Emissions Regulations for US & Canadian Building Owners: What You Need to Know

In addition to keeping your clients and partners happy, you also have a whole host of other stakeholders to tend to —people who care not only about the particulars of your properties but also about your overall impact on the environment.

If your properties happen to be spread out over multiple geographies, this balancing act becomes all the more complicated. Indeed, being a building owner these days can sometimes feel like a marble being spun through a Rube Goldberg machine.

But with each of these twists and turns also comes great opportunities.

Take the Biden administration’s recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act as just one (very major) example. This landmark piece of legislation aims to cut carbon emissions nearly in half by the end of the decade. And as part of this push, building owners like you are being incentivized with tens of billions of dollars for a commitment to zero-emissions developments.

Of course, on the other hand, these new regulations also come with some pretty hefty penalties for those who fail to comply.

So, as you work your way through this ever-evolving, increasingly complicated system, we thought it would be helpful to provide a snapshot in time: a primer for building owners charting emissions regulations in 2022.

Your Guide to Building Emissions Regulations in 2022

To keep you up to date on the latest legislation — both pending and approved, as of Q3 2022 — we’ve assembled some helpful resources. The first is the interactive map below, which offers an overview of some major, need-to-know regulations at the national, state and local levels within North America.

As you start clicking around, here’s what you can expect to find:

●     National: Two critical building emissions regulations — one for Canada and one for the U.S.

●     State: Active and pending building emissions regulations in California, Colorado and Massachusetts.

●     Local: More granular ordinances and laws for building owners in Boston, Denver, New York City and the District of Columbia.

Each callout on the map provides a status of the regulation, a summary of what it covers, a snapshot of who might be impacted and ways you can take action to stay in compliance.

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As you poke around, you might also be asking yourself, “But is this a comprehensive list?” The short answer is no. This interactive map is not intended to be exhaustive but rather illustrative of the evolving regulatory landscape of building emissions standards within North America.

Further, as different communities around the world commit to increasingly ambitious measures to neutralize carbon emissions, we expect to see the list of regulations for building owners only continue to grow. With that in mind, please be advised of the nuances and potential changes in status, and, of course, continue to work with your legal counsel to stay apprised of the latest laws within your respective jurisdiction(s).

Other Ways to Take Action in Reducing Building Emissions

To stay ahead of these continuous changes in environmental regulations, you might also consider refocusing your strategic efforts and adopting new technology that will help you reduce emissions in your buildings today. Consider the following steps as you weigh your options:

●     Consolidate your building data.

●     Implement customized reporting metrics.

●     Integrate renewable energy systems.

The Switch Platform can help. And for an evenmore in-depth view of these building emissions regulations, download our full guide here.

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