Biden-Harris Administration announces the first Federal Building Performance Standard.
This week, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the first federal building standards designed to reduce energy use while electrifying equipment and appliances in 30% of the building space owned by the Federal government by 2030. This announcement was partnered by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announcing a proposal to electrify new Federal buildings and Federal buildings undergoing major renovations. Last and certainly not least, to further drive home the cause, the State of California announced that it will be joining President Biden’s National Building Performance Standard Coalition that has committed to reducing the emissions of existing buildings. These three changes represent massive progress for the U.S. and will certainly have a ripple effect across the US.
The Federal Building Performance Standard Coalition aims to cut pollution, lower energy cost, through energy efficiency measures and electrification. According to the fact sheet from the White House, buildings contribute to more than 25% of the Federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions and overall, residential and commercial buildings represent 35% of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States.
Let’s break down the proposed rules:
The Federal Building Performance Standard will require agencies to take the appropriate steps to achieve net zero scope 1 emissions in 30% of their buildings by 2030. In order to reach this ambitious goal, agencies will be buying American-made products such as heat pumps, electric water heaters, and other energy efficiency and building system technologies supported by the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Department of Energy will also add on their new proposal, Clean Energy for New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations of Federal Buildings. This rule will set emissions reduction targets and will require equipment and appliance electrification in new Federal buildings as well as Federal buildings undertaking major renovations. This new rule is projected to save $8 million per year in building costs.
Lastly, with The State of California announcing that it has joined the National Building Performance Standard Coalition along with the two above proposals, one quarter of all commercial, Federal, and multifamily buildings in the United States are now either covered by or moving toward sustainable building performance standard policies.
With the President making big moves, we already seeing a ripple effect. Federal agencies across the board are advancing net-zero goals across new building construction, major modernizations, and existing building retrofits.
Sources:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/07/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-first-ever-federal-building-performance-standard-catalyzes-american-innovation-to-lower-energy-costs-save-taxpayer-dollars-and-cut-emissions/
https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-steps-electrify-and-cut-emissions-federal-buildings
https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2022/12/new-federal-buildings-performance-standard-means-reduced-emissions-and
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2022/12/07/federal-building-standrads-cut-emissions/7381670441718/
