In the UK benchmarking, as defined by CIBSE TM46 [CIBSE. 2008. TM46 Energy Benchmarks. London: CIBSE], has been implemented through report and display mechanisms such as Display Energy Certificates (DECs). Bruhns, Jones, and Cohen [2011. “Cibse Review of Energy Benchmarks for Display Energy Certificates – Analysis of DEC Results to Date.” CIBSE. Accessed January 31, 2013. http://www.cibse.org/index.cfm?go=page.view&item=2346.] have shown that while some TM46 benchmarks can reflect total actual building energy consumption, in education buildings, the ratio of electricity and fossil fuel use is less well represented. This has been attributed to changes in occupant behaviour, equipment use and fabric thermal performance that have not been reflected in updated benchmarks. The headline data available through DECs therefore may not offer sufficient insights or motivation to encourage identification of opportunities for energy reduction measures [Godoy-Shimizu, D., P. Armitage, K. Steemers, and T. Chenvidyakarn. 2011. “Using Display Energy Certificates to Quantify Schools’ Energy Consumption.” Building Research & Information 39: 535–552]. Intelligent buildings could generate crowd-sourced databases of building energy data to offer these insights and provide sufficient disaggregation of energy data to identify systems or measures that impact energy consumption. Anonymous crowd-sourced data may also be able to offer contemporary benchmarks based on current data with sufficient depth to identify areas for improvement, help develop new methodologies for building design and operation and challenge orthodox architectural and engineering practice. This article explores the opportunities and limitations of a crowd-sourced database of building intelligence through analysis of the school data in the CarbonBuzz and DEC databases.