most. Targets help define what success looks like and measure whether progress is being made over time.

In ABB Ability™ BuildingPro Suites, these capabilities are provided through the documented Portfolio Benchmark & Targets module, which supports normalized KPIs, shared baselines, ranking, target definition, and progress tracking across buildings and portfolios . Combined with the platform’s broader ability to connect siloed building and IoT data into actionable insights , this helps organizations move from fragmented reporting toward continuous, portfolio-wide performance improvement.