Committee on the Environment

On January 21, 2022, at the annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors, President Biden announced the creation of a new partnership called the National Building Performance Standards Coalition. The 33 mayors, governors, and county executives who initially signed on to this coalition, a “nationwide group of state and local governments that have committed to inclusively design and implement building performance policies and programs”, have pledged to align their emissions reduction and equity goals with building upgrade and retrofit programs in order to “lead the effort to decarbonize America’s building sector.” Federal support to the National BPS Coalition will come in the form of technical assistance from the US Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.  

AIA COTE members know that – unlike building codes – building energy performance standards measure actual building energy use. The US cities, counties, and states that have already adopted mandatory building energy benchmarking and transparency policies for existing buildings are amassing data in an effort to manage on one of their largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. This nationwide coalition will allow state and municipal governments to share best practices and encourage other jurisdictions to join them. 

Which is where you come in. The AIA fully supports the work of National BPS Coalition. Their goals – to mitigate the effects of climate change and address systemic inequities through making our buildings more energy efficient – are solidly aligned with ours. COTE Advocacy urges every member of the COTE Knowledge Community to visit the Coalition’s new website  https://nationalbpscoalition.org/ click on the “Participants” tab and see if your city is listed. If they aren’t, get with your local AIA Chapter and pay your mayor a visit. It’s what citizen-architects do!