The city of Detroit announced that it has adopted a mandatory energy and water benchmarking and transparency policy for all its buildings, following the likes of Chicago, Saint Paul, Columbus, Indianapolis, Minneapolis and Ann Arbor.
The policy will require property owners to track and disclose a buildings’ annual energy and water usage in order to further lower GHG emissions. The Detroit City Council unanimously supported the decision, which will begin taking place in 2024. Data for the 2023 calendar year is due by October 1, 2024, with subsequent annual data due by June 1st of each following year.
The ordinance will help monitor the energy and water consumption of Detroit’s municipal buildings and help the city identify opportunities for efficiency upgrades that advances Detroit’s sustainability goals. A free resource to support benchmarking will be made available for private property owners.
This is just one of the key actions that Detroit is taking to address its climate strategy. The Detroit Climate Strategy outlines concrete, near-term actions that the city and its partners will take to accelerate the fight against climate change, provide benefits to the city and put it on the pathway to reduce its municipal GHG emissions by 75 percent by 2034 and 100 percent by 2050. The strategy includes four actions: transition Detroit’s energy supply to clean energy; increase access to sustainable mobility options; accelerate energy efficiency and reduce waste; and help communities with a focus on its most vulnerable residents.
Mackenna Moralez is the associate editor for the facilities market.
