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San Francisco: Building Efficiency Policy

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Resource Type:
Report
Author(s): 
Rodney Sobin
Author(s): 
Nicole Steele
energy efficiency San Francisco

Return to Main City Efficiency Policy Page

Did you know?

  • Buildings account for 45% of San Francisco’s GHG Emissions.
  • 63% of those GHG emissions come from commercial, municipal, and industrial buildings.
  • San Francisco is currently on track to achieve GHG reduction goal of 20% below 1990 levels by 2012.

In 2009, the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, created an Existing Buildings Task Force to make recommendations on how to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the city’s existing real estate. Although San Francisco already had a legacy of saving money through energy efficiency retrofits, the city wanted to further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, save money, create new construction jobs to strengthen the city’s economy and make the city’s real estate market more competitive.

The main result of the Task Force was the Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, which was passed unanimously by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and signed by Mayor Ed Lee in February 2011. Through the implementation of this ordinance, in addition to previous efficiency initiatives and assistance provided by the city, San Francisco is on track to reduce its energy consumption and GHG emissions by 20% by 2012 as compared to 1990 figures.

 

San Francisco Ordinances

Benchmarking: Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance

This ordinance augments the existing statewide California Assembly Bill 1103, passed in 2007, which required benchmarking and disclosure of non-residential buildings at the time of a financial transaction. San Francisco sought to complement this bill by requiring existing commercial buildings larger than 10,000 sq. ft. to perform following three activities:

  • Actionable Plan: Each building covered by the ordinance is required to obtain a comprehensive energy audit every five years which results in a list of efficiency action items building owners can, but are not required to, implement.
  • Benchmark: All affected buildings are required to track their energy consumption using EPA’s Energy Start Portfolio Manager which will benchmark a building’s energy use in comparison to other similar buildings across the country.
  • Transparency: Once buildings have been benchmarked, an annual report must be filed with the City’s Department of Environment and made available to building tenants that details any energy management improvements or actions that have been taken.

Lighting: Commercial Lighting Ordinance

Through these three steps, San Francisco is encouraging building owners and managers to take action to reduce their buildings’ energy consumption either on their own or by taking advantage of other city-wide programs listed below. The City also offers technical assistance through a webinar series and in collaboration with PG&E.

Lighting in San Francisco’s commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of the total electricity consumed. The city council passed the Commercial Lighting Ordinance to ensure that commercial buildings are energy efficient and save money on utility bills. By December 31, 2011, all commercial buildings using 4-ft.or 8-ft. linear fluorescent lamps and ballast systems were required to convert to lamps and ballasts that emit 81 lumens per watt of electricity used. All new commercial buildings are required to follow this ordinance as well. With rebates almost always available for lighting retrofits - this replacement normally has a 12-month payback period resulting in additional savings after just one year.

San Francisco Programs

Audits and Retrofits: San Francisco Energy Watch

Since 2007, Energy Watch has:[i]

  • Served over 900 businesses and multi-family residences per year.
  • Saved each customer an average of $4,500 per year on their energy bills.
  • Created or sustains 175 Bay Area “Green Collar Jobs.”
  • Reduced San Francisco’s electricity demand by 11 Megawatts per year, equal to enough electricity to power over 11,000 San Francisco homes annually.

The San Francisco Energy Watch program was launched in 2007 in collaboration between Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and San Francisco’s Department of the Environment (SF Environment). It provides free energy assessments, or audits, to businesses and residents. The program also offers rebates and incentives to carry out retrofit recommendations and expert installation services for the retrofits and equipment. It is only available to PG&E customers, which covers a majority of San Francisco’s residents and has seen an enormous success rate:70% of the businesses that receive audits take action and conduct a retrofit. Energy Watch’s impressive track record has led policy makers to be optimistic that businesses will carry out their actionable plans, which are required under the Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance.

Energy Aligned Leases

The Business Council on Climate Change, in conjunction with SF Environment, released a “Green Tenant Toolkit,” aimed at helping landlords and tenants reach their sustainability goals. Like the Existing Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance, this toolkit is based on the recommendations given by the Mayor’s Task Force on Existing Buildings. It is a resource for tenants and landlords to develop “green leases” focused on solving “split incentive” problems. The lease language can include stipulations to split the costs incurred and savings obtained from energy efficiency retrofits between tenants and landlords.

Additional Resources:

[i]http://www.sfenergywatch.org/energy.html

Policy Interns Ali Levine and Jen Richmond contributed to this report.

Return to Main City Efficiency Policy Page