History
In 2012, Philadelphia joined in with sustainability-focused municipalities across the country and created The Energy Benchmarking and Disclosure Law (Philadelphia Code, Section 9-3402). Since 2012, 27 cities, one county, and three states have established energy benchmarking and transparency requirements covering public, commercial, industrial, and multifamily buildings.
As part of the program, Philadelphia mandated the use of the EPA’s Energy Star and Portfolio Manager to assist with calculating building energy use. As of last year, 320 million s/f of building space conducts mandatory Energy Benchmarking, representing 20% of the city’s total s/f of building space.
Where Are We Now?
Philadelphia’s Municipal Energy Master Plan has a goal of cutting the city’s carbon footprint from municipal buildings by 50% and procuring 100% clean energy by 2030. Mayor Jim Kenney’s goal is to cut carbon pollution citywide by 80% by 2050 and move toward using 100% clean energy.
The next step in the city’s ambitious energy conservation program, announced in November 2019 (Bill #190600), is the Building Energy Performance Program. The Building Energy Performance Program mandates that all non-residential buildings, 50,000 s/f and larger, must submit a certification of high energy performance to the Philadelphia Office of Sustainability, or conduct a building energy “tune-up” to increase the energy performance of the building. The policy is now officially in effect, with compliance deadlines beginning September 2021. EEP was a proud member of the Office of Sustainability’s “work group” that helped develop the policy guidelines. We added our technical expertise, along with our focus on building owner interests and concerns, to create regulations that are achievable.