On Monday, December 16, the City Council passed the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) in a near unanimous vote (23 Yea, and Councilor Micley absent). Two friendly amendments were approved: One by Councilor Gentile calls for the BERDO Administrator and Advisory Commission to meet with the Council 90 days before the BERDO regulations go into effect. The second, by Councilor Albright, requiring a 30-day public comment period on the regulations before they are finalized.
The BERDO ordinance now goes to the Mayor, and she has 10 days to approve or veto it. If she approves it or does nothing, BERDO becomes law in Newton. If she vetoes BERDO, the City Council could vote again on BERDO and override a veto with a two-thirds majority.
When asked about the passage of BERDO, Halina Brown, past chair of the Citizens Commission on Energy said: “The adoption by the City Council of BERDO is a major step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Newton. It also changes how we think about energy use in buildings. It is more than an unavoidable expense; rather, energy planning is now an integral part of building maintenance, like safe and pleasant working and living space or indoor air quality.”
Greg Reibman, president of the Charles River Chamber (CRRC) thanked the City staff, City Councilors and the Citizens Committee on Energy for listening to and working with CRRC members on shaping the final ordinance, adding, “We share the concerns about the harmful effect fossil fuels have on the planet but make no mistake these regulations will be costly, particularly for owners of older properties. It will raise rents and make Newton less competitive with neighboring communities that don’t have these regulations.”
BERDO will require owners of all non-residential buildings over 20,000 square feet to report greenhouse gas (GHS) emissions and reduce them to net zero by 2050. (See Fig City News articles: 11/25/2024, 11/4/2024, 5/28/2024, 6/11/2023). The list of commercial buildings under BERDO includes non-profits, such as churches, temples, schools, the JCC, and the YMCA. Residential buildings and Newton-Wellesley Hospital are exempt from BERDO.
According to the City’s Frequently Asked Questions sheet, BERDO covers direct emissions “from fuel burned on-site in a furnace, boiler, water heater, or other combustion-based equipment.” A building’s electrical use is not included “since Massachusetts has already implemented state-level policy to decarbonize the electricity sector.” The FAQ acknowledges that replacing a hot-water heating system with a forced-air heat pump can be difficult and expensive.
Building owners can apply for “a Hardship Compliance Plan if there are extraordinary characteristics or circumstances associated with the Building in complying with the Emissions standards in this ordinance. Such characteristics or circumstances may include historic Building designations, pre-existing long-term Energy contracts without reopeners, or extraordinary financial hardship.” There is no appeal process.
Building owners who cannot meet BERDO’s GHG emission requirements can make Alternative Compliance Payments (ACP) that are initially set at $234 per metric ton of CO2e. One Metric Ton CO2e is equivalent to driving a car 2,564 miles or the GHG sequestration of 1.2 acres of forest over a year. Using data from the City’s May 28, 2024, draft BERDO presentation (page 11), Fig City News calculates that the ACP for a 20,000 sq. ft. commercial building would be roughly $40,000 per year.
The City’s proposed BERDO timeline shows that owners of buildings over 100,000 sq ft must start reporting emissions in 2025 and meet GHG emission reduction levels in 2027. All other buildings would start reporting in 2026, with staggered start dates for emission reduction, based on size, beginning in 2029.
