Atlanta Enacts New Sustainability Requirements for Commercial Building Owners and Tenants | Practical Law

Atlanta Enacts New Sustainability Requirements for Commercial Building Owners and Tenants | Practical Law

The Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance requiring certain commercial property owners and tenants to track and disclose their energy and water usage. These requirements will go into effect on June 22, 2015 for privately owned commercial property.

Atlanta Enacts New Sustainability Requirements for Commercial Building Owners and Tenants

by Practical Law Real Estate
Published on 20 May 2015 • Georgia
The Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance requiring certain commercial property owners and tenants to track and disclose their energy and water usage. These requirements will go into effect on June 22, 2015 for privately owned commercial property.
On March 24, 2015, the Atlanta City Council passed Ordinance 15-O-1101, which requires covered commercial property owners and tenants to track their electricity and water usage. The ordinance is part of an effort by Mayor Kasim Reed's Office of Sustainability to:
  • Reduce commercial energy usage by 20% by 2030.
  • Reduce Atlanta's carbon emissions by 50% of 2013 levels by 2030.
  • Create 1,000 jobs a year for the first few years.
This ordinance applies to:
  • Most city-owned property that exceeds 10,000 gross square feet of combined floor area.
  • All privately owned Georgia Property Codes Class C (commercial), E (tax exempt), P (preferential) or V (conservation) property that exceeds 50,000 square feet of combined floor area.
After January 1, 2017, the limit for privately owned property will be lowered from 50,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet.
Properties exempt from the ordinance include those where:
  • There is no Certificate of Occupancy for the entire calendar year.
  • Over 50% of the tenants are residential.
  • The owner is not responsible for any of the operations, maintenance or utility costs.
Property owners will be required to monitor their energy and water consumption using a free application managed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This information must then be submitted to the City of Atlanta, who will make the results available for the public.
In addition, owners must complete an energy audit every ten years and file a summary report with the city that identifies possible ways to reduce energy and water consumption. However, owners are not required to actually implement these steps.
Under the ordinance, an owner is defined to include:
  • An individual or entity possessing fee title to a covered property.
  • A single tenant under a triple net lease.
  • A tenant under a net lease with a term of at least 49 years.
  • A condominium board of directors.
  • A co-op board of directors.
  • An authorized agent on behalf of any of the above.
Property owners and tenants of covered properties should take immediate steps to ensure compliance under the ordinance before the June 22 deadline for non-city owned property.