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
| Oct 25, 2012
Nashville providing incentives for green roofs
The city of Nashville, Tenn., is promoting the installation of green roofs through a measure providing a $10 reduction in a property's sewer fees for every square foot of vegetative roof.
| Oct 25, 2012
Net Zero buildings will use operating systems like computers to save energy
As buildings become more efficient and begin to use distributed electricity generation, they will need to become “smarter,” using operating systems much as a computer does.
| Oct 18, 2012
Princeton, N.J. residents upset over proposal to exempt colleges from land use laws
Princeton, N.J. residents criticized proposed legislation that would exempt private colleges and universities from following local land use laws for construction projects.
| Oct 18, 2012
Utah contracting firm challenges state immigration law
Universal Contracting LLC of American Fork, Utah, has filed suit challenging the constitutionality of Utah’s 2011 immigration law.
| Oct 18, 2012
More than 65,000 construction, design jobs may be cut if sequestration takes place
About $2 billion worth of construction and design projects would be eliminated if scheduled federal budget cuts, referred to as sequestration, take effect on Jan. 2, 2013.
| Oct 18, 2012
OSHA investigating parking garage collapse that kills four at Doral, Fla. college
OSHA is investigating the collapse of a five-story concrete parking garage under construction at Miami Dade College West Campus in Doral, Fla. that killed four workers and injured several others.
| Oct 18, 2012
EPA commercial building lead paint rule pushed back to 2015
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's inclusion of commercial buildings in a residential lead paint rule is being delayed until 2015.
| Oct 18, 2012
Chicago pushing green roofs to reduce heat island effect
The city of Chicago has mandated that all new buildings that require any public funds must be LEED certified, usually with a green roof.
