The City of West Hollywood is working to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, adapt to climate change, and focus on equity and quality-of-life outcomes for the West Hollywood community. On December 20, 2021, the City Council adopted WeHo Climate Action, setting a 2035 carbon neutrality goal, and directed staff to develop Equitable Building Performance Standards for Existing Buildings in West Hollywood.

Energy use from buildings is one of the City's largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Burning fossil fuels like methane gas or propane - for cooking, heating, and operating buildings - can also significantly contribute to indoor air pollution. Since WeHo has a significant number of older buildings, many of which were constructed before modern energy efficiency standards, improving energy performance in existing buildings is a critical step toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2035 and improving the health of our City's environment.

There are numerous benefits to improving energy performance in existing buildings:

• Healthier and safer homes and buildings, for example, when switching gas-burning appliances to electric.
• More efficient buildings and lower energy costs.
• Addressing climate change and resilience.

Imagine a city where not only the newest and most expensive buildings are upgraded and retrofitted, but older buildings also receive support, and all residents, regardless of income, enjoy the benefits of improved comfort, health, and efficiency of buildings.

The City is considering the following policies to improve the comfort, health, and sustainability of existing buildings and people who live and work in them:

• Building Performance Standards
• Existing Buildings Reach Codes

Click through the tabs below to learn more about each policy and provide feedback!

Building Performance Standards (BPS) are designed to improve the energy performance of existing buildings and reduce emissions through energy efficiency and electrification. They require buildings to meet specific energy use or carbon emissions performance targets by a deadline. BPS are applied to existing buildings, typically of a particular size, addressing their performance throughout the entire lifecycle and progressively raising targets to achieve enhanced performance over time.

Equitable Building Performance Standards (EBPS) can address a range of community priorities, including building energy use, carbon emissions, public health, resilience, and economic opportunity.

Numerous states and cities across the country have adopted BPS policies, which are tailored to each community's specific context. View the map of Building Performance Standards passed and in development in the U.S., courtesy of the Institute of Market Transformation. Close to a dozen BPS are in development in California.

Existing Building Reach Codes are local building codes that go beyond or "reach" past state standards. They aim to achieve higher energy efficiency or sustainability goals in existing buildings by requiring energy and electrification upgrades when major renovation work is done, such as replacing gas water heaters or furnaces with electric options. Existing Building Reach Codes typically apply to major renovations and would be triggered by pulling a project permit and specific project valuation.

Developing reach codes can ultimately save energy and future-proof buildings by eliminating retrofitting costs and making progress toward mitigating climate change.