By John Boling
President Joe Biden announced the launch of the “Buildings Performance Standards Coalition” during remarks at the US Conference of Mayors on January 21, 2022. The partnership includes 33 state and local governments that encompass 20% of the country’s building footprint and 22% of its population.
Maria Rachal, writing in SmartCities Dive, noted, “While action on new construction has been key for the building decarbonization movement, affecting change for existing buildings has been a harder challenge for cities to tackle. Building performance standards are an emerging policy tool that local governments can tailor.”
According to a White House fact-sheet accompanying the announcement, “New federal actions today, in tandem with close state and local coordination, will accelerate progress towards reducing buildings emissions at all levels of government….Federal investments and technical assistance builds capacity, expertise, and infrastructure to advance climate action and environmental justice aligned with local or state-levels needs and opportunities.”
As the coalition progresses toward crafting policies or model legislation that promote energy efficiency improvements in commercial buildings, IIBEC will monitor their activities, and, where possible, comment on their proposals, as well as advocate for certified consultants to be an integral part of the design process.
