The number of cities and states with Building Performance Standards (BPS) is growing. With Boston’s second iteration of BERDO adopted last fall in our own backyard we decided to review this and other existing standards in large cities across the U.S.
- Boston: Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO)
Boston’s updated Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) sets requirements for large buildings to reduce their energy and water use data. The goal is to reduce their emissions gradually to net zero by 2050. BERDO 2.0 requires buildings over 20,000 GSF to annually report on emissions by May 15th of each year. Specific information required to be reported includes:
- Energy and Use, used to calculate CO2e emissions
- Primary Building Use
- Any Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) purchased
- Any Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) covering building
- If unique emission factors were used
- Contact information for building ownership/management
Buildings that fail to comply with the reporting requirement will face fines ranging from $150 to $300 a day and those who do not adhere to emissions standards could get hit with fines up to $1,000 a day. Reporting emissions inaccurately is also punishable with fines ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Beginning 2025, buildings over 35,000 GSF must have emissions less than or equal to the limits according to building use. Buildings between 20,000 and 35,000 GSF will have to comply beginning in 2030. More information is available through this link: https://www.boston.gov/departments/environment/building-emissions-reduction-and-disclosure.
- New York City: Local Law 97
According to nyc.gov, passed in 2019 LL97 requires most buildings over 25,000 square feet to meet new energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions limits by 2024, with stricter limits coming into effect in 2030. The goal is to reduce the emissions produced by the city’s largest buildings 40 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. Local Law 97 generally covers, with some exceptions:
- Buildings that exceed 25,000 gross square feet
- Two or more buildings on the same tax lot that together exceed 50,000 square feet
- Two or more buildings owned by a condo association that are governed by the same board of managers and that together exceed 50,000 square feet
More information available here: https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/buildings/local_laws/ll97of2019.pdf.
- Washington, DC: Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS)
The District’s energy benchmarking law requires all buildings over 25,000 square feet to annually track their energy and water efficiency and report the results to DOEE by April 1. Reports are submitted through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and publicly disclosed on the District’s building performance map. The BEPS was created to help meet the energy and climate goals of the Sustainable DC plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 50% by 2032. More information is available here: https://doee.dc.gov/service/building-energy-performance-standards-beps.
- St. Louis: Building Energy Performance Standard
The standard was signed into law in May of 2020 covers municipal, commercial, institutional and residential properties 50,000 square feet and larger. In May of 2021 the city determined performance standards for each building type. Owners will have the flexibility to decide what combination of physical or operational improvements can best achieve the standard. The first compliance due date on May 4, 2025. For more details click here: https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/public-safety/building/building-energy-improvement-board/documents/upload/STL-BEPS-Fact-Sheet-2022-02-08.pdf.
The above four are just a few of the programs that exist today. More cities and states continue to adopt Building Performance Standards programs as reflected in this information from imt.org with a map showing all current locations with BPS.
Aircuity helps building owners meet the standards by lowering baseline energy demand, which should always be considered as the first step.