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ARTICLE · 20 MAY 2013

Boston Joins The Building Disclosure Bandwagon: Ordinance Will Require Reporting In 2014

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The Boston City Council has recently approved an ordinance requiring building owners to report annual energy and water use.

United StatesEnvironment
Seth Jaffe
Seth Jaffe
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On May 8, the Boston City Council approved an ordinance requiring building owners to report annual energy and water use.  The final ordinance is slightly different from the one about which we posted in February.  Highlights include the following:

  • Building owners subject to the ordinance will have to report on May 15 of each year:

The previous calendar year's energy and water use of each building and other building characteristics necessary to evaluate absolute and relative energy use intensity.

  • Non-residential buildings of at least 50,000 square feet would be required to report beginning in 2014.  Non-residential buildings of at least 35,000 square feet would be required to report beginning in 2016.  (The threshold was increased from 25,000 square feet in the draft.)

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