Building Performance Standard Resource Library
The Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) has compiled publicly available resources on building performance standards (BPS) from local, state, and federal governments as well as nonprofit organizations leading the field. IMT will continue to add new resources as they become available. Explore IMT’s maps and policy comparisons for more details on BPS policies across the U.S. If you have a resource to suggest, please contact us.
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Policy implementation Policy parameters
This matrix compares the requirements of building performance standards in cities and states around the U.S.
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Outreach & engagement Equity Stakeholder engagement
A community accountability board (CAB) is a community-led government board that ensures equitable, transparent, and responsive policies serve frontline communities’ needs. They empower local voices and foster collaboration between community members and governments. This factsheet explains what it takes to start a CAB, why your community should start one, where they exist, and how to set one up.
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Policy development Policy implementation Outreach & engagement Equity
To avoid worsening social inequalities, building decarbonization policies must be designed with tenants—especially Black, brown, and low-income residents—at the center. This report, and accompanying fact sheet, include case studies on tenant protections in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. It also outlines policy recommendations on affordability, eviction prevention, habitability during retrofits, and enforcement.
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Policy development Impacts Equity
IMT, NRDC, and Elevate convened Chicago and Los Angeles community-based organizations and national healthy building nonprofits to solicit community priorities related to health in building decarbonization. The report examines policy solutions to increase impacts of a BPS as it relates to health outcomes, address unintended consequences related to health and affordability, and evaluate companion policies.
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Policy development Policy compliance Alternative compliance
Report provides a landscape assessment of existing BPS alternative compliance pathways offered across the nation using a common taxonomy, and identifies key challenges. To support future efforts to standardize and simplify the ACPs, the report then reviewed existing standards and decarbonization planning frameworks that point in a common direction. Appendices detail ACPs available across 10 jurisdictions.
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Policy compliance Equity Policy parameters
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) fact sheet for o affordable and market-rate housing providers and their on-site staff; provides a summary of building performance standards around the country, identifies commonalities between policies, and lists steps for affordable housing providers
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Policy compliance Equity Policy parameters
Guide to assist those working in or supporting the multifamily sector, including but not limited to affordable and market-rate housing providers and their on-site staff with detailed information on who is required to comply with building performance standards, the metrics that building performance standards use to drive outcomes, benchmarking requirements, data verification requirements, and fines and penalties.
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Coordination with other policies & programs Codes coordination
This brief provides case studies and recommendations to help states and cities improve coordination between energy codes for new construction and building performance standards (BPS) requiring upgrades in existing buildings.
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Policy development Policy parameters
The fact sheet includes a definition of BPS, and an overview of the key elements of the policy.
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Policy development Policy implementation Policy adoption Outreach & engagement Equity Stakeholder engagement
The toolkit explores the concept of a CAB , exploring the foundational aspects, potential challenges, and strategic considerations in establishing and operating CABs.
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Policy implementation Policy compliance Alternative compliance Costs Impacts Incentives & finance Policy parameters
This paper provides a survey of BPS compliance progress in the U.S. It focuses on five jurisdictions–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. We then examine key implementation challenges and potential solutions.
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Policy development Coordination with other policies & programs Codes coordination
This paper provides an overview for non-lawyers of EPCA statutory preemption and existing caselaw interpreting EPCA preemption of building codes. It discusses available legal options for local jurisdictions to electrify building codes. and addresses legal questions related to other building decarbonization options, such as building performance standards, regulation of emissions, and limitations on gas infrastructure.
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Policy development Policy implementation Coordination with other policies & programs Equity
This paper provides an overview of the risks decarbonization policies pose to tenants and proposes model policy elements to minimize them. Our analysis is based on a review of existing decarbonization programs and proposed tenant protections, a case study of New York City’s tenant protections and how they interact with similar types of retrofits, and interviews with tenant organizers and advocates.
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Policy development Policy parameters Target setting
A code-ready building performance standard that provides processes and procedures for reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions through improved energy efficiency and performance of all types of existing buildings, including residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial.
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Policy development Policy implementation Outreach & engagement Alternative compliance Incentives & finance Equity Stakeholder engagement Supportive programs
A report that identifies strategies that local governments, community-based organizations, energy utilities, and other stakeholders can use to support affordable housing properties and their residents during design and implementation of BPS policies.
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Policy implementation Software & tools Implementation needs
The Unique Building Identifier (UBID) is a natural key for buildings based on geospatial coordinates. Jurisdictions including Miami-Dade County, the District of Columbia, the City of Portland, Maine, and the City of South Portland, Maine, have used UBIDs to unlock their data’s potential and streamline program implementations.
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Policy implementation Software & tools Benchmarking Implementation needs
Portfolio Manager is an interactive resource management tool that enables you to benchmark the energy use of any type of building, all in a secure online environment. Nearly 25% of U.S. commercial building space is already actively benchmarking in Portfolio Manager, making it the industry-leading benchmarking tool. It also serves as the national benchmarking tool in Canada.
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Policy implementation Software & tools
The Building Efficiency Targeting Tool for Energy Retrofits (BETTER) identifies cost-saving energy and emissions reductions in buildings and portfolios, without site visits or complex modeling. Use it to identify immediate cost-saving operational and technological improvements and target buildings and systems for more in-depth audits and analysis.
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Policy implementation Software & tools
Asset Score is a “miles-per-gallon” rating for buildings. Use it to quickly assess a building’s efficiency and see the best upgrades for reaching performance goals.
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Policy implementation Policy compliance Software & tools Implementation needs
Tool to help simplify/standardize collection and management of audit data
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Policy development Software & tools Target setting
ComStock and ResStock are building stock-level diagnostic tools. States, municipalities, utilities and manufacturers can use them to identify high-impact improvements and make better program decisions.
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Policy development Target setting
The U.S. Department of Energy has developed a series of reports that provide commercial and multifamily building characteristic and energy data for 88 local geographies, with the intention of helping policymakers at the city, county and state levels better understand commercial building energy use.
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Policy development Policy implementation Policy adoption Software & tools Building list & stock analysis Policy parameters Target setting
This document is intended to serve as a resource for states, cities, and other jurisdictions who are considering adopting a building performance standard (BPS) and want to better understand what is feasible within the context of their jurisdiction. It provides information on key considerations for developing a BPS.
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Policy implementation Software & tools Building list & stock analysis Benchmarking
This guide provides an overview of the Department of Energy’s Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) Platform™. SEED provides a low-cost, user-friendly tool for jurisdictions to launch and manage energy benchmarking and building performance standard programs. While some jurisdictions use SEED to manage their BPS end to end, others integrate additional software solutions to organize data and communicate with stakeholders.
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Coordination with other policies & programs Incentives & finance
DOE EERE Website listing example funding streams to help with a variety of tasks related to BPS, from technical assistance to building upgrades themselves.
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Policy development Policy implementation Coordination with other policies & programs Alternative compliance Software & tools Codes coordination Policy parameters Target setting
This technical brief presents recommendations for changes that may be incorporated into energy codes to facilitate future compliance with the building performance standard (BPS) policies that a newly constructed building has to meet once it is occupied. It provides background on the basis and benefits of the proposed changes and model code language that can be inserted into ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or adapted into other energy codes.
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Policy development Policy implementation Target setting
This report examines the methods used to determine EUI targets for Oregon’s BPS
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Coordination with other policies & programs Utility support
The paper describes current utility code programs and how attribution is counted; and then highlights how those programs could be expanded to support BPS.
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Policy development Impacts
This documents research in Seattle that studied how electrification through BPS impacts the electrical grid. The authors modeled outcomes of several efficiency and decarbonization measures to benchmarking data to understand impacts to electric infrastructure and emissions.
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Policy development Outreach & engagement Building list & stock analysis Stakeholder engagement
The team collaborated with a local business to develop methods for co-creating BPS policy decisions. This included equity prioritization strategies focused on building condition, tenant industries, and community significance. It includes lessons learned from a pilot project in Aurora, CO.
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