Our Building Stock is Here to Stay: What Now?

By: 2022 DC Fellow JoAnna Saunders

Here in the District of Columbia, buildings are responsible for a whopping 72% of the city’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Other major cities across the US also report buildings as the biggest driver of emissions, begging the question, how do we decarbonize our building stock and move the needle towards carbon neutrality? The answer may not be nearly as captivating as cutting-edge renewable technology, reimagined urban landscapes, or bioengineered trees that capture more carbon, the answer is simple and maybe even boring: prioritize energy efficiency with building performance standards.

As a full-time employee of the District’s Department of Energy and Environment, and casual educator of District policy to friends and family, it can sometimes be hard to draw the connection between buildings and emissions. You don’t see smokestacks on top of buildings belching out dirty exhaust, you don’t pull a building up to the gas station and pump it full of diesel, and yet buildings across the country are consistently contributing to over 2,000 million metric tons of carbon every year. These emissions are coming from the fuel combusted to heat, cool, light, and generally operate buildings so they are safe and comfortable for their occupants. With this in mind, it may be enticing to say that an eventual full clean energy transition voids this problem, which is not incorrect, however deep decarbonization principles reflect the need for a multi-step approach that starts with energy demand reduction and then fuel switching and decarbonizing the electric grid. Not to mention, we are unfortunately still years away from completely leaving fossil fuels behind, meaning we need to maximize opportunities for GHG reductions within our current energy landscape.

Our building stock is mostly here to stay, so razing and simply starting over with net-zero buildings is not a viable option. This means we have to work with existing buildings, along with our existing fuel mix, to meet increasingly aggressive GHG emissions reduction goals. There are a number of existing programs aimed at increasing the efficiency of buildings, such as the US DOE’s Weatherization Assistance Program, but if Washington, DC’s emissions breakdown shows us anything it’s that in major cities large commercial and multifamily buildings are driving the bulk of emissions and energy use. And maybe there are good actors who have taken it upon themselves to achieve ENERGY STAR Certification or taken advantage of local energy efficiency incentive programs, such as those offered by the DC Sustainable Energy Utility, but addressing the climate crisis cannot hinge on goodwill and voluntary action.

In addition to the clear climate benefits of building performance standards, improving our existing building stock means giving everyone the opportunity to live, work, and play in safe and efficient buildings. Here in Washington, DC there are fancy new high-performance buildings popping up constantly and often in areas that historically have been predominantly Black; yet these luxury apartment and office buildings are often inaccessible to anyone who isn’t wealthy and white. Building performance standards would require all buildings to achieve set levels of efficiency, which in turn improves living and working conditions for all residents, not just those with the privilege to opt in.

Taking steps to decarbonize our buildings requires policy that mandates buildings to become more efficient and building performance standards is the first step. The District of Columbia became the first jurisdiction in the country to pass a building performance standard in early 2019 with the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Amendment Act, which requires buildings to achieve a minimum level of energy performance or be placed on a 5-year compliance cycle during which they must demonstrate at least a 20% reduction in energy use (or equivalent measure). Other jurisdictions, including New York City, St. Louis, and Washington State, just to name a few, have followed suit passing their own building performance standards in the last 3 years. This shows a definite shift in prioritizing energy demand reduction policy as a critical piece of the path to carbon neutrality puzzle, however, it is nowhere near ubiquitous. We have known for years that in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change, we must stay below 1.5°C (2.7°F) of warming, which necessitates reaching net zero carbon by 2050 (IPCC). That won’t happen with building efficiency alone, but it won’t happen without it.