Berkeley building owners:

What is Berkeley’s Building Energy Saving Ordinance?

Berkeley’s Building Energy Saving Ordinance (BESO, Municipal Code 19.81) replaced the Residential and Commercial Energy Conservation Ordinances (RECO and CEC). BESO requires Berkeley building owners to complete energy efficiency opportunity assessments and publicly report the building's energy efficiency information. The ordinance was adopted in 2015, and reporting deadlines began in 2018 and phase in through 2019.

Purpose

The ordinance’s goal is to help building owners save energy and motivate them to participate in whole-building energy efficiency programs, such as Energy Upgrade California.

Does it impact me?

If you own or manage a building that is less 25,000 square feet (excluding 1-4 unit homes), you must do an energy assessment every 10 years, as well as prior to sale (excluding buildings 600 square feet and under and individually owned units within a larger building, such as an attached condo). If you own or manage a building above 25,000 square feet, you must do an energy assessment every 5 years and report ENERGY STAR® Performance annually. Deadlines for different building sizes began in 2018 with the largest buildings.

What are the deadlines?

• July 1, 2019 for buildings 25,000 square feet and over to report annual ENERGY STAR® Performance Reports and begin doing an Energy Assessment every 5 years. The deadline for annual reporting is every July 1st thereafter.
• July, 1 2020 for buildings between 15,000-24,999 square feet, and requirements for completing an Energy Assessment every 10 years go into effect.
• July, 1 2021 for buildings between 5,000-14,999 square feet, and requirements for completing an Energy Assessment every 10 years go into effect.
• July, 1 2022 for buildings less than 5,000 square feet (excluding 1-4 unit homes), and requirements for completing an Energy Assessment every 10 years go into effect.

What are the fines?

The instances of noncompliance will result in a fine of $100 for each violation, and an additional fine of up to $25 for each day that the violation continues, up to a maximum of $1,000 per violation

How do I comply?

Building owners required to do an annual ENERGY STAR® Performance Report must report their energy usage data to EPA’s Portfolio Manager, a reporting tool that allows building owners to compare their building’s energy efficiency with similar buildings.