Large cities like New York have laws set in place that require property owners to monitor energy and water usage. Boston has now joined the ranks of those cities by passing an ordinance that will require large commercial and residential building owners in the city to report their annual energy and water usage in the hopes that the law would make buildings more energy efficient and reduce the city’s buildings’ large greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, the real estate industry has argued that the costs outweigh the potential benefits of such a law because it would result in extra expenses for property owners. Some of the owners, they asserted, would have to hire an energy consultant to meet the requirements. The law in Boston will also use Energy Star ratings, which assess the energy efficiency of buildings from a 1 to 100, and stipulates that buildings with a rating below 75 will require energy audits every five years to improve energy efficiency. EarlyBird Power already conducts energy audits and tracks usage data to help improve our clients’ energy efficiency as part of our consulting and Energy Star analysis.
