This toolkit from the EPA is meant to support jurisdictions seeking to decarbonize their building stock through policy. The toolkit includes four sections, each with their own focus: an overview of benchmarking and transparency, an overview of building performance standards (BPS), coordination of benchmarking and BPS for state and local governments, and data access. EPA staff encourages policymakers and other relevant players to get in touch for support - particularly concerning data access and Portfolio Manager use in BPS.
This landing page includes resources for developing benchmarking policies and building performance standards (BPS), including guidance for getting started and considering complementary policies, as well as technical assistance for benchmarking policies, utility data access, setting goals and evaluating impacts, and developing BPS frameworks, metrics, and targets.
This document describes EPA's recommendations for building performance standards (BPS) metrics to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it discusses normalization methods for these metrics, and outlines future resources EPA will produce to support BPS policy design and implementation.
This document is meant as an introductory brief for jurisdictions working on BPS to develop strategies, policies, and programs that address housing affordability and counteract displacement in that context. There is no one-size-fits all solution to addressing the myriad of issues related to housing affordability across jurisdictions, but this document seeks to describe the landscape of considerations and propose vetted paths forward.
This white paper provides a framework and supporting analysis to help policymakers and commercial and multifamily building stakeholders understand the key differences among performance metrics and choose those best suited to building performance standard policies. The paper also proposes a complementary zero-carbon building recognition.
Building Performance Standards (BPS) are a key policy mechanism to significantly and speedily reduce the energy use and emissions of existing buildings. BPS is primarily being implemented by cities and states, as a means to reach their climate goals. Policymakers in cities planning a BPS are grappling with a host policy design questions
The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) has prepared a framework for local governments, community and industry stakeholders interested in building performance standards that provides guidance on how to plan and coordinate the different policy components to achieve equitable outcomes. The USDN has also hosted a series of BPS webinars that are available on demand that provide background for local governments, community members, and industry professionals.
Overview of EPA’s ENERGY STAR certification for buildings and a description of the energy performance standards set by EPA.
Overview of the scorecard that offers a quick snapshot of a building’s energy performance, displaying either the building’s 1-100 ENERGY STAR score or site EUI.
This document provides jurisdictions with a new approach to shift their focus towards actual, measurable energy results and provides guidance for incorporating an outcome-based compliance path into current energy codes. The guide includes draft regulatory language as a framework around which jurisdictions can begin to align their energy goals through their building codes