B1.18 Require energy efficiency upgrades in large buildings
HB 1257, which is commonly called the Clean Buildings Act, passed the Legislature last session. It establishes an energy performance standard for existing non-residential buildings over 50,000 sq. ft., and provides financial incentives and technical assistance for their owners (and the owners of large multi-family buildings) who meet that standard before it’s required. The Department of Commerce is responsible for setting the standard and implementing the law. (According to their webpage about the process, they intend to adopt the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES standard 100-2018 Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings as a model standard.) Local jurisdictions could apply requirements like this to the non-residential buildings and multi-family buildings over three stories for which they can add to the State’s code requirements. (Item B1:20 in the current draft.)
Boston’s Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance requires large- and medium-sized buildings of all kinds to complete a major energy savings action or an energy assessment after five years. (In addition to covering buildings over 35,000 sq. ft, it applies to any set of non-residential buildings on one tax lot that total 100,000 square feet or more.)
“Greening New York City’s Homes: The Case For Requiring Energy Efficiency”, a 2017 report, draws on interviews with 14 experts in jurisdictions that have enacted residential energy upgrade requirements elsewhere in the U.S. and around the world, provides guidance on how the proposed regulation could be structured, and evaluates legal claims that might be raised against it. (New York City’s new building performance law sets emissions caps for buildings larger than 25,000 square feet – about 50,000 buildings in all., and expects to reduce large buildings’ emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.