Cambridge BEUDO

Navigate to Property → Compliance → Exposure → Cambridge - BEUDO

Overview

Cambridge’s BEUDO (Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance) requires owners of large buildings to report annual energy use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions against a baseline. Unlike intensity-based standards, BEUDO limits are expressed as a percentage of each property’s own baseline emissions. Large non-residential properties must reach net zero emissions by 2035, and mid-sized non-residential properties by 2050.

BEUDO Resources

Filing & Reporting

Property owners are required to report to the city every year through the BEAM portal.

• Filing Deadline (May 1st): Annual reporting, including renewable energy certificate (REC) documentation, is due by May 1 of each year for the previous calendar year.
• Third-Party Data Verification: Energy data must be verified by an individual accredited through an approved organization (e.g. PE, Registered Architect, CEM, CEA, LEED AP O+M)
• Compliance Phases: Emissions reduction requirements begin with Compliance Period 1 (2026-2029) for non-residential properties with 100,000+ sq. ft. and 25,000 to 99,999 sq. ft. (CSF).

---

Configuration

Follow these steps to ensure that the property is ready for compliance analysis:

1. Confirm the selected Reporting Period: Emissions calculations, penalty values, and compliance pathways all depend on the selected reporting period. Change the period to see how property performance over different 12-month time frames impacts compliance.
2. Click on Details button to ensure that there is a high Data Completeness value associated with the reporting period. Data completeness should be as close to 100% as possible to ensure accurate analysis.

---

Calculating Emissions Limits

A property’s emissions limit under BEUDO is calculated as a percentage of its baseline emissions. The allowable percentage depends on the property’s size and the compliance period, and declines to zero at the net zero deadline.

Baselines

• Default Baseline: The average of calendar years 2018 and 2019.
• Alternative Baseline: Owners may select an earlier baseline based on any pair of consecutive years from 2010 through 2018. Properties using an alternative baseline must achieve an additional 2.5% reduction for every year between the start of the baseline and 2018.
• Request Deadline: Alternative Baseline requests must be submitted by December 31 of the year prior to the property’s first compliance year. The Property Configuration Form must be completed and approved first.

The report shows Baseline Emissions Values for the two years in the selected Baseline Period. Each year lists energy use and BEUDO emissions. The baseline is the average of those two years.

Maximum Allowable Emissions

The tables below show the maximum allowable emissions for each compliance period, as a percentage of baseline emissions, for large and midsize covered properties. Click here to view these tables in the source file. Non-Residential Properties with 100,000+ CSF Non-Residential Properties with 25,000 to 99,999 CSF The report repeats the schedule that matches the property’s gross floor area. Large properties use Reference Table: Maximum Allowable Emissions by Baseline Year for Large Properties 100k+ ft. sq. Midsize properties use the midsize table. The selected baseline period is highlighted.

---

Calculating Penalties

To assess potential non-compliance exposure over time, a property’s annual energy use must be calculated for each energy subtype (e.g. electricity, natural gas, district steam), converted into annual emissions using BEUDO factors, and compared against the property’s annual emissions limit. Abisko performs this entire process automatically based on the selected reporting period.

Property Emissions

Property emissions are calculated by multiplying the property’s annual consumption of each energy subtype by the corresponding BEUDO emissions factor and summing the results. Click here to view the emissions factors. Electricity Grid electricity emissions account for the Massachusetts Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). Only the non-RPS share of grid electricity is multiplied by the Electric Grid Residual Factor:

• Electric Emissions (kg CO₂e) = ((Grid Electricity (MWh) × (100% - Annual RPS Minimum)) - Voluntary RE Purchases (MWh)) × Electric Grid Residual Factor (kg CO₂e/MWh)
• Voluntary RE Purchases: Only included for properties with qualifying, City-approved Renewable Electricity purchases.

Other Fuels

• Fuel Emissions (kg CO₂e) = Energy Consumed (MMBtu) × Fuel Emissions Factor (kg CO₂e/MMBtu)

Emissions Factors: Compliance Period 1 (2026-2029)

Abisko does not extrapolate unpublished factors. Energy use after the last year with data is held flat through 2050, then reduced by any selected measures. Each year uses that year’s stored BEUDO emissions factor and RPS minimum. A missing factor adds no emissions for that energy source. The Annual Emissions chart shows 2018 through 2025.

Exceedance & Penalties

Abisko compares each year’s emissions with that year’s emissions limit.

• Alternate compliance payment = emissions over the limit (mtCO2e) × $234
• Non-compliance penalty = $300 × 365 when emissions are over the limit, and $0 when they are not

Click here to read the policy document.

Compliance Pathways & Relief

BEUDO provides several mechanisms that can reduce a property’s reported emissions or modify its reduction schedule.

Alternate compliance payments

For the first compliance period, alternate compliance payments are $234 per metric ton of CO2e over the annual limit. The City of Cambridge sets the price for later compliance periods. Abisko supplements the emissions and penalties charts with a detailed table showing BEUDO property emissions, limits, and estimated penalties through 2050. Users can use this table to identify years when the property is out of compliance and download the data for external analysis.

Renewable Electricity Procurement

• New Contract Approval: Renewable Electricity contracts must be submitted via the Renewable Electricity Approval Form in BEAM by April 1 of the year following the first compliance year in which the RECs will be used. The City responds within 90 days.
• New Procurement Types: Procurement types not listed in the Regulations may be submitted for approval before contract signing and by the end of the applicable compliance year.
• REC Retirement: Owners must attest to the quantity of RECs used by each property by the May 1 reporting deadline. Unbundled RECs cannot be resold or reassigned once purchased.

Hardship Compliance Plans

Owners facing qualifying hardships may apply for an alternative reduction schedule, alternative baseline, alternative property configuration, or energy exemption. Qualifying criteria fall into five categories:

• Financial: Bankruptcy, lack of capital, or delays in incentive programs.
• Ownership: Individual non-residential condominiums with multiple owners.
• Regulatory / Contractual: Long-term energy contracts, pre-existing leases, renewable energy delays, grid or permit delays, or conflicting standards.
• Technical / Operational: Space constraints, manufacturing loads, historical status, or baseline vacancy.
• Other: Natural disasters, an adopted long-term decarbonization strategy aligned with BEUDO, or other circumstances at the Review Board’s discretion.

Most plans require a narrative, supporting documentation, an energy audit (e.g. DOE BETTER + Asset Score, Labs2Zero, or ASHRAE Level 2), and a GHG emissions reduction schedule that replaces the property’s standard targets.

Deferral Plans

Owners may request to defer emissions reduction activities for up to five years, for example to align them with other planned work. Deferral plans must include an alternative annual reduction schedule demonstrating that total cumulative emissions do not exceed those of the standard schedule.

---

Set Baseline

Abisko calculates emissions, baselines, and limits from the BEUDO Procedures. Click Set Baseline to open the Baseline Emissions panel. A custom baseline replaces the calculated baseline for every baseline period. If none is set, Abisko uses the calculated baseline. The Baseline Period dropdown on the report chooses which two-year period that calculated baseline uses.

To add, edit, or delete a custom baseline

Property → Compliance → Exposure → Cambridge - BEUDO

• Click Set Baseline
• In the Baseline Emissions panel, the row is labeled Baseline Emissions
  • To add or edit
    1. Hover the row
    2. Click the edit icon
    3. Edit the value and save
  • To delete
    1. Hover the row
    2. Click the trash icon

Select Measures

Click Select Measures to choose proposed measures for this report. After any are selected, the button shows the count, for example 2 Measures Selected. The report then includes Cambridge BEUDO Proposed Measures, and the emissions, limits, and penalty charts account for those measures’ energy-use reductions.

---