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Mayor Bowser Announces $400,000 Investment in New Hub to Help Buildings Meet District’s Climate and Energy Goals

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

(Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a new $400,000 investment to create a high-performance hub to support the design, construction, and operation of buildings that achieve the District’s ambitious climate and energy goals. The Hub is another step toward implementing the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, which the Mayor signed earlier this year. The Act established the first-of-its-kind building energy performance standards that will require large buildings over a certain size to save energy and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“By implementing bold, citywide actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will build a more sustainable city and keep DC an international model for fighting climate change,” said Mayor Bowser. “We’re committed to supporting the real estate community in meeting these new building standards and investing in programs and policies that cut pollution, create jobs, and help us build the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States.”

Earlier this year, the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) awarded an initial $100,000 grant to a team led by the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT) to assess the needs of the real estate community and building industry professionals as they look toward meeting high-performance building requirements and develop an initial business plan for the Hub. With the first phase complete, another $400,000 is being added to the grant to support a planned launch of the Hub in Fall 2020. The Hub will provide technical assistance, capacity building, and other resources to the building industry.

“We look forward to working together with the building and real estate community to implement the first-in-the-nation Clean Energy DC Act,” said DOEE Director Tommy Wells. “Given its deep engagement in building performance efforts across the District over many years, IMT is the right partner to be leading this new initiative.”

“Buildings currently account for about 74 percent of the District’s carbon emissions. Empowering local building professionals to design, build, and operate buildings to improve how all buildings—new and existing—use energy across the District is critical to achieve significant reductions and make the District’s buildings comfortable for us no matter the weather,” said IMT Executive Director Lotte Schlegel. “IMT is proud to be leading the development of the Hub as a dynamic go-to resource that is responsive to the evolving needs of the District’s building professionals as they work to achieve the District’s climate goals.”

As the Hub moves toward its public launch, IMT and DOEE will provide more updates, information, and resources as they become available. To learn more about the District’s High Performance Building Hub, visit: doee.dc.gov/service/high-performance-building-hub.