Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order on July 31 banning fossil fuels from being used in the new construction and major renovation of city-owned buildings, as part of a commitment to climate action and to “advance racial and economic justice.”
The executive order, for which Ms. Wu teamed up with Green New Deal Director Oliver Sellers-Garcia, the Operations Cabinet, and local climate and labor advocates, went into effect immediately.
In a press release, the Democratic mayor said the ban on fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations is part of her commitment to accelerate climate action and will reduce emissions from Boston’s building sector while simultaneously creating high-quality jobs.
The move will also make the buildings more cost-effective to operate in the long run, improve public health and quality of life, and “advance racial and economic justice,” according to Ms. Wu, who did not elaborate on the latter.
“Week after week, we see the signs of extreme heat, storms, and flooding that remind us of a closing window to take climate action,” the mayor said in a statement. “The benefits of embracing fossil fuel-free infrastructure in our City hold no boundary across industries and communities, and Boston will continue using every possible tool to build the green, clean, healthy, and prosperous future our city deserves.”
Under Ms. Wu’s executive order, all new city-owned buildings in Boston, including schools, government offices, and public housing, must be planned, designed, and constructed without using natural gas and heating oil.
Ban to Expand
The order states that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), cooking systems such as stoves and ovens, and hot water apparatuses must not combust or directly connect to fossil fuels for all municipal buildings.
Additionally, the order states that renovations where structural work is planned in 75 percent or more of the building’s square footage must also not use fossil fuels.
“Any project that replaces a building’s heating, ventilation, air conditioning or hot water system, or cooking equipment must eliminate fossil fuel combustion in the affected system,” the order states.
Mr. Sellers-Garcia said the executive order also applies to major renovations because “often, the most sustainable way to make a green building is not to start from scratch.”
While the order went into effect immediately, meaning future city-owned building projects will need to comply with the new rules, those projects currently in procurement, design, or construction are exempt.
However, Ms. Wu, who in January pledged to decarbonize city buildings during her State of the City address, is also hoping to ban fossil fuels in new residential building projects throughout Boston at a later date.
‘Major Undertaking’
According to Ms. Wu’s office, municipal emissions constitute 2.3 percent of all of Boston’s carbon emissions, and more than 70 percent of the city’s emissions are from buildings.
The city government, which owns over 16 million square feet of property in the city, has set aside over $130 million to help identify decarbonization projects, Ms. Wu said.
While Ms. Wu praised the ban on fossil fuels in construction, she has also acknowledged that decarbonizing efforts will be a “major undertaking,” according to the Boston Herald.
Some experts have raised concerns about how the new ban could impact the cost of housing in Boston, which has already soared in recent years, or how it could further increase energy costs at a time when they are already high, thanks in part to the Biden administration’s push to reduce the use of fossil fuels and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Others fear the ban could complicate the future construction of various buildings.
“There is a lot of concern among the broadly defined development community that it’s going to be very difficult to comply with these codes,” Kate Dineen of the nonprofit business advocacy organization A Better City, told the Boston Globe in March.
Still, Ms. Wu’s office states the ban on fossil fuels in new construction and major renovations of city-owned buildings will prove to be “cost-effective to operate in the long run” and will reduce overall municipal energy costs which can then be reinvested in local services.