Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance

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Key Documents

Power Point presented at the Sept. 23, 2024 Zoning and Planning Committee Meeting. Link here 

Newton BERDO Frequently Asked Questions, October 24, 2024 here

Read the draft ordinance language (May 2024). The Revised Ordinance addresses Non-Residential (Commercial)  Buildings only. To be discussed at the Zoning and Planning Committee of the City Council at their May 28, 2024 meeting (draft presentation slides).

Read the Mayor's letter (June 2022) to owners of large buildings in Newton regarding BERDO.

Read an update from the BERDO team (June 2023).

Read the explanation of which buildings are covered by BERDO and download the list of covered buildings (2024 data).

ENERGY STAR & Portfolio Manager Trainings

Click here for the full list of upcoming online trainings.

Some trainings that may be particularly relevant:

  • Portfolio Manager 101: Navigating Portfolio Manager, Adding a New Property, and Entering Use Details. April 2, 1 p.m.
  • Part 1: A Beginner's Guide to Using Portfolio Manager for Benchmarking Law Compliance. April 10, 2 p.m.
  • Portfolio Manager 201: Editing Property Details, Data Quality Checker, and Sharing Property Data. April 11, 1 p.m.

Discussion Sessions

The BERDO team is preparing future discussion sessions, which will be listed here.

The last two sessions, on Nov. 17 and Jan. 19, were conversations with National Grid and Eversource, who presented on their new energy efficiency and electrification retrofit programs for large commercial, small business, and multifamily customers. These new programs include significantly increased financial incentives for heat pumps and weatherization. Materials from these sessions:

You can view the recordings of previous sessions using the links below. These presentations provide an overview of BERDO and applicable timelines.

June 17, 2022June 23, 2022June 29, 2022July 28, 2022August 24, 2022September 29, 2022October 25, 2022

Informational slides for the first discussion sessions can be found here, updated slides here.

MassCEC Seeks Buildings For Decarbonization Pilot

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) recently announced its latest pilot program, aimed at helping to decarbonize a wide range of commercial facilities 20,000 square feet and larger (including municipal facilities, public schools and multi-family buildings with 15 or more units) across the Commonwealth: the Building Electrification and Transformation Accelerator (BETA): Commercial Buildings Pilot.

Aimed at helping buildings become 2050 ready, the pilot will support participants by creating decarbonization plans to eliminate on-site fossil fuel use over time, for the least cost. The work to support these individual projects will provide insights in the development of statewide resources for decarbonization, such as market specific guides and toolkits.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Check the criteria detailed in the Program Manual for participation requirements. Applications are available online.

For more information, please see this flyer about the pilot. Email questions to buildings@masscec.com.

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Background on BERDO

Just 400 large buildings account for 27% of Newton’s greenhouse gas emissions. In an effort to address growing concerns about these emissions, the City’s Climate and Sustainability Department and Citizens’ Commission on Energy have proposed creating a Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) for Newton. The importance of BERDO as compared to other proposals such as the State’s draft net zero stretch code is that BERDO addresses existing buildings in addition to new construction.

Boston adopted BERDO 1.0 in 2013, which required only energy and emissions reporting.  In 2021, Boston adopted BERDO 2.0, which requires that several categories of large buildings reduce their emissions gradually to net zero by 2050.  Cambridge has also adopted BERDO 1.0, and Cambridge, Lexington, and Watertown are all considering adopting both versions of BERDO.

The BERDO approach is a performance standard. This means that building owners choose their own compliance path and have flexibility regarding how they reach their compliance targets over a long planning horizon.

Newton is planning on adopting BERDO 1.0 and 2.0 at the same time, with a time lag between implementation of the two programs.  The goal of a Newton BERDO is for buildings to reach net zero by 2050. A BERDO sets declining emissions standards in five intervals between 2026 and 2050.  

The City of Newton will be conducting information sessions this spring to explain the proposed ordinance.

Background materials

climate action