Sen. Kallman, Rep. Kislak reintroduce Building Decarbonization Act
STATE HOUSE — Sen. Meghan E. Kallman and Rep. Rebecca Kislak have reintroduced the Building Decarbonization Act to set Rhode Island on a path toward a future with lower carbon emissions.
The legislation begins reducing carbon emissions from buildings by benchmarking emissions in large buildings, requiring the development of performance standards and ensuring that future construction will be “electric ready.”
“Now more than ever, we must ensure that Rhode Island honors its commitments to lower our carbon emissions. And we cannot make meaningful progress while ignoring our buildings,” said Senator Kallman (D-Dist. 15, Pawtucket, Providence). “I want to thank my Senate colleagues who helped develop and advance this legislation over the last year, allowing us to start this important work toward fulfilling our robust climate goals. Reducing the emissions produced by our buildings is an essential piece of Rhode Island’s climate solution, and we will need accurate data in order to do so effectively.”
Said Representative Kislak (D-Dist. 4, Providence), “My city of Providence has begun the project of benchmarking for all large buildings in the city. Let’s build on their efforts! Rhode Island should begin benchmarking for our largest buildings as soon as possible, so that we can start planning to decrease our carbon use and meet our Act on Climate goals.”
The data from the first year of reporting in Providence is now available. That data includes only buildings owned by the city. All large buildings in Providence will have to report their carbon use by this spring. More than 70% of Providence’s carbon footprint comes from buildings.
This legislation (2025-H 5493, 2025-S 0091) would create standards and requirements for benchmarking the energy use and emissions of Rhode Island’s large buildings, starting with those that are publicly owned before applying these requirements to privately owned buildings.
“By tracking energy usage and building performance, large public and private building owners can lower energy costs and chart a path toward investing in energy efficiency and electrification. I urge the legislature to enact the Building Decarbonization Act as a critical first step to tackling emissions in our buildings,” said Emily Koo, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director of Acadia Center.
The Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council would use the data collected from this benchmarking to subsequently develop standards to reduce these emissions in alignment with the mandates of the Act on Climate (2021-S 0078A, 2021-H 5445A).
The act would also require all new construction be electric-ready, starting Jan. 30, 2026. Requiring electric-ready construction means that building owners would not later be required to undertake expensive retrofits.
The Act on Climate requires statewide emissions to drop to net-zero by 2050, and meeting this goal will require retrofitting of existing buildings. The standards that this legislation aims to create would be used to create guidelines for this electrification process.
“Reducing emissions from our building sector is critical to ensure Rhode Island gets on track to meet our Act on Climate mandates. The Building Decarbonization Act is an essential first step. Addressing existing buildings is the key to decarbonizing our built environment, as 70% of the buildings that will be standing in 2050 already exist today. To reach net-zero by 2050, we must prioritize retrofitting now. The benchmarking and building performance standard will drive progress by improving efficiency in large buildings. Meanwhile, electric-ready new construction will set us up to easily electrify buildings,” said Tina Munter, Rhode Island Policy Advocate at Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
A study in Maryland showed that clean energy jobs pay more than statewide averages, especially in entry-level positions. In addition, all-electric new construction has reached cost parity with fossil fuel construction.
More efficient, all-electric buildings also have health benefits. According to a Stanford study, poor air quality resulting from burning fossil fuels is linked to increased rates of disease and mortality.
The legislation is a top priority of the Environment Council of Rhode Island, a coalition of more than 60 environmental organizations.
“The Building Decarbonization Act offers a science-based, strategic approach to measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, which benefits people and the environment. As Rhode Islanders, getting it right here and creating replicable model is the contribution we have to make to the global community,” said Angela Tuoni, climate program manager at The Nature Conservancy & co-vice president of policy for the Environment Council of Rhode Island.
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