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HB 5493

AN ACT RELATING TO HEALTH AND SAFETY -- BUILDING DECARBONIZATION ACT OF 2025

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Jennifer Boylan and 9 co-sponsors

Rhode Island mandates energy benchmarking for buildings 25,000+ sq ft, with annual ENERGY STAR data on energy use and GHGs to OER, enabling public decarbonization insights.

06/20/2025 Referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture
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Bill Summary · HB 5493

Summary — HB 5493 (Sub A): Building Decarbonization Act of 2025

Status: Introduced March 2025; House passed Substitute A on June 20, 2025; referred to Senate Environment and Agriculture.

Purpose

Establishes a statewide building energy reporting (benchmarking) program administered by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) to increase transparency of building energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The stated intent is to inform the marketplace and support decarbonization of the building sector.

Key provisions

  • Creates a new chapter (23-27.5) in Title 23 (Health and Safety) establishing the Building Decarbonization Act of 2025 and a building energy reporting program administered by OER.
  • Requires owners of "covered properties" to enter prior-calendar-year energy and descriptive data into ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (or an OER-designated alternative if Portfolio Manager is unavailable).
  • Defines required benchmarking information to include: property address, primary use type, gross floor area, annual energy use, source and site Energy Use Intensity (EUI—weather-normalized variants), annual GHG emissions, and compliance status.
  • Clarifies energy definitions: site energy (on-site consumption, including onsite renewable generation excluding exported energy) and source energy (includes upstream generation/transmission losses; used to calculate source EUI).
  • Establishes covered-property threshold: all residential and non-residential buildings and campuses with gross floor area ≥ 25,000 square feet, as identified in municipal tax assessor databases. "Campus" = 2+ buildings with shared utilities used primarily for healthcare, research, or higher education.
  • Reporting schedule:
    • Buildings ≥ 50,000 gross sq. ft.: first report due May 15, 2027, and annually by May 15 thereafter.
    • Buildings 25,000–49,999 gross sq. ft.: first report due May 15, 2029, and annually by May 15 thereafter.
    • New buildings: begin reporting the May 15 following the first full calendar year of occupancy.
  • OER duties:
    • Notify owners annually (Sept 15–Dec 15 each year beginning 2026) of their reporting obligation.
    • Post a list of covered property addresses by Jan 31 each year starting 2027.
    • Host annual online information sessions and additional outreach (multiple sessions in 2025–2028).
  • Exemptions: owners may apply to OER for a reporting-year exemption if the property was unoccupied for the entire year, demolition began during the year, or the property did not receive energy services for the entire year. Exemption applications require notarized supporting documentation.

Who is affected

  • Owners (including authorized agents, condominium/cooperative representatives) of residential and non-residential buildings and campuses ≥ 25,000 gross sq. ft. as per municipal tax records.
  • Tenants, utilities, and market participants will be impacted indirectly through increased public reporting.
  • OER is charged with implementation, outreach, and public posting of data.

Procedural / timeline highlights

  • OER outreach begins 2025–2028 with multiple information sessions; annual notifications begin in late 2026.
  • Reporting compliance phased in by building size: large buildings (≥50,000 sq. ft.) by May 15, 2027; smaller covered buildings (25,000–49,999 sq. ft.) by May 15, 2029.
  • If ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager becomes unavailable for any reporting year(s), reporting obligations are suspended until it is restored or an alternative is designated by OER.

Potential impacts (factual)

  • Creates a public dataset on building energy use and GHGs that can inform policy, incentive programs, and market decisions.
  • Imposes new administrative obligations on owners of larger buildings to collect and submit energy data annually.
  • Establishes groundwork for future decarbonization actions by standardizing metrics (site/source EUI, GHG emissions) and increasing transparency.

Sponsor: Representative Romero (primary).

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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