Philadelphia’s “Building Tune-up” Mandate - What You Need to Know & How to Be Prepared
In an effort to reduce Philadelphia’s largest source of carbon emissions, which is produced by the city’s buildings, Philadelphia’s Mayor Jim Kenney signed into law a new “Building Energy Performance Policy.” As of December 2019, this mandate will require owners of certain large non-residential buildings to conduct a building tune-up report of the energy and water systems, specifically the base building systems of the property including the building envelope, the HVAC systems, conveying systems, domestic hot water systems, and electrical lighting systems.
In compliance with this new law, building owners will need to produce a final report that includes an assessment/ inspection of the building identifying any necessary improvements along with the corrective actions taken to resolve the issues. The due date for these reports depends directly on the size of the building and can be found in the timeline below.
Completed reports will be due to the Office of Sustainability:
Buildings of at least 200,000-SF Sept. 30th, 2021
Buildings of at least 100,000-SF less than 200,000-SF Sept. 30th, 2022
Buildings of at least 70,000-SF less than 100,000-SF Sept. 30th, 2023
Buildings of at least 50,000-SF less than 70,000-SF Sept. 30th, 2024
Our goal is to not only educate you on this new law but to also provide you with the assistance you may need in ensuring that your buildings are up-to-date.
Wick Fisher White can assist building owners by providing the following services:
Assessments
Inspections
Retro-Commissioning
Our team can review HVAC systems to make sure that proper outside air is being brought into the building and that other controls are optimized to minimize energy use. Air distribution systems can be inspected to make sure ducts and duct insulation are intact. Air and water balance reports can be reviewed to identify unbalanced systems that can lead to wasted energy. We can perform functional testing of HVAC equipment to determine if it is operating as specified.
Electrically, we can identify older lighting technologies and review areas that have excessive lighting, and provide guidance on lighting controls to minimize energy usage.
Plumbing systems can be reviewed to determine if excess water is being wasted.
We can also introduce you to our partners that can assist with Building Envelope Analyses to ensure that existing walls, windows, doors, and roof systems are tight and are not permitting infiltration of unconditioned air or loss of conditioned air.
We are available to speak with you about your building and its needs and assist you in meeting this new requirement.
Click here for more info. and resources from the City of Philadelphia. Also, click here to access the ordinance directly.