ARTICLE VII. ENERGY BENCHMARKING
8-105 Purpose and authority.
(a) Purpose. It is in the public interest and in the interest of public health and safety to achieve a high degree of conservation of energy and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by requiring buildings to meet specified energy efficiency performance standards and maximum allowable heat loss standards.
(b) Authority. All provisions in this article relating to thermal energy systems are adopted pursuant to the authority and powers granted in accordance with Section 48(66) of the City Charter and its provisions on the regulation of thermal energy systems in residential and commercial buildings for the purpose of reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the city. The provisions in this article are further adopted pursuant to the authority and powers granted by the Vermont Legislature in 24 V.S.A. § 3101 (Chapter 83. Building Inspectors and Regulation of Building; Bylaws and ordinances; penalties), as reasonably necessary to improve the health, safety, and welfare of the public from fuel leaks and explosions, and from air pollution, including that which is causing climate change and thereby threatens the city and its inhabitants.
(Ord. of 12-16-24)
8-106 Definitions.
(a) Energy benchmarking shall mean the use of Energy Star Portfolio Manager, or an equivalent analytical tool or process if approved by the department of permitting and inspections (DPI), by which a building can measure and report accurately on its energy use for all space heating used on site.
(b) Covered building shall mean, for the purpose of the requirements outlined in Section 8-107, a commercial property that is metered or submetered for thermal loads and which has space-conditioned square footage of between ten thousand (10,000) square feet and forty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine (49,999) square feet, excluding residential properties and all properties subject to the requirements of Chapter 18, Article 3, Division 7.
(c) Building without direct metering shall mean, for the purpose of the requirements outlined in Section 8-107, a commercial property which has space-conditioned square footage of between ten thousand (10,000) square feet and forty-nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine (49,999) square feet, excluding residential properties and all properties subject to the requirements of Chapter 18, Article 3, Division 7, which is part of a campus of a major higher education or health care institution within the city’s institutional district as that term is defined in the comprehensive development ordinance, that includes multiple buildings, and which lacks metering or submetering of thermal energy loads. On a campus in which buildings are part of a centrally connected thermal system, only those buildings in that system that are not metered shall be considered a building that is not directly metered and those buildings with direct metering shall be subject to the requirements of this article.
(d) Space conditioning energy use shall mean the amount of British thermal units (BTU) per space-conditioned square foot a covered building uses to provide space heating over a one (1) year period.
(Ord. of 12-16-24)
8-107 Energy benchmarking requirements.
(a) Covered buildings requirements. All property owners of covered buildings shall, no earlier than the effective date of the ordinance codified in this article and no later than three (3) months thereafter, begin energy benchmarking of their property. Such energy benchmarking shall continue for no less than one (1) full year from the date the property started energy benchmarking, and the monthly and annual data shall be made available to DPI no later than May 15, 2026. Beginning January 1, 2027, this benchmarking and reporting requirement shall continue for each subsequent twelve (12) month (one (1) year) period until rescinded by amendment to this article. The data may inform future compliance obligations with a building emissions reduction ordinance (BERO) that the city is considering adopting. To the extent necessary to effectuate the energy benchmarking, individually metered tenant organizations or businesses in a covered building shall provide appropriate energy use data and information to the property owner, or in the alternative directly to DPI, for their space heating use.
(b) Buildings without direct metering. Buildings without direct metering are not subject to the energy benchmarking process, but may be required to conduct individual energy efficiency assessments with a building efficiency professional, submit those assessments to DPI, and make specific cost-effective efficiency improvements based on those assessments as part of compliance with a future BERO.
(c) Energy benchmarking compliance. DPI shall administer the energy benchmarking requirements, and noncompliance either due to failure to begin the process of energy benchmarking by the date provided or failure to provide data to DPI under subsection (a) of this section by a covered building is subject to a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500.00) per violation. Each day the violation continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense. DPI may grant a delay in the requirements of energy benchmarking under subsection (a) of this section by up to six (6) months if a covered building faces unique circumstances and an undue burden in seeking to comply.
(d) Covered buildings shall not be constructed after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this article that cannot measure the thermal usage of the building by metering or other effective alternative measure. Institutions with buildings without direct metering shall provide an inventory of those buildings to the department of permitting and inspections and the Burlington electric department within six (6) months of the effective date of the ordinance codified in this article, with such inventory to include the location of the building, the square footage of the building, the general usage(s) of the building, and a description of the centrally connected thermal system of which it is a part.
(Ord. of 12-16-24)
8-108 Reporting requirement.
The department of permitting and inspections shall maintain records on the data submitted by covered buildings to support future compliance with a building emission reduction ordinance if one is enacted.
(Ord. of 12-16-24)