flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Local and state building energy performance standards aim to curb climate change

Codes and Standards

Local and state building energy performance standards aim to curb climate change

Owners must up the ante on operations and retrofits.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | June 28, 2021

State and municipal building standards aimed at driving building energy performance and reducing carbon emissions have teeth and will force building owners to retrofit their properties.

Three U.S. cities (Washington D.C., New York, and St. Louis) and Washington State have legislation on the books that created building performance standards. These policies include continuous improvement, with the standards getting increasingly more stringent over time.

In New York, the performance standard is a carbon emissions limit that begins in 2024. Building owners in New York face fines if they do not reach that limit by 2024.

In Washington D.C., the performance standard revolves around energy efficiency improvement, with the 2021 standard set at the local median Energy Star Score by property type. If the building does not meet the standard, it enters a five-year compliance cycle in which the building must reduce its energy intensity by 20%. The D.C. standards will be recalculated every six years.

Facility managers at any location could check where their building would fall under Washington D.C.’s standards or New York’s carbon limits to gauge how well the building is performing, and how much improvement might be required. Making improvements better positions the building to meet future standards while saving money on energy spending.

Related Stories

| Aug 2, 2012

More than 250 downtown El Paso, Texas buildings don’t meet safety codes, says city’s fire department

A total of 726 buildings were inspected for unsafe conditions, and 266 did not meet safety codes, while 112 buildings were found to be vacant and needed further inspection.

| Jul 26, 2012

Wisconsin may establish stormwater storage requirement for green roofs

Green roofs and other green infrastructure would be required to capture stormwater under a draft state wastewater discharge permit from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District.

| Jul 26, 2012

SouthPark Mall in Charlotte reopens after heavy rains collapse part of its roof

Code enforcement officials in Charlotte, NC gave the okay for the SouthPark Mall to reopen after two parts of its roof collapsed following heavy rains last week.

| Jul 26, 2012

New NRCA photovoltaic roof systems guidelines released

The National Roofing Contractors Association’s update of its Guidelines for Roof Systems With Rooftop Photovoltaic Components is now available.

| Jul 26, 2012

DOE/ASHRAE design guide aims to cut energy use at hospitals, schools, retail stores

The Advanced Energy Design Guidelines from the Department of Energy and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers aims to provide ways for hospitals, schools, and large retail buildings to trim their energy consumption by 50%.

| Jul 19, 2012

Bayview Property Managers agrees to record $800,000 building code fine

A San Francisco property-management company has agreed to pay a record $800,000 civil fine for hundreds of building code violations at rental properties.

| Jul 19, 2012

Glass ‘biodome’ helps Parkview Green FangCaoDi project in Beijing achieve LEED Platinum

A glass envelope acting as a kind of biodome encapsulates four mixed-use towers at Parkview Green FangCaoDi, an 800,000 sf mixed-use development in Beijing. The glass structure helped the development to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

| Jul 19, 2012

UMass-Boston's Bevington: 'Financing alternatives crucial to energy-efficiency upgrades'

It’s conceivable that innovation in project finance can do for building efficiency in the coming century what 30-year mortgages did for home ownership in the last, this article asserts.  

| Jul 19, 2012

NYC eases building code to create ‘micro apartments’ in Kips Bay

New York City has implemented a program to encourage construction of "micro-apartments" in the Big Apple, where rents are exorbitant and the number of singles is on the rise.

| Jul 19, 2012

NRCA: Roofing insulation performance, local climate keys to computing R-value

To minimize the loss of thermal resistance in design, the R-value of roof insulation should be computed based on the actual performance of the insulation material and the local climate, says the National Roofing Contractors Association.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category

Sustainability

Grimshaw launches free online tool to help accelerate decarbonization of buildings

Minoro, an online platform to help accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, was recently launched by architecture firm Grimshaw, in collaboration with more than 20 supporting organizations including World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), RIBA, Architecture 2030, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and several national Green Building Councils from across the globe.




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021