By Jorge Casuso
May 1, 2025 -- The City Council this summer will take up a Building Performance Standards Policy that requires existing large buildings citywide to meet clean energy goals.
The Clean and Healthy Existing Buildings Ordinance, or CHEBO, sets reduction targets for energy use and/or greenhouse gas reductions that must be met every five years, City officials said
The policy would kick in for buildings larger than 50,000 square feet in 2031 and for buildings between 20,000 and 50,000 square feet, including multi-family buildings, in 2036.
Pending State legislation, however, makes it unclear if the policy could be applied to residential buildings, officials said
The policy "would improve and modernize the city’s existing large buildings by requiring gradual reductions in energy and fossil fuel use over time," said Nico Predock, the City's sustainability analyst.
CHEBO is "an essential part" of Santa Monica's ongoing efforts to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, according to Predock
The City also hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, Predock wrote in a blog posted on the City's website Thursday.
The policy would "follow the goals and actions" outlined in the $830 million Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP) unanimously approved by the Council in May 2019.
The 62-page plan's Zero Net Carbon Buildings section calls for developing "programs, resources and incentives to support gas-to-electric conversion of appliances, hot-water heaters and HVAC systems."
In March 2023, the City released a "roadmap" to electrify existing buildings that caught many residents and property owners, as well as several Councilmembers, by surprise ("Electrification Roadmap Just a Start, City Officials Say," March 8, 2023).
Energy and fossil fuel use in buildings accounted for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions ciywide in 2023, second only to transportation, Predock noted.
"Reducing carbon emissions in existing buildings by improving energy efficiency and decreasing fossil fuel use is critical for the city to meet its climate action goals," Predock said.
