The Atlanta City Council unanimously passed legislation to undertake a series of measures, including energy benchmarking and audits, to boost efficiency in its commercial buildings.
Under the Atlanta Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Ordinance, the city will collect energy benchmarking data and require periodic energy audits and potential improvements to existing building equipment and functions.
Using these tools, the City projects that the ordinance will drive a 20 percent reduction in commercial energy consumption by the year 2030.
According to Melissa Wright, director of the City Energy Project at Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), “This ordinance is tailor-made for Atlanta, taking best practices from other cities and refining them to meet local needs.”
Buildings currently account for 66 percent of Atlanta’s total energy use. The new ordinance addresses energy use in private and city-owned buildings over 25,000 square feet in size. This includes 2,350 buildings that, as a whole, represent 88 percent of the city’s commercial sector.