Building Emissions Performance Standards - Design Principles and Development Plan

voluntary) for each typology to enable greenhouse gas emissions reductions and access to additional benefits across Toronto's building sector. The City's work on Building Emissions Performance Standards will provide Torontonians with reasonable and achievable pathways to decarbonize their buildings, enabling them to make improvements over time, and to realize co-benefits related to health, comfort and the local economy. The purpose of this report is to provide City Council with an overview of the Design Principles that will guide the development and implementation of Building Emissions Performance Standards to achieve goals related to climate action, as well as an update on the Building Emissions Performance Standards By-law development process for the mandatory standards that may be established. The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto's building stock and mitigate climate change has never been greater. Toronto is experiencing weather that is hotter, wetter, and more extreme and these conditions are expected to worsen. At the same time, Toronto is in the midst of a housing crisis resulting in a lack of affordable and adequate housing options, rising rental costs, inflation and an increased cost of living. 1 The development plan for Building Emissions Performance Standards will consider and respond to the social and economic conditions that building owners and occupants are currently facing. The building sector is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto, contributing 56 percent of the city-wide total. The City Council-endorsed Net Zero Existing Buildings Strategy (the Strategy) (2021.IE26.16) sets out a number of critical actions for the City to consider in order to reduce building sector emissions. The Strategy identifies Building Emissions Performance Standards as the most effective means of enabling city-wide emissions reductions. To develop the overall design principles of Building Emissions Performance Standards City staff relied on the foundational work that went into the Strategy, the initial results from the engagement and technical work conducted and the best practices and lessons learned from other jurisdictions with existing Building Emissions Performance Standards regulations. Based on the outcomes of this work, staff recommend the following Building Emissions Performance Standards design principles: 1. Cross-cutting equity and affordability considerations 2. Broad and inclusive engagement and consultation 3. Attainable Standards 4. Supportive programs and policies 5. Data driven In addition to the recommended Building Emissions Performance Standards design principles, this report provides an update on the development process of the associated By-law for the mandatory standards that may be proposed, the engagement and consultation strategy, and an overview of the planned technical analyses that will inform the development of Building Emissions Performance Standards. 1 City of Toronto Housing Data Book, March 2023