What's Happening in 2025

In January 2025, City staff returned to City Council to request feedback on the proposed BPS policy. They discussed climate goals alignment and policy ‘levers’ that could alter both economic and environmental impact.

Councilmembers asked for more information on specific buildings’ likely experiences and showed support for a six-month pilot effort of the initial compliance process. The pilot would include:

Robust technical support including onsite assessment, energy advising, and a report outlining pathways to BPS compliance
Contractor bids to understand today’s cost of potential upgrades
Candid feedback from participants to illuminate the process including benefits and challenges

Considering staff resources and the timeline, staff committed to:

Developing criteria and methods for up to five buildings of varying types and energy use to participate in the voluntary pilot
Conducting onsite analysis of opportunities to reduce energy use in alignment with proposed targets and incorporating building owner insights
Conducting a journey map exercise to gain understanding of customer pain points to refine the implementation process, should the policy be adopted

Staff anticipate the small sample size is unlikely to represent average findings, but it will outline potential compliance pathways for individual buildings, providing insights for continued policy development.

Given the policy's environmental impacts, councilmembers expressed interest in receiving the pilot findings and considering policy adoption during this council period. Council requested staff return in six months. Read the council materials here.

Since the council meeting, the City contracted with a technical support consultant and is working in partnership with local buildings to complete the advanced technical support.

On October 28, Staff returned to the fourth Council Work Session discussing BPS. Council showed support to move to a first read, and to do so in the near future (scheduled for December 2).

Councilmembers asked for some changes to the proposed policy. In response to feedback, Staff plan to implement the following changes:

Remove multifamily buildings from BPS policy requirements
Remove buildings under 10,000 square feet from BPS policy requirements
Remove new construction built to the 2024 IECC code or subsequent codes from BPS policy requirements
Move the deadlines: Final will be 2035, interim will be 2031

Read the council materials here.