Community & Stakeholder Outreach
In the Spring of 2023, OSE hosted two in-person BPS stakeholder workshops. These workshops involved various stakeholder groups including architects, green building designers, engineers, building trade associations, utilities, affordable housing development, environmental advocacy non-profits/NGOs such as Climate Action Santa Monica, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Sierra Club, and internal city staff from the City Attorney’s Office, Rent Control, and Housing divisions. These workshops were designed to introduce BPS, cover existing examples of active BPS policies, and get initial feedback on BPS parameters from workshop participants. The workshops featured guest speakers from the Institute of Market Transformation, New Buildings Institute, and Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency.
In conjunction with the workshops, OSE staff began participating in a Technical Assistance (TA) program offered through the National BPS Coalition and the Department of Energy National BPS TA network, which is supported by the EPA and National Laboratories. Through the TA network, OSE worked with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to develop a BPS impact analysis, building stock analysis, and cost analysis.
Staff integrated feedback from the initial stakeholder workshops and from consultations with many individual jurisdictions across the country (Cities of Boston, Washington D.C., Denver, Chula Vista, West Hollywood and others) to craft high-level elements of the BPS policy. One of the most prominent pieces of stakeholder feedback was to include more property owners in the policy development process. OSE staff took this advice and created a working group comprised of local building owners and representatives, Building Operations and Managers of Los Angeles (BOMA-LA), green building designers, architects, energy modelers, and others. Six working group meetings were held from October 2023 to April 2024 focusing on different elements of the BPS policy, including performance metrics, compliance cycles, targets, non-compliance penalties, exemptions, and building owner support programs. During the final BPS working group meeting, stakeholders reviewed Santa Monica’s BPS policy and offered final comments.
In March 2024, OSE staff provided an update on BPS policy development to the Commission on Sustainability, the Environment and Environmental Justice. On April 8, 2025, staff presented the proposed BPS ordinance to the Building and Fire Life Safety (BFLS) Commission, where it was met with support. On May 8, 2025, staff presented the proposed BPS ordinance to the Santa Monica Rent Control Board, where it was also met with support. In August 2025, [TBD], the Commission on Sustainability, the Environment and Environmental Justice passed a motion to support the proposed Building Energy Benchmarking and Building Performance Standards Ordinance (Attachment ).
During the months of April, May and June 2025, OSE staff held three online informational meetings to update the public about the BPS policy. Outreach was conducted via physical mailers sent to addresses of all 762 Covered Buildings. Virtual meeting invitations were also sent out via the Sustainable SaMo newsletter and through a City-wide blog post titled “New Santa Monica Building Performance Standards policy would help the city achieve its climate action goals.”