Policy Brief: Boston

In 2010, the Boston Climate Action Leadership Committee, a multi-sector task force, recommended policy action on the buildings sector to Mayor Tom Menino. Shortly thereafter, the mayor luanched the Boston Climate Action Plan, an ambitious blueprint for agressively reducing the city's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As a corollary to this climate plan, the Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance was filed with the Boston City Council on Febrary 22, 2013. 

The ordinance aimed to publicize the energy and water performance of Boston's buildings, and oblige the poor performers to unertake measures that could help lead to increased efficiency of utility usage. In order to lead by example, the city benchmarked its building stock with Energy Star Portfolio Manager, and publicly disclosed the results in the summer of 2013.

Key Provisions

The ordinance requires that buildings report energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and water use to the city using Portfolio Manager (or an equivalent tool, as approved by the Air Pollution Control Commission). This applies to non-residential buildings 35,000 square feet or larger and residential buildings with 35 or more units. The requirement is planned to be phased in over five years, between 2013 to 2017, with the first disclosure estimated in May of 2015.

The compliance schedule has not been defined yet.

Buildings registering poor energy, emissions, and water performance--and not demonstrating improvement--will be required to undertake energy assessments or audits every five years. However, owners are not required to act on the results of an audit.

Fines ranging from $75 to $00 per day may be levied for failure to comply with energy and water use reporting. do not face any fines. The maximum annual fine is $3,000. Non-residential tenants may be fined up to $35 at a time for failing to supply building owners with their energy data. Residential tenants will not be fined.

Document Library:

See our full list of Boston-related documents

Informational Resources:

Signed Ordinance (06/08/2013)

Building Energy Reporting & Disclosure Fact Sheet (06/2013)

Building Energy Reporting & Disclosure Executive Summary (02/2013)

Compliance Resources: