A new report by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources is hoping to create an inventory of large buildings and their energy sources to assess how the Ocean State can lower emissions.
The report, titled the “Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council Report on Building Energy Benchmarking and Performance Standards,” was released on Feb. 10. When creating the report, the OER consulted over 13 government agencies, labs and utilities organizations, among other groups.
The report’s creation was requested by the Rhode Island House of Representatives last year in an effort to meet the emission reduction goals listed in the state’s 2021 Act On Climate, which calls for net-zero emissions by 2050.
The OER estimated that buildings over 25,000 square feet account for approximately 20% of emissions in the building sector and around 10% of all Rhode Island emissions, the report reads.
To begin emission reduction initiatives, the document outlines an action plan to create benchmarks first for state-owned and -occupied buildings, then for privately owned ones. Benchmarking refers to the process of measuring, tracking and reporting the energy usage of buildings to assess efficiency.
“If we do not know how much energy our large buildings are using and how many greenhouse gases they’re emitting, we cannot reduce them,” said Tina Munter, the Rhode Island policy advocate for the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. “Benchmarking is a really, really critical first step.”
“We cannot get to our Act On Climate goals without” benchmarking, said Representative Rebecca Kislak ’94 (D-Providence) in an interview with The Herald. “We need that specificity so that each building owner can make a plan to decrease the carbon use.”
Samara Pinto, spokesperson for the city of Providence, said the city’s climate agenda aligns with the report’s focus on emissions reduction. The city hopes to achieve carbon neutrality for municipal buildings by 2040.
Currently, the city aims to limit emissions by “requiring large buildings to track and report energy use,” Pinto said. “Providence is committed to strengthening building performance standards,” while focusing on sustainable building practices and investment in clean energy, she added.
Joseph Shekarchi (D-Warwick), speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, feels “encouraged” by the report’s recommendations for benchmarking and performance standards in state buildings, but he worries that implementation will be difficult.
Shekarchi explained that Rhode Island’s climate action strategy has been previously funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, but recent federal actions have sparked uncertainty surrounding the funding of environmental initiatives.
Kislak and Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director at Acadia Center, shared similar concerns. But both affirmed that despite financial uncertainty, progress is still possible.
“I fully anticipate that whatever plan we make will take into account available funding sources,” Kislak said.
“I don’t think (financial uncertainty) should, in any way, impact our commitment to tracking our own energy usage and reducing building emissions in the state,” Koo added.