Sierra Club Opposes Further Delay of Building Energy Standards in DC

Dear Director Wells:

Thank you for your leadership on environment and clean energy issues, including building energy efficiency. As you know, the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act (“CEDC Act”) plays a significant role in helping the District progress towards meeting its climate commitments including cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2032 and carbon neutrality by 2050. DC’s greenhouse gas emissions are dominated by the buildings sector (73%), and a large proportion of the emissions savings from this sector is expected to come from the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) program established in Title III of the CEDC Act. From 2021, BEPS will require buildings over 50,000 sq. ft. to meet certain energy efficiency performance levels, or otherwise make significant improvements. Standards for smaller buildings will follow.

The Sierra Club appreciates that Mayor Bowser has assembled a qualified and diverse set of individuals to form the BEPS Task Force responsible for planning the implementation of the program. The team appears committed to ensuring that the structure, scope and implementation of BEPS enable a smooth transition and create incentives for compliance. Sierra Club also applauds the Task Force’s efforts to develop an equitable program that does not place undue burden on the owners or occupants of affordable housing.

The diligence of the BEPS Task Force notwithstanding, we would like to express some unease at actions that will undermine the urgency with which the program addresses climate change. According to the CEDC Act, buildings over 50,000 sq. ft. were originally to complete their first compliance cycle by January 1, 2026, yet we have heard that DOEE has agreed to extend this cycle until 2027. The Sierra Club understands that the move is designed to give building owners time to adjust to impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we believe that a compliance cycle of five years would have been sufficient time to recover from the pandemic and implement the necessary measures to improve energy use intensity. Moreover, delaying the compliance deadline will delay investment in buildings in the District, which would create local jobs and accelerate economic recovery.

This unease is compounded by the fact that DOEE has also pushed back the starting dates for the compliance cycles for smaller buildings. Changes to the original legislation now mean that the BEPS for buildings greater than 25,000 sq. ft. will begin in 2027 (as opposed to 2023), and buildings greater than 10,000 sq. ft. have no requirements until 2033 (as opposed to 2027). While we accept that the largest buildings still begin their cycles in 2021 and are projected to yield most of the BEPS program’s emission reductions, we regard any depression of DC’s climate ambition with a degree of disappointment.

These delays will result in avoidable greenhouse gas emissions. The costs of delay are clear, the benefits to DC residents or establishments are less so. Therefore, Sierra Club requests that DOEE refrain from introducing any additional delays to the compliance cycles for the BEPS Program.

Sierra Club commends DOEE’s drive to develop and administer the nation’s first building performance standard, an initiative that will surely stimulate policy and technological innovation nationwide. We value the opportunity to cooperate with DOEE and Mayor Bowser to secure DC’s path towards a sustainable system of energy consumption.

Sincerely,

Chimdi Obienu
Energy Committee, Sierra Club, Washington DC Chapter

Lara Levison
Energy Committee Chair, Sierra Club, Washington DC Chapter

Aykut Yilmaz
Executive Committee, Washington DC Chapter

CC:

Councilmember Mary Cheh, Chair, DC Council Committee on Transportation and the
Environment
Councilmember Charles Allen
Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie
Councilmember Brandon T. Todd
Councilmember Brooke Pinto