The Benefits of Building Performance Standards on Buildings

As more jurisdictions take the pathway to net-zero emissions, Building Performance Standards, or BPS policies, are becoming ever-more relevant. BPS policies, which set increasingly stringent energy efficiency or emissions targets for large buildings over time, encourage building owners to think strategically about planned building upgrades.?

Reducing emissions from buildings can hold significant human health and comfort impacts. Building upgrades like electrification have been linked with lower rates of respiratory illness, while indoor air pollutants from fossil fuels can have long-term health impacts. Reducing indoor moisture and temperature swings within a building can have significant impacts on both comfort and health.?

Buildings complying with BPS policies will remove, on average, the emissions equivalent of? 223 gas-powered passenger vehicles from the road- every single year, leaving a positive impact on the health of its occupants and the environment.?

A report authored by ClearlyEnergy and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) shows a tremendous potential for buildings to decrease their emissions by complying with BPS policies. Buildings can avoid over 1,000 MT of CO2e emissions annually by performing building upgrades to comply with local policies. With fifteen large cities and states across the country implementing BPS programs, the potential for emissions reductions is significant.?

The world of BPS made headlines recently with the cities of Cambridge MA and Seattle WA and the State of Oregon becoming the most recent adopters of the policy. More jurisdictions are expected to follow their lead as technical and software support makes BPS policies achievable regardless of the size of the city or the bandwidth of its administrators.?

Authored by: Sydney Abraham