Building Emissions Public Forum


8/30/2022 • 2 years ago

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The City of Cambridge is considering a new regulation that would require large buildings to reduce their emissions over time. City officials will host a virtual public forum on Thursday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the proposed changes and answer questions from the public. 

80% of greenhouse gas emissions in Cambridge come from buildings. In 2014, the City Council passed the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO), which requires large buildings (50+ units for residential or over 25,000 square feet for commercial) to report their energy use to the City. The City Council has proposed an amendment to BEUDO that would require those buildings to reduce their carbon emissions over time. It would also require all new buildings to be Net Zero starting in 2025.

“Lowering emissions from large buildings is a critical step toward meeting our Net Zero goals,” said Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui. “We need to work together to meet these goals and this forum is an opportunity for community members to better understand the BEUDO amendments currently under discussion."

Councilors Patricia Nolan and Quinton Zondervan will join Mayor Siddiqui and staff from the Community Development Department to present at the forum. There will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions. 

“Reducing building emissions in Cambridge is the single most powerful thing we can do as a city to fight climate change,” said Assistant City Manager for Community Development, Iram Farooq. “We’ll be talking through some background about the Ordinance, and the potential impact of these amendments.” 

The forum will be held remotely via Zoom webinar on Thursday, September 15, 2022 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. If you cannot attend online, come to the second floor of 344 Broadway, where we will show a livestream of the forum. A limited number of in-person seats are available.

For more information about the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance, please visit cambridgema.gov/BEUDO.