Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the City of Columbus’ Department of Building and Zoning Services to accept a reimbursement grant from, and enter into grant agreements with, the University of Cincinnati using funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Resilient and Efficient Code Implementation (RECI) program in the amount of $60,000.00 for efforts from January 1, 2025 through June 30, 2025 with an anticipated additional $40,000.00 for work between July 1, 2025 and December 31, 2026 for a total of $100,000.00.
The DOE awarded grants to four Ohio cities, including Columbus, a total of $2,800,000 for the development and implementation of a cost-optimal, equitable Building Performance Standard (BPS). A BPS is a policy that requires building owners to meet energy usage and/or greenhouse gas emissions-based targets over time. Columbus building owners already track their whole-building energy usage and submit benchmarking reports for compliance with Columbus’ Energy Benchmarking chapter of Columbus City Code (Chapter 4117). Energy data collected from the existing benchmarking ordinance and individual building characteristics such as use type will be used as baseline data in the BPS and for determining building performance targets.
$60,000.00 has been awarded to the Department of Building and Zoning Services for part-time-limited staff and activities related to the creation of a BPS policy/code. In addition, up to $40,000 of the grant will be designated for a third-party facilitator for BPS stakeholder engagement. The third-party facilitator will act as a non-biased liaison and process manager in order to ensure all parties, especially underserved communities, are understood and represented throughout the stakeholder process. The facilitator will be procured through a Request for Proposal process.
In Columbus, buildings account for 55% of community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a major contributing factor to climate change. Columbus has carbo...
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