A new building ordinance in Atlanta is promoting energy efficiency and reducing water use by 20%, helping the drought-prone American city conserve resources.
The 2015 Atlanta Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance aims to reduce the city’s energy and water footprint while creating jobs. The city projects that the ordinance will drive a 20% reduction in commercial energy and water consumption, create more than 1,000 jobs annually in the first few years, and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.5 million metric tons by 2030. The ordinance addresses energy and water use in 3,000 large private- and city-owned buildings that account for 80% of the city’s commercial sector, requiring that these buildings comply with benchmarking, transparency, and audits – including water audits, and voluntary retro-commissioning.
The city expects a 20% reduction in commercial use of water from 2012 levels by 2030. Additionally, results from benchmarking and audits will provide tools to the real estate market to promote efficient buildings. The city expects this to, in turn, incentivize the installation and adoption of renewable energy for commercial buildings. Building owners are also required to track and disclose information regarding their buildings’ energy use, water use, and solid waste generation.
50% reduction in commercial building CO2 emissions by 2030 from a 2013 baseline
The challenge
During the last 10 years, the Southeastern region of the USA has experienced two of the most severe droughts on record, which killed more than 200 people and caused an estimated $12 billion in damages. By encouraging a 20% reduction in water and energy use in commercial buildings, Atlanta can optimize its valuable and scarce water resources and reduce the city’s vulnerability to drought.
Co-benefits
Economic The ordinance will generate a $2 billion return to the commercial sector through energy savings by 2030.
Environment Commercial buildings expect to increase renewable energy usage by 1.9 million kWh per year by 2030.
Social The ordinance will create more than 1,000 jobs per year in the first few years, in the fields of benchmarking, energy and water audits, and commissioning and retro-commissioning.
About Atlanta
Atlanta is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia, with an estimated 2016 population of 472,522. In 1837, Atlanta was founded at the intersection of two railroad lines, and the city rose from the ashes of the American Civil War to become a national center of commerce. Today it is the primary transportation hub of the Southeastern United States, via highway, railroad, and air, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being the world’s busiest airport since 1998.
