BERDO sets carbon emissions limits for large buildings, aiming to reduce citywide greenhouse gas emissions. The BERDO Review Board oversees this process and helps environmental justice communities benefit from the transition to low-carbon buildings.
Training That Builds Capacity
Turning BERDO’s emissions reduction goal into reality required deep technical knowledge, clear communication, and a collaborative approach. Our team of Training & Publications and Energy & Climate specialists conducted a needs assessment to understand the technical fluency of the BERDO Review Board and Department staff. Using an agile instructional design approach, we developed and delivered a three-phase training program that:
- Built foundational knowledge of building systems, emissions, and decarbonization strategies.
- Explored real-world applications, including district energy and renewable energy procurement.
- Enabled critical thinking through live case study evaluations and peer-to-peer learning.
We designed the training to be flexible, responsive, and inclusive by adapting to Open Meeting Law requirements and the participants’ diverse learning preferences. Learner evaluations indicated that the training was well-received and had high engagement.
On-Call and On-Demand Expertise
To support decision-making on key flexibility measure applications, we created a technical support system for the Review Board members that included:
- Scheduled office hours for real-time consultation.
- A searchable Q&A repository to capture and share team responses to common questions and create a lasting knowledge base for the City.
- Cursory application reviews that helped the Department evaluate hardship and flexibility requests with technical confidence.
Making Compliance Clear
One key challenge was helping building owners understand what BERDO compliance actually looks like. RDH addressed this challenge by developing a set of quick-reference guides on the following topics:
- Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits
- Renewable Energy Certificates
- Zero-Over-Time Planning
- Power Purchase Agreements
- The BERDO Compliance Process
- Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Who Does What?
These resources clarify complex topics in plain language, with clear visuals, to make compliance approachable and actionable.
A Case Study in Strategic Decision-Making
To illustrate how BERDO compliance plays out in practice, we collaborated with the Department to create a theoretical case study comparing seven retrofit scenarios for a typical Boston building. Each scenario balanced technical feasibility with real-world constraints—capital planning, tenant needs, and space limitations—offering practical insights for owners and design teams alike.
The outcomes of the study offer valuable insights into a process for evaluating compliance needs that building owners can apply to their own buildings as well as solutions that design teams can consider to meet an owner’s needs.
Download the BERDO Compliance Case Study.
By supporting this project, our team fulfilled RDH’s commitment to support building design practices that foster energy-efficient buildings and scalable, climate-resilient solutions for communities and future generations. This project exemplifies how our team doesn’t just understand how buildings work—we know how to help our clients build capacity and translate technical complexity into clear, actionable guidance.
