City's Office of Sustainability Celebrates Passage of Benchmarking Ordinance
The Benchmarking and Transparency Ordinance will accelerate progress towards climate action goals outlined in the city's Thrive Indianapolis plan by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions
INDIANAPOLIS – Tonight the City's Office of Sustainability (OOS) celebrates the passage of Proposal 185 by the City-County Council, adding a new chapter on Benchmarking and Transparency to the City-County code. The Benchmarking and Transparency Ordinance, which received a do-pass recommendation from the Council's Public Works Committee on June 10, has the potential to significantly reduce utility costs, create jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the built environment, and improve overall air quality citywide.
Indy joins dozens of peers cities nationwide with similar ordinances in place, including Columbus, Chicago, and Denver.
Benchmarking refers to the tracking of energy and water use of buildings, giving building owners the ability to become more energy efficient, track their progress over time, and cut costs. Transparency refers to the sharing of benchmarking information, such as building scores and building characteristics, to the city and community.
While Indy's new ordinance will become effective immediately, benchmarking of impacted buildings will be voluntary at first until a tiered implementation schedule takes effect through 2026.
OOS initiated and drafted the ordinance, signifying the first policy to be enacted from an action item in Thrive Indianapolis ("Thrive"). Published in February 2019, Thrive is the first sustainability and resiliency action plan in the city's history and was itself the result of extensive community engagement.
"Today's passage demonstrates our continued focus on a sustainable future, as we deliver on our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050," said Mayor Joe Hogsett. "Thanks to director Morgan Mickelson and the rest of the Office of Sustainability team, the City is prepared to effectively implement this benchmarking program."
The ordinance development process was also supported by the Bloomberg Philanthropies American Cities Climate Challenge. Indianapolis is one of the 25 winning cities in the Climate Challenge, which is helping cities set and surpass ambitious climate goals by ramping up action in the two highest emitting sectors in cities: transportation and buildings.
"We applaud the City of Indianapolis and Mayor Hogsett on establishing a Benchmarking and Transparency Ordinance, which will unlock the incredible value of energy efficiency," said Kelly Shultz, lead for sustainable cities and the American Cities Climate Challenge at Bloomberg Philanthropies. "This initiative serves as a prime example of how cities are leading the way on climate action."
Proposal 185 was co-sponsored and led by City-County Council Vice President and District 17 Councillor Zach Adamson, who is also the Chairman of the Public Works Committee. Councillors John Barth, Jessica McCormick, and Jason Larrison also co-sponsored the proposal.
"The Council is proud to work for our constituents, the majority of whom have communicated a desire for meaningful climate action from their local government," said Chairman Zach Adamson. "It is our job to do what we can to make our city a cleaner, greener place so it can last for generations to come."
As a result of the ordinance the Indy community has the potential through 2030 to benefit from:
A 27% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions within the built environment
$77 million in public health savings due to improved air quality
Greater than $194 million in utility bill savings
The creation of 1,400 jobs
Councillor John Barth said, "Climate change is here, and the time to act is now. I look forward to building upon the momentum created tonight by catalyzing more progress for Indy residents, especially groups disproportionately impacted by climate-related inequities."
Development of the ordinance included a months-long stakeholder engagement process, a period for public review and comment, and a public meeting. Documents related to this process as well as definitions of key terms, including an FAQ sheet, are available at sustain.indy.gov.
An amendment to the ordinance was proposed and passed tonight on the Council floor. Penalties for noncompliance will not be assessed until after benchmarking has been fully implemented (2026); transparency of non-anonymized shared benchmarking information will take effect in 2026, a change from 2025; examples of potential outreach opportunities are now included in the language -- these opportunities will be offered by OOS and designed to educate and empower building owners.