Boston Bans Fossil Fuels in New City-Owned Buildings

Mayor Michelle Wu has signed an executive order that bans the use of fossil fuels in new city-owned building construction in Boston.

Wu’s order also prohibits the use of fossil fuels in major renovations of the estimated 16M SF of city-owned property, impacting projects where structural work is planned in more than 75% of the building’s square footage.

The executive order, which takes effect immediately, exempts projects that currently are in procurement, design or construction.

“Week after week, we see the signs of extreme heat, storms and flooding that remind us of a closing window to take climate actions,” Wu said, in a statement accompanying the executive order.

“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, health and prosperous future our city deserves,” the mayor said.

According to the Mayor’s Office, 70% of Boston’s carbon emissions come from buildings, with city owned buildings contributing 2.3% of the total.

Under the executive order, all new municipal buildings will be planned, designed and constructed so that HVAC, hot water and cooking systems will not combust or directly connect to fossil fuels. In major renovation projects, projects that replace a building’s heating, ventilation, air conditioning, hot water system and cooking equipment must eliminate fossil fuel combustion in the affected system.

Boston’s FY 2024-2029 Capital Plan allocates $132.5M for building design projects that advance decarbonization, part of an initiative the mayor has branded as a Green New Deal.

“This Executive Order directs and empower the Operations Cabinet and facilities managers across the city to lead the decarbonization of our building portfolio, said Oliver Sellers-Garcia, Boston’s Green New Deal director, in a statement.

The mayor’s Operations Cabinet will be launching a Facilities Condition Assessment to identify decarbonization projects, Wu said.

In October 2021, Boston adopted an update to the city’s Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (known as BERDO) that requires buildings of 20K SF or more to report building emissions and meet mandatory caps that go into effect in 2025.

Boston’s caps are scheduled to get tighter—meaning a lower amount of emissions will be acceptable—every five years until 2050, when Boston requires buildings to be carbon neutral.

The passage of the emissions ordinance update, known as BERDO 2.0, is forcing developers who configured their building projects under existing guidelines to scramble to include long-term adjustments into the plans they are submitting for permitting.

Boston’s law allows building owners to achieve their reductions by converting electricity from fossil fuel sources and hooking up renewable energy to the city’s electric grid.