The City of Cambridge Getting to Net Zero Action Plan Fiscal Year 2018 Progress Report

INTRODUCTION Background The City of Cambridge shares increasing global concerns about the crisis of climate change and the many challenges it presents. This crisis threatens the ability of the planet to support secure, healthy, productive, and enriching lives for current and future generations. The City of Cambridge has long been steadfast in addressing climate change.

In 2002, the City adopted the Climate Protection Action Plan, our first attempt at proposing emissions reduction targets and recommendations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since then, the City has committed to a range of initiatives to support sustainable lifestyles and move the community toward greater resilience to climate change. In 2016, the City made a commitment through the Metro Mayors Coalition1 to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In Cambridge, buildings are both the problem and the solution for addressing climate change: more than 80% of our greenhouse gas emissions result from building operations and, as a sign of our thriving economy, new building development steadily continues. If the city can get to net zero emissions in the building sector, we will have made major progress towards achieving the U.N.’s goal of carbon neutrality in our cities.

In 2013, in response to community concern that continued construction activity would make the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions harder, the City convened the Getting to Net Zero Task Force to foster a deep conversation among stakeholders to advance the goal of setting Cambridge on a trajectory to becoming a “net zero community,” with a focus on carbon emissions from building operations.

For Cambridge, ‘net zero’ refers to a building or a community of buildings for which, on an annual basis, all greenhouse gas emissions resulting from building operations are offset by carbon-free energy production. Achieving the net zero objective relies on a combination of energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy production and, where necessary, purchase of carbon offsets or, potentially, credits (that meet specific criteria).

After fifteen months of intensive discussions, outside expert analysis, and consultation across sectors including the general public, the Task Force delivered a 25-year framework for setting Cambridge on the trajectory to becoming a net zero community.2

1 http://www.mapc.org/metro-mayors-coalition 2 This language is drawn from the Getting to Net Zero Framework report, which can be found along with additional materials about the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan at http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Climate/NetZeroTaskForce

Annual Report Purpose and Structure

In accordance with the recommendations of the Net Zero Action Plan (see Action 5.2), the Cambridge Community Development Department (CDD) has committed to conduct ongoing monitoring and reporting of progress towards the Net Zero Action Plan goals.

In collaboration with the Climate Protection Action Committee (CPAC) which has agreed to provide oversight of the Plan, CDD committed to providing an annual report to CPAC and the public to summarize progress towards each action slated for the previous fiscal year.3 This is the third such report. Net Zero Action Plan annual reports are intended to provide an overview of each action planned for that year, including the action items, progress made, and next steps to reach the annual goals.

The annual report will also provide quantitative outputs as appropriate for each action, for example the number of green buildings permitted during the past year, as well as broader outcomes such as changes in community-wide GHG emissions. The first citywide GHG Community Inventory was completed in early 2017 and serves as a baseline indicator for the Net Zero Action Plan.

Because GHG emissions are measured at the community scale in Cambridge, however, attributing changes in GHG emissions to individual Net Zero actions will likely be challenging. Therefore, annual building performance measured by the Building Energy Use Disclosure ordinance and individual action outputs and their alignment with the assumptions of the Net Zero GHG Model4 will serve as an indicator of the direction and magnitude of potential GHG reductions that can be attributed to the Plan.

This report is structured to parallel the Net Zero Action Plan, with actions falling into five categories. In addition to detailed information, a summary box such as the one to the right is provided for each action. The green, yellow, or red light indicates the overall status of the action and whether it is on track, making progress but delayed, or behind, respectively. New for FY18 is the parking symbol which represents actions that are “parked” because they are completed or no longer being pursued.

They will remain parked in future reports unless it is determined that they should be reinvestigated. Note that the progress status is based on what was accomplished towards the FY18 action items up to the writing of this report in December 2018. The mountain symbol represents key challenges to successful implementation of the action including regulatory, institutional, and resource barriers. The footprints represent next steps for the action.

Following discussion of qualitative progress towards each of the actions is a section summarizing quantitative indicators and their change over time.

3 For the full Plan schedule, see Appendix 1 ; City of Cambridge fiscal years run from July 1-June 30 4 http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Climate/~/media/89814C94911A49388ECDBAAEAE7366A6.ashx

Action status (on track, in progress, behind, or parked)

Action barriers (regulatory, institutional, resources)

Next steps

FISCAL YEAR 2018 ACTION PROGRESS UPDATES

Fiscal Year 2018 is the third year of Net Zero Action Plan implementation. Actions initiated in FY16 and FY17 are beginning implementation, while a new set of actions commence study of feasibility and design. FY18 included actions in all five categories: Action 1 – Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings, Action 2 – Net Zero New Construction, Action 3 – Energy Supply, Action 4 – Local Carbon Fund, and Action 5 – Engagement and Capacity Building.

As the Net Zero Action Plan moves from an emphasis on feasibility and design to the implementation of recommendations, there is an increased need for legislative action by the Cambridge City Council and related stakeholders in order to advance implementation of the actions. Legislative actions may include amendments to existing Zoning or City Ordinances or the creation of new regulations. To identify the need for such measures, Legislative Action has been flagged within each individual action as appropriate. Below is a summary of these actions in approximate chronological order of potential adoption:

FY19: Amend Article 22 of the Zoning Ordinance to Increase Green Building

Requirements (Action 2.3) and Remove Barriers to Increased Insulation (Action 2.5)