Kansas City to Participate in White House Building Performance Standards Coalition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 21, 2022

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas today announced that Kansas City is joining forces with state and local governments nationwide in the National Building Performance Standard (BPS) Coalition, a collaboration launched by White House Council on Environmental Quality. This coalition will lead the nation in the design and implementation of citywide building performance standards and policies, driving investment into building retrofits and jobs, thus creating healthier buildings and lower energy costs.
"The climate crisis is among the most urgent issues we face as a nation and as a world, and Kansas City is committed to building an equitable and climate-resilient community for our future and for our children - in all neighborhoods," Mayor Lucas said. "I am proud to partner with the White House on these ambitious climate objectives, and will look forward to sharing and receiving best practices with communities from across our country.''
"Energy use in commercial buildings produces 31 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in Kansas City," Kansas City's Chief Environmental Officer Andy Savastino said. "Equitable building performance standards are integral to achieving the goal of carbon neutrality."
"As our city and nation strive to decarbonize our buildings through thoughtful and inclusive policy, Building Energy Exchange Kansas City and its partners stand ready to mobilize the professional expertise, funding, and technical resources needed to meet the challenge of carbon neutrality," said Ashley Sadowski, Executive Director of Building Energy Exchange KC. "Incorporating higher levels of energy efficiency into our building stock can reduce utility burdens, improve resident health, and optimize the value of our real estate in a global market driven towards climate resiliency."
Upgrading and retrofitting buildings to increase clean energy sources and reduce overall energy use will dramatically reduce these emissions. At the same time, energy retrofits and upgrades can be leveraged to improve a building's health and resilience for occupants and neighbors, while generating jobs and increased local economic investment. Through the Coalition, Kansas City commits to increasing community and local stakeholder engagement to co-design building performance standards and complementary policies and programs -- with the goal of advancing legislation or regulation, with adoption by Earth Day 2024.
"We are eager for the opportunity to support city and state leaders representing the vanguard of innovative climate policy, and joining this National Building Performance Standards Coalition.
Members of this groundbreaking coalition will help drive new jobs to make existing buildings across the country more efficient, affordable, healthier and resilient, and will deliver equitable benefits across their jurisdictions," said Mark Chambers, Senior Director for Building Emissions and Community Resilience at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
In pursuit of the City's commitments as a member of the National BPS Coalition, Kansas City will be able to leverage technical support via federal agencies including the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Partnership in this coalition builds on environmental impact steps being taken by the City, including:

• Conversion of Kansas City's municipal fleet to 100 percent zero emissions battery electric vehicles where available.
• New charging pads at KCI, making it the first airport in the country to use this technology for its fleet of electric buses.
• LED Streetlight conversion of 90,000 units, and so much more.

For more information about the coalition, visit www.nationalBPSCoalition.org
Press inquiries can be emailed to [email protected].