The Carbon-Free City Handbook: Buildings

The document outlines five strategic actions for cities to address the built environment, which accounts for nearly 50 percent of GHG emissions in large cities. These actions include performing deep energy retrofits on city-owned buildings, implementing net-zero and progressive building codes, supporting citywide LED lighting upgrades, and requiring energy benchmarking and public transparency for building energy use.

• The built environment is a primary driver of urban emissions, accounting for nearly 50 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in large cities.
• Cities should implement deep energy retrofits for all municipal facilities, including affordable housing, to ensure they are ultraefficient and ready for net-zero energy status, which can be achieved via on-site renewable energy.
• Building codes should be used to phase in requirements for all new constructions to be net-zero energy or net-zero energy ready, with a specific mandate that all new municipal buildings meet net-zero energy standards.
• Progressive codes can be used to mandate energy-efficiency metrics for existing buildings when specific 'trigger' events occur, such as major renovations, refinancing, or sales.
• Cities are encouraged to adopt policies for citywide LED lighting upgrades, including buy-down programs for low-income residents, and to implement benchmarking and transparency laws requiring the public disclosure of annual energy use for large residential and commercial buildings.

APA

RMI (2017). The Carbon-Free City Handbook: Buildings. https://rmi.org/resources/the-carbon-free-city-handbook-buildings/

Chicago

RMI. The Carbon-Free City Handbook: Buildings. 2017. https://rmi.org/resources/the-carbon-free-city-handbook-buildings/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Carbon-Free City Handbook: Buildings |date=7 November 2017 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/the-carbon-free-city-handbook-buildings/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2017carbonfree, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Carbon-Free City Handbook: Buildings}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/the-carbon-free-city-handbook-buildings/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }