Tag: Building Performance Standards – BPS

Roundtable Offers Policy Guide to US-DOE to Shape Effective Building Performance Standards

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

The Real Estate Roundtable urged the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday to follow a newly released policy guide as the agency awards grants for states and localities to develop Building Performance Standards (BPS). The guidebook developed by the Roundtable’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) reflects RER’s ongoing commitment to addressing climate change while ensuring the economic sustainability of real estate investments and the communities they support. (Letter, Oct. 8)

Building Performance Standards (BPS)

  • State and local governments are increasingly adopting BPS laws that impose energy and climate performance mandates on real estate.
  • These laws typically set annual limits on how much energy buildings can use and how much greenhouse gases (GHGs) they can emit, with an ultimate goal of reaching net zero emissions around 2050.
  • International groups also apply pressure for energy and emissions performance limits on buildings to drive global investments in real estate. (Roundtable Weekly, July 19)

  • The Department of Energy (DOE) in August announced $240 million in federal grants to help states and localities implement BPS laws. (Roundtable Weekly, Sept 6).

  • The inconsistent nationwide BPS “patchwork” poses significant challenges for property owners and policymakers alike. These laws must be backed by studies and adequate resources to ensure they achieve significant emission reductions—while continuing to further parallel efforts to support the recovery of business districts and increase the supply of affordable housing.
  • “Our members face a variety of local and state legislative initiatives around building performance standards which lack consistent, implementable, fact-based frameworks. The federal government has the research and analysis heft to create and maintain a voluntary system of fair, reasonable, and effective BPS guidelines to help inform these efforts ” said Anthony E. Malkin, Chair of the Roundtable’s SPAC (Chairman and CEO, Empire State Realty Trust).
  • “Our peer-reviewed, 20-point policy guide intends to help start and guide a discussion of the subject,” he continued. 
Source: US-DOE, IMT (map as of August 2024)

BPS Policy Guide: 20 Key Points

  • RER’s policy guide should shape how DOE disburses tens of millions of taxpayer-funded federal grants to states and cities across the country. It outlines 20 key points that should be prioritized when developing and implementing BPS laws. These include:
  • Develop science-based and data-driven standards. Policymakers should base building performance targets on robust cost-benefit analyses, housing affordability studies, grid resilience assessments, and actual data on energy usage.

  • Align standards across jurisdictions. Property owners face confusing and inconsistent mandates. Policymakers should harmonize rules to ease multi-jurisdictional compliance and use landmark federal programs as a uniform means for compliance.

  • Provide clear compliance resources and fair remedies. Policymakers should ensure that BPS laws come with transparent, accessible compliance pathways that building owners can follow. This includes offering practical resources, technical assistance, and incentive programs to help owners plan for “life-cycle” capital investments and retrofits. Enforcement mechanisms should offer building owners reasonable opportunities to correct non-compliance before imposing fines.

RER welcomes engagement on the 20-point policy guide to help craft BPS laws that are fair and effective.

Biden Administration Announces $240 Million of IRA Grants for Building Efficiency Upgrades

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier
Department of Energy building in Washington, DC

On August 27, the U.S. Department of Energy announced plans to allocate $240 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to 19 state and local governments to help communities adopt energy-efficient building codes and retrofit structures to meet updated standards. (Politico, Aug. 27)

Key Details

  • The initiative is expected to reduce utility costs for multifamily residents and commercial building operators, enhance grid resilience, and lower emissions.
  • “DOE is helping jurisdictions move further and faster in implementing stronger codes that will provide Americans safer, healthier, and more comfortable places to live, work, and play,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. (US-DOE Press Release, Aug. 27)
  • The 19 selected projects will receive direct technical assistance to support the adoption and implementation of traditional energy codes, zero energy codes, and building performance standards.
  • The grants also align with the Justice40 Initiative, designed to direct 40% of federal investments to disadvantaged communities overburdened by pollution.
  • This latest announcement follows an initial $90 million awarded to 27 projects last year from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly known as the bipartisan infrastructure law, to implement updated building codes. (Politico, Aug. 27)
  • Chosen jurisdictions must go through a “negotiation process” with US-DOE before the agency ultimately awards Round 1 grants. Applications for the second round of IRA funding will close on Sept. 13. (US-DOE Press Release, Aug. 27)

What’s Next

The Roundtable is developing a “primer” for real estate stakeholders, highlighting key issues in the state and local BPS trend, with a release planned for this fall.

Roundtable to House Committee: Balance Housing and Energy Efficiency Priorities

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

The Real Estate Roundtable asked House lawmakers on Wednesday to direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to reconsider a recent federal energy codes rule because it does not adequately consider impacts on affordable housing. (Roundtable Statement, May 22 for House Hearing)

HUD’s Energy Codes Rule

  • Last month, HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a joint rule that applies the most recent, stringent—and costly—model energy code standards to new residential construction receiving the agencies’ financial support. (Roundtable Weekly, May 3)
  • The rule would apply to both single- and multifamily homes covered by HUD and USDA programs, including homes backed with federal mortgage insurance. HUD itself estimated the rule would add at least $7,229 to the cost of building a new single-family home. (HUD’s rule | House subcommittee memo)
  • The May 22 House hearing considered how HUD’s rule and other green building policies impact homeownership, price buyers out of the market, and burden renters. The National Association of Home Builders testified at the hearing, and the National Multifamily Housing Council and National Apartment Association submitted a joint statement. (Subcommittee hearing YouTube video)

Roundtable Recommendations

  • The Roundtable’s statement explained that policymakers must prioritize both the climate crisis and our nation’s housing crisis, but that HUD’s federal codes rule is not balanced and should be re-considered.
  • The new nationwide rule imposing the highest energy efficiency standards, currently adopted by only a handful of states, must be assessed in light of the Biden-Harris administration’s goals to address the serious U.S. housing shortage and create two million affordable units. (Biden Administration Affordable Housing Policy Fact Sheet, March 7)
  • RER’s letter also explained how the new federal codes rule adds yet another layer to a stacked mix of stringent government rules and other headwinds that have made single- and multifamily housing construction a “hyper-regulated business.”
  • Reducing buildings’ energy use and climate emissions are critical policies, but the Administration should not pass new regulations that “make the housing crisis worse,” The Roundtable explained. A more balanced re-assessment of HUD’s and USDA’s action is warranted.

This week’s hearing follows House testimony recently delivered by Roundtable President and CEO Jeff DeBoer, who reinforced the messages that the health of commercial and residential real estate markets are intertwined—and excessive regulations that make housing prices and rents unaffordable for working-class families must be avoided. (DeBoer’s April 30 oral statement and written testimony | Roundtable Weekly, April 30)

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EPA Seeks Building Owners’ Input on Whole-Building Energy Data

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) campaign seeks to assist building owners in obtaining data from utilities on energy used by tenants in leased spaces. Stakeholders are encouraged to complete EPA’s brief Whole-Building Energy Data survey by Friday, June 7.

Access to Whole-Building Data is Critical

  • A challenge shared by owners and managers across the CRE industry is obtaining leased space energy data particularly where tenants operate under “triple-net” (NNN) leases and pay their electricity, gas, and other power bills directly to utilities.
  • Difficulties accessing whole-building energy data are acute in multifamily, offices, retail, logistics, life sciences, and any building type that leases spaces to numerous tenants.
  • Nonetheless, owners are expected to capture data on tenants’ energy use as a simple matter of proper building management, and for myriad policy and regulatory reasons such as:
  • Reports to investors and lenders, including disclosures to the US-SEC and state agencies;
  • Attaining voluntary certifications such as EPA’s ENERGY STAR and NextGen building “labels”; and
  • Qualifying for the 179D tax deduction for building retrofits enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. [Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 20, 2023 and  IRA fact sheet, July 31, 2023]

Roundtable Advocacy

  • The Roundtable supported a Jan. 18 open letter from leaders of the EPA, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Department of Energy (DOE) to utilities and their regulatory commissions about the national importance of obtaining tenant-level consumption data.
  • The Roundtable also submitted comments to EPA on Jan. 20 that emphasized how utilities should be eligible for EPA grants to develop technologies that provide owners of multi-tenant assets with whole-building energy data.

EPA’s Campaign

  • EPA has posted online tools including a “Multitenant Buildings and Federal Incentives” fact sheet. This resource explains the importance of whole-building data to building owners (with a focus on federal funding opportunities requiring this data), as well as solutions available to utilities to provide the data.
  • More than 90% of utilities currently do not provide whole-building energy use data. (See EPA’s data access map.) The EPA campaign aims to:
  • Gather input from building owners and others on where they need this data most and why, via the survey.
  • Create resources that support building owners in engaging utilities nationwide, including a summary of the survey’s input.
  • Organize meetings between utilities and building owners in priority locations to facilitate discussion.
  • EPA will support utilities that are interested in providing the data in line with industry best practices.

EPA’s campaign will be among the topics discussed during The Roundtable’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) Meeting on June 21 in Washington, D.C., held in conjunction with the RER’s all-member Annual Meeting on June 20.

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States May Tap Into Federal Funds to Help CRE Owners Comply With City Climate Laws

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier
DOE LPO webinar on BPS

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a new financing program this week for states to access federal funds that could help real estate owners meet state, city, and county building performance standards (BPS).

State Energy Financing Institutions

  • An April 9 webinar hosted by the White House and DOE’s Loan Programs Office provided information on plans to make federal money available to state energy financing institutions (SEFIs).
  • Federal funds deployed under the SEFI program will be channeled through state agencies, which in turn will provide loans and grants to qualified building owners.
  • SEFIs that receive federal DOE “certification” will assist compliance with building emissions and energy efficiency limits set by a growing number of states and localities. 
  • The LPO has released a SEFI Toolkit that describes the contours of the program.
  • The Roundtable supports non-binding federal guidelines that bring national consistency to the conflicting patchwork of local BPS mandates.(DOE “blueprint” to decarbonize buildings; Roundtable Weekly, Sept. 15)

Funding Criteria

LPO for Building Sector
  • States will establish eligibility financing criteria under federal guidelines. They will likely prioritize disbursements to buildings in low-income areas and low-income housing.
  • SEFI funds could be deployed to support commercial-to-residential property conversions in jurisdictions with BPS laws.
  • To scale the program, DOE stated on the webinar that federal funds channeled through the states will be geared to support energy work on a portfolio of buildings rather than single projects.
  • The agency also stated that DOE-sourced funds will aim to support assets that strive to meet the forthcoming national definition for a Zero Emissions Building (“ZEB”). (Roundtable Fact Sheet on ZEB, Jan. 18)

The Roundtable’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) continues to work closely with the White House and DOE on climate initiatives impacting commercial real estate.

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Building Emissions Policies Picking Up Steam in 2024

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

A confluence of mandatory rules and voluntary guidelines pertaining to real estate’s climate impacts—including a first-ever U.S. definition for the term Zero Emissions Building (“ZEB”) and an imminent Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) greenhouse gas disclosure rule—will be a key focus of policy makers in 2024.

ZEB Definition

  • On Jan. 9, GlobeSt reported that The Roundtable supports the direction of the Biden administration’s recently released voluntary ZEB draft definition pertinent to private sector existing buildings and new construction. (Roundtable Weekly, Jan. 5)
  • The ZEB definition proposes voluntary criteria for buildings to be highly energy efficient and powered solely by clean energy sources to attain zero emissions status.

  • The Roundtable’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) is working on comments (due Feb. 5) in response to the Energy Department’s draft.

SEC & Scope 3

  • The SEC is expected to release its long-anticipated climate risk disclosure rule this spring. (Roundtable Weekly, March 10, 2023) On Jan. 11, Bisnow quoted Roundtable Senior Vice President and Counsel Duane Desiderio about the SEC’s impending rule and its impact on CRE and other industries. 
  • Desiderio explained to Bisnow, “Let’s hope the SEC delivers some workable rules and brings rationality to this space, especially regarding Scope 3 indirect emissions” that cover sources in a company’s supply chain beyond its immediate control. Desiderio added, “The market is certainly moving in the direction of the SEC rule.” (RER Fact Sheets: SEC’s Proposed Rule and California’s Climate Disclosure bills)

179D & BPS

  • Another federal rule expected in the coming weeks concerns the section 179D tax deduction for energy efficient buildings, substantially revamped by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). (Roundtable Weekly, Dec. 1).The Internal Revenue Service will propose a regulation for comment that addresses how existing building retrofits may qualify for this incentive.
  • Axios (Jan. 9) reported this week about trends at the local level to enact building performance standards (BPS) such as LL 97 in New York City. While Congress has not granted authority for a national emissions mandate on buildings, more cities and states are expected to run with these efforts in 2024. (Roundtable Weekly, Sept. 15).
  • A report from the Rhodium Group this week shows U.S. GHG emissions decreased nearly 2 percent year-on-year in 2023. The report also notes that emissions from commercial and residential buildings dropped by 4 percent, which the researchers attributed primarily to a mild winter. (PoliticoPro and The Hill, Jan. 10)  

SCOTUS to Consider Federal Agency “Deference”

The Supreme Court
  • A wild card in the effectiveness and durability of federal regulations—not just in the climate arena, but from any U.S. agency—will be at the fore this spring when SCOTUS renders a decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo.
  • Loper will consider whether an administrative law doctrine from 1984 known as “Chevron deference,” which grants wide latitude to federal agencies when crafting rules to implement laws passed by Congress, should be overruled. (SCOTUS Blog, May 1, 2023)
  • The Department of Commerce stated in their brief that overruling Chevron “would be a convulsive shock to the legal system.” Oral argument will take place next Wednesday, with a decision expected by early summer. (SCOTUS Blog, Jan. 8, 2024)

Officials from the White House, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department and leading non-governmental organizations will address issues at the nexus of buildings and climate policy on January 24 at the Roundtable’s all-member 2024 State of the Industry Meeting.

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CRE Coalition Asks EPA to Help Standardize Conflicting State, Local Building Emissions Laws

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

The Real Estate Roundtable and industry partners encouraged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Sept. 14 to enhance its set of effective, standardized, and voluntary federal tools that can assist real estate companies meet climate targets imposed by city and state laws. (Real estate coalition letter, Sept. 14)

EPA Standards to Quantify Emissions

  • The coalition endorsed EPA’s planned improvements to its free, online Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool, announced in an ENERGY STAR July 2023 policy brief. Nearly 25% of U.S. CRE space measures energy and water use, waste disposal, and GHG emissions using Portfolio Manager.  
  • Without EPA’s voluntary resources to support uniform emissions measurement, compliance with local mandates is “exceedingly difficult, impracticable, and in some cases, impossible,” the letter states.
  • “We value greatly our longstanding collaboration with the US-EPA’s ENERGY STAR program.  It is the gold standard of resources which help our industry report on energy efficiency and the financial impacts from the increase of renewable energy supplies,” said Roundtable Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee Chair, Tony Malkin (Chairman, President, and CEO, Empire State Realty Trust), below.
SPAC Chair Tony Malkin
  • Malkin added, “Non-binding federal guidelines from the EPA’s strong and best-in-class analytical frameworks are the North Star through which local governments can inform their law-making, and this helps to bring some sense and order to the otherwise conflicting patchwork of climate laws and frameworks developed by states, cities, and NGOs. The future is hard facts and data, and our industry is fortunate to have a constructive and productive relationship with the EPA that focuses on points on the board, the how to address the what.”  
  • The American Hotel & Lodging Association; Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International; CRE Finance Council; ICSC; Mortgage Bankers Association; NAIOP, Commercial Real Estate Development Association; and Nareit® joined The Roundtable on the coalition letter.

Anticipated SEC Climate RulesSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seal

  • The Roundtable’s call for uniform methods to calculate and report emissions anticipates overdue rules this fall from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC’s rules are expected to compel registered companies to disclose in investor filings material financial impacts related to climate change. (See Roundtable Weekly, June 10, 2022 and RER comments).
  • Gensler is also scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee on Sept. 19.

The Biden administration’s emphasis on climate policy will continue this fall, when it is expected to propose a uniform federal definition on the long-term concept of “zero emissions buildings.” The Roundtable’s SPAC will convene a working group to analyze the definition upon its release for public comments.

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Roundtable, Nareit Critique Proposed International Standard for Building Emissions

Posted on by Trey Jackson
Greenhouse gas emissions

As the buildings sector makes progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to meet global climate goals, The Roundtable and Nareit submitted comments today about proposed guidance that would create “unworkable and unattainable” standards. (RER-Nareit joint comments)

Science-Based Targets

  • A number of real estate companies use science-based protocols to establish portfolio-wide emissions reductions targets. The Roundtable convened a working group of its Sustainability Policy Committee (SPAC) to review and assess SBTi’s draft guidance. Nareit conducted a similar process with its members. These efforts resulted in the organizations’ unified position.

RER-Nareit Position

  • The Roundtable and Nareit seek a constructive dialogue with SBTi, as their letter explains. However, the real estate groups expressed concern that SBTi’s proposal would require building stakeholders to set emissions targets for sources and operations they do not control, based too heavily on estimates and speculation as opposed to actual and verifiable data.

  • Key points raised in the joint comments include:

    Nareit and Real Estate Roundtable logos
    • Building owners must have options to purchase off-site renewable energy when they set science-based targets. Real estate in dense urban areas faces major barriers to deploy solar panels and similar measures on-site, so owners should be encouraged to increase overall clean energy supplies for broader market availability.

    • There should be no categorical, across-the-board mandate to set emissions targets based on tenants’ energy use because building owners do not control operations in leased spaces. Nor do owners have general access to meter data showing how much energy a tenant uses.

    • Emissions goals should not require, in all circumstances, reporting on “embodied carbon” in materials. Manufacturers do not uniformly provide such embodied emissions data for the concrete, steel, and other products they produce—so building stakeholders should not be required to guess this information in their climate reports.

    • Full-blown building electrification is not practicable, feasible, or even desirable for occupants’ safety and comfort in all cases. SBTi should abandon its proposed ban on all new fossil fuel building installations starting in 2025.    

Why It Matters

SBTi logo
  • There is no mandate in the U.S. at the federal level for real estate companies to set science-based emissions targets. However, anticipated rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are expected to require registered companies to report to investors on material climate-related financial risks. Those disclosures could include corporate efforts to reduce emissions following SBTi’s and similar standards. (Roundtable Weekly, March 17, March 6 and June 10, 2022).
     
  • In addition, key aspects of SBTi’s proposal counter voluntary efforts underway at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that recognize advances in low-carbon buildings and portfolios. (Roundtable Weekly, March 3 and March 4, 2022)

  • Moreover, varying and often conflicting climate mandates on buildings are proliferating at the local level. (Roundtable Weekly, Dec. 9, 2022). SBTi’s proposed approach should not gain traction in regulatory building performance standards imposed by cities and states. 

A final version of SBTi’s buildings sector guidance is expected this fall. The Roundtable will continue to track the issue, coordinate with Nareit and other allied groups, and educate policy makers as this matter develops. 

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Roundtable Comments to EPA on Building Performance Standards, Electrification

Posted on by Trey Jackson

The Real Estate Roundtable submitted comments this week encouraging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use its grant authority to foster consistent, practicable, and cost-efficient local building mandates and electrification programs. (Roundtable letter, Jan. 18)

Consistency Urged in Building Performance Standards

  • In addition to clean energy tax incentives for the private sector, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) devotes billions in grant money for EPA to dole-out to states and cities for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction programs. [White House Guidebook, Dec. 15]

  • IRA grants could support localities as they develop and enforce building performance standards (BPS) that mandate owners to reduce energy use and emissions. Dozens of BPS laws have emerged in jurisdictions across the United States. (EPA Policy Brief, Jan. 19) (Roundtable Weekly, July 1, 2022)

  • The Roundtable’s Jan. 18 letter urges EPA to use its grant authority to encourage consistency in BPS mandates. A “hodge-podge” of state and local laws complicates compliance by building owners with nationwide real estate portfolios and hinders responsible investment strategies, according to The Roundtable’s letter.

  • The Roundtable’s position is that EPA should not award IRA grants unless state or local recipients ensure their BPS laws offer uniform federal tools, data, and protocols for enforcement and compliance.

  • These federal standards include EPA’s ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, its GHG Emissions Calculator, eGRID factors that convert electricity use to GHGs, and metrics already recommended by EPA to support BPS efforts.

Tenant Energy Data and “Practicable Electrification”

  • The Roundtable letter also advocates that utilities should be eligible for EPA grants to develop technologies that provide owners of multi-tenant buildings with “whole building” energy data. Owners need data on tenants’ energy use to meet BPS mandates and to attain the IRA’s new tax deduction for building retrofits. (Fact Sheet, updated Jan. 5.)

  • EPA can also devote grant dollars for building electrification “partnerships.” The Roundtable directed EPA to the federal government’s own BPS and NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge as paradigms that may accelerate voluntary and cost-effective building electrification scenarios in the private sector. (Roundtable Weekly, Dec. 9, 2022)

  • In addition, The Roundtable letter advocates that grants to help standardize corporate climate reporting should prioritize consistency in accounting for emission benefits from the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), and for embedded carbon in construction materials and building products purchased by real estate owners and developers.

IRA tax incentives and grant programs affecting CRE will be among the topics discussed during The Roundtable’s Sustainability Policy Advisory Committee (SPAC) Meeting on Jan. 25 in Washington, D.C., held in conjunction with Jan. 24 State of the Industry meeting.

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White House Announces Federal Building Performance Standards

Posted on by Trey Jackson
The White House

The White House on Wednesday released a new standard to reduce scope 1 “direct” emissions from fossil fuels combusted to heat and cool federal buildings. (CNBC |UPI | PoliticoPro, Dec. 7)

Federal Building Performance Standard (BPS)

  • The Federal BPS from the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) applies to the 300,000 existing buildings owned by the U.S. government. It sets a 2030 goal for each federal agency to eliminate scope 1 emissions in 30% of its facilities. (White House Fact Sheet)

  • The Federal BPS “prioritiz[es] energy efficiency and the elimination of on-site fossil fuel use.” It is a stepping-stone toward the Biden administration’s ultimate goal of “net zero” emissions by 2045 across all federal facilities. (Exec. Order 14057, Dec. 8, 2021)

  • The Federal BPS’s “performance pathway” would achieve the goal for zero scope 1 emissions “through efficient electrification of all equipment and appliances.”

  • The Federal BPS also offers a “prescriptive pathway” for specific replacement of gas-fired furnaces and boilers. This alternate compliance route recognizes that “full decarbonization may not be practicable today” considering a building’s size and climate zone—and is designed to account for the market availability and cost-effectiveness of electrification equipment.

Relevance to Other GHG Standards

Energy.gov map of BPS
  • While the Federal BPS intends to reduce on-site scope 1 emissions, it will likely increase scope 2 emissions from electricity purchased by the federal government to power electric heat pumps, hot water heaters, and similar equipment.

  • Furthermore, the Federal BPS—and its focus to reduce fossil fuels on-site—might set an easier standard compared to a number of emerging BPS mandates at the state and municipal level.

  • Some local BPS laws may effectively require buildings to reduce overall GHG emissions at their source, which depends on whether local power grids provide “clean” electricity from solar, wind, or other renewable energy. EPA data that profiles “fuel mixes” used to generate electricity, however, indicate that coal, gas and other non-renewables account for 80 percent of the fuels that power electric grids nationally.

  • Also, local BPS laws may not offer a “prescriptive” compliance path similar to the Federal BPS that contemplates cost effectiveness in building electrification retrofits.

  • Notably, the Federal BPS sets no requirements for U.S.-owned buildings to reduce their upstream and downstream “scope 3” emissions outside of an owners’ control. (EPA website)

  • Possible measurement and reporting of scope 3 emissions has been a controversial element of a private sector, corporate GHG disclosure rule proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that has not yet been finalized. (Roundtable Weekly, June 10)

Other Building Policies  

Department of Energy sign

The White House’s announcements touted DOE’s Better Climate Challenge—a voluntary “pledge” that includes Roundtable members as “partners” who have committed to reduce portfolio-wide scopes 1 and 2 emissions by at least 50% within 10 years. The Roundtable is an “ally” supporting DOE’s Challenge. (Roundtable Weekly, March 4)

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