An apartment building in DC by Jean & Oliver licensed under Creative Commons.

In December of 2018, the DC Council passed a bill setting a challenge for large buildings across the District to meet new energy code standards by 2026. The law prescribes two different paths: one for new construction and existing buildings performing at or above a median level of energy efficiency scores according to the federal government’s program; another for buildings below that median.

The first group would work toward reaching net zero energy, while the second must take steps to raise their efficiency standards. While some buildings in DC have a small gap to bridge, many multi-family affordable housing buildings could struggle to afford the necessary changes.

What does going green mean?

The Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018 requires that buildings falling at or below median scores on energy efficiency as determined by the federal EnergyStar program increase their efficiency 20% by 2026.

The Department of Energy and Environment is in the process of establishing a task force responsible for creating and setting the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) and compliance fees. The official BEPS program is not yet up and running, but individuals have been appointed to their respective positions, according to DOEE Director Tommy Wells.

Improving energy efficiency depends on a variety of factors, Wells says. “The first thing you have to do for a lot of these buildings is an energy audit, with a prescription of, where do you get the most gains in order to get your building to a certain level,” Wells said. “That could be a new HVAC system, it could be replacing all the windows, it could be finding an alternative energy source. It just depends on where the building is and what the assets are.”

Official energy performance standards won’t be released until January 2021. But, Wells said most of the District’s newer buildings meet the median standard, and will be “okay for a while.”

How does this impact affordable housing?

Close to 20,000 residents live in public housing in the District, according to the DC Housing Authority. DC has more than 8,000 apartment or townhouse units across 56 different properties, which DCHA owns and manages.

Multifamily affordable housing units are more difficult to find, as only 31% of the available housing units in the District were “potentially” affordable to families of four, according to a 2018 report by the DC Policy Center.

The clean energy law could pose a challenge to affordable housing availability, as some energy efficiency improvements will be costly, according to Wells.

“The greatest challenge will be multi-family buildings with affordable housing because they don’t have a ready source for paying back capital investments,” Wells said. “We recognize that for a number of the buildings, the savings in energy will not pay for the investments entirely.”

To help meet the potential financial issues facing affordable housing, the clean energy law sets aside $3 million a year starting in 2022 to assist providers of affordable housing and owners of rent-controlled buildings in making energy efficiency upgrades. The money comes from an increase in fees on utility bills, which was included in the legislation.

Additionally, DOEE is establishing a High-Performance Building Hub to provide resources and training to educate building owners on how to reach higher performance standards.

“We contracted out the first $100,000 to the Institute of Market Transformation,” Wells said. “We’ve just for the new year given them another $400,000.” That funding will provide technical expertise to train building owners.

The DC Council has also created other financing options like the Green Bank and the DC Sustainable Energy Utility, both of which provide funding for energy efficiency efforts. DOEE has also hired a liaison to facilitate connections with the Department of Housing and Community Development, according to Wells.

How does this impact buildings above the median line?

New buildings and those already meeting the EnergyStar median are expected to move toward net-zero energy, according to Wells.

In general, net-zero energy buildings “combine energy efficiency and renewable energy generation to consume only as much energy as can be produced onsite,” according to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The American Geophysical Union building, located in Dupont Circle, is currently in the process of becoming a net-zero energy building. The new building will include stormwater collection and reuse, a solar photovoltaic array, and a dedicated outdoor air system, among other renovations.

The journey to make the building net-zero energy has been in the works since 2015, according to Holly Lennihan, director of sustainable design at Hickok Cole, the architecture firm that designed the renovation of the AGU building.

“The best scenario for taking an existing building to net zero energy is to have a building that’s been very well maintained for 30 years,” Lennihan said. “That’s the end of the useful life of their systems, so you’re going to have to replace them anyway. Then, you’re not constrained. AGU kept amazing care of their building. They loved it and recognized that it was time for a complete overhaul of the building.”