Making the Grade: 7 Cities Requiring Green Building Report Cards

By Vicki Zambito

Not all green buildings are created equal. Some are inevitably more energy efficient than others. So how do you know which is which? There’s a growing trend across the country to make data reporting on energy efficiency in buildings the law. Below are 7 cities leading the charge:

1. New York City's Greener, Greater Buildings Plan requires annual ENERGY STAR benchmarking and public disclosure for large commercial and multifamily buildings. Ratings must be reported to the city in the spring of 2011 and disclosure begins in 2012. All municipal buildings were benchmarked in 2010.

2. The District of Columbia requires annual ENERGY STAR benchmarking and public web site disclosure for large commercial and multifamily buildings. New buildings must obtain and disclose ENERGY STAR ratings based on energy modeling. The policies phase-in over a period of four years. Ratings must be reported to the District for some buildings beginning in the spring of 2011 and disclosure begins in 2012. ENERGY STAR ratings for municipal buildings were disclosed in 2010.

3. Austin requires commercial buildings to obtain ENERGY STAR ratings by mid-2011 and disclose ratings to prospective buyers. It also requires audits of single-family homes prior to a sale and audits of large multifamily buildings by mid-2011. Home audit results must be disclosed to prospective buyers, and multifamily audit results must be posted within the building and may trigger mandatory upgrades. All three policies are part of Austin's Energy Conservation and Audit Disclosure Ordinance (ECAD).

4. Santa Fe requires newly constructed single-family homes to display HERS ratings to prospective home buyers.

5. San Francisco requires annual ENERGY STAR benchmarking and public disclosure, as well as periodic energy audits, for commercial buildings. The requirements supplement a statewide rating and disclosure law passed in 2007.

6. Portland has informally proposed policy to ENERGY STAR benchmark its commercial buildings and disclose ratings.

7. Seattle requires commercial and multifamily buildings to annually ENERGY STAR benchmark and report ratings to the city. The law phases-in over two years beginning in 2011. The requirements supplement a statewide rating and disclosure law passed in 2009. Seattle is also piloting a home rating program.

To learn more about energy reporting and disclosure across the country and the world, check out this interactive map from BuildingRating.org: http://www.buildingrating.org/ammap