Lessons from the Ground: Implementing Building Performance Standards

Building Performance Standards (BPS) have now been adopted in more than a dozen jurisdictions in the U.S., with policy commitments from many more. With implementation now in full swing, the next critical questions are how are these policies working, and how can we make them work better?

 

This paper provides a survey of BPS compliance progress in the U.S., focusing on the five jurisdictions furthest along in their initial implementation cycle–New York City, St. Louis, Denver, Boston, and Washington, DC. Using results from a survey of service providers and consulting engineers, interviews with city staff, and independent quantitative analysis, we paint a picture of how the programs are faring on the ground. We see that the percentage of buildings on track to meet the first BPS targets ranges from 30-80%, depending on location, and no more than a quarter of buildings are on track to meet 2030 targets anywhere. We then take a deeper dive into key implementation challenges and demonstrate varied ways these can be overcome, focusing on the development of alternative compliance plan strategies, from prescriptive approaches to customized action plans to target adjustments. We find that the costs of BPS compliance are in line with the social cost of carbon, with non-compliance often higher—but that this alone may not be sufficient to motivate unplanned work. In this context, we review the critical role of utility efficiency programs in BPS implementation, and consider how the next phase of BPS policies can accelerate an equitable, low-carbon future.

 

 

Related Resource: Building Performance Standards
While all building performance standards share similar central components in how they are designed and implemented, for maximum impact and benefit, they should be customized for each jurisdiction and its community. To do this, IMT offers several comprehensive BPS design and implementation tools. Learn more at www.imt.org/bps.