sustainability planning for 2026: drop the jargon and get back to basics
There has been so much noise in 2025 about the politics of sustainability and climate adaptation and mitigation. The reality is, and always has been, that building and operating efficient, healthy and resilient buildings just makes sense. As we head into 2026, this continues to be the case, driven by a number of key factors:
Energy costs continue to increase across the country as demand rises and aging infrastructure is pushed to its limits.
Many cities, counties and states are enacting strict regulations to limit energy use and carbon emissions for new and existing buildings.
Weather-related losses continue to increase, raising insurance premiums and impacting property values during sale and refinancing.
The tenant flight to quality continues to broaden the gap between high performing healthy resilient buildings and the rest of the building stock.
So don’t get caught up in jargon, just get back to basics running good buildings,
and get a jump on these critical areas as you plan for 2026:
1) Utility cost budgeting
Review your 2026 energy and water budgets. Utilities across the country are passing along the high costs of infrastructure upgrades to their rate payers. This is true for energy and water. Water rates have been historically low across east coast, but that is starting to change.
Do you understand your energy bill, the components that make up your total cost, and what you can do to lower your bills?
Do you have large demand charges from spikes in energy when you and your tenants turn on major HVAC systems?
Have you accounted for things that could impact your 2026 utility expense such as rate increases, occupancy and tenancy changes?.
Do you buy your electricity directly from the utility or can you select your own (typically cheaper) supplier?
Do you pass energy costs through to your tenants and are they metered and billed accurately?
What about your water bills? Do you have large water consuming tenants like gyms or restaurants and are they paying for what they use?
2) Local Energy Regulations
Does your building have to comply with local energy or emissions regulations such as benchmarking, tune-ups or building performance standards in 2026 or within the next 3-5 years?
Over 40 cities and 6 states have laws that require annual energy and water benchmarking or tune-up requirements for large buildings.
Find out if your building has benchmarking or energy tune-up requirements. Tune-up laws are typically on 5- or 10-year cycles and are often overlooked.
Do you know if your building is subject to a current or upcoming BPS and if it is on track to comply over the next 2-5 and 5-10 years?
Over 132 cities, counties, and states have enacted “Building Performance Standard” (BPS) laws that set limits on energy and/or emissions from existing buildings with annual fines for non-compliance reaching into the millions of dollars.
If you your building is subject to a BPS, you should develop a compliance roadmap that includes performance improvements, tenant engagement and capital planning measures to meet BPS performance requirements and avoid fines. Local utilities often have rebates and incentives to offset the cost of these studies. See CodeGreen’s recent article on “Planning for 2026 BPS”
3) Climate Risk and Resilience
Is your building exposed to weather-related risks like flooding, storms, wind or fire? Have you recently experienced a severe weather event or warning?
You can perform a low-cost desktop evaluation of weather-related risks at for one or many of your buildings to screen for potential issues. If you know there is risk at youat a specific building, you should perform an onsite resilience assessment. ASTM recently released standard E3429-24 for Property Resilience Assessments to ensure building owners get clear and actionable recommendations to reduce risks and protect investments. The PRA evaluates risks and includes recommended actions to mitigate potential risks to the property and business continuity.
4) Tenant Collaboration and Retention
Organizations of all sizes have agreed that working in the office is beneficial for their business. As a result, leading companies continue to create compelling workplaces to attract top talent. These organizations are looking for energy efficient buildings that provide comfortable healthy and resilient settings for their staff. Onsite renewable energy and storage are attractive for sustainability and resilient back-up power needs.
Are your tenants asking about your building’s energy and water performance? Does your building have an Energy Star Score or Energy Letter Grade?
Are prospective tenants asking about energy regulatoryenergy or emissions fines from a BPS (like NYC LL97, DC BEPS, Boston BERDO) and if they will be expected to contribute to building upgrades or potential fines?
Are you working with tenants to collect their energy and water use data so you can comply with reporting regulations?
Building owners need to develop a proactive and collaborative relationship with tenants to address energy, sustainability and regulatory topics. You will need to work together to address these complex issues.
Next Steps for 2026
Whether you have one building or one hundred, a holistic approach to energy efficiency, sustainability and resilience is required to stay competitive in today’s real estate landscape. These core concepts above are not new, but they still require planning, attention and ongoing management.
CodeGreen’s multi-disciplinary team of experts can help you evaluate these core areas, develop a plan and help you stay on track throughout the year.
Contact us to get a head start on 2026!