Boston BERDO (Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance) in Scaler

This article explains how Boston BERDO is represented in Scaler, including which buildings are considered in scope, how emissions performance is evaluated, and how BERDO analytics can be used to support compliance monitoring and decision-making.

Building Performance Standards (BPS) are regulations that require large buildings to meet progressively stricter energy or carbon emissions limits over time.

Boston BERDO (Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance) is Boston's Building Performance Standard. It requires large buildings to report annual emissions, meet emissions intensity limits, and pay an Alternative Compliance Payment (ACP) if those limits are exceeded.

Scaler supports BERDO by calculating emissions intensity, assigning applicable thresholds based on property type, and visualizing compliance status for eligible assets.

Tip: The easiest way to view BERDO compliance for your portfolio is the Local Regulations page in Analytics Portal. This article explains the methodology behind what you see there. See Using the Local Regulations page.

BERDO applies to buildings in Boston, Massachusetts that exceed specified floor-area thresholds. The ordinance also defines a tier structure:

Note: BERDO also defines tier eligibility by residential unit count for multifamily buildings (Tier 1: 35+ units, Tier 2: 15–34 units). Scaler currently determines tier eligibility from gross floor area only.

Scaler's current scope

Scaler evaluates all assets ≥20,000 sqft located in Boston. Tier 1 vs. Tier 2 differentiation is not yet applied — all in-scope assets are currently evaluated against BERDO emissions thresholds regardless of tier.

Scaler evaluates whether an asset is subject to BERDO using location, size, and property type criteria.

An asset is considered subject to BERDO if:

BERDO applies only if the asset's Gross floor area is at least 20,000 square feet.

Why Building Units are required

BERDO emissions intensity thresholds vary by property type. A single building can contain multiple property types — for example, retail on the ground floor and residential on upper floors. Each property type has a different BERDO threshold.

Building Units allow Scaler to:

Coverage requirement

Building Units must collectively cover 100% of the asset's GFA – Tenant area. Without complete coverage, Scaler cannot calculate BERDO compliance.

Each Building Unit requires:

To verify which property types are ESPM-aligned, see Property-type mapping (GRESB, CRREM, ULI, ESPM).

For assets with a single property type, Scaler applies the BERDO emissions intensity threshold corresponding to that property type.

For assets with multiple property types, Scaler calculates a weighted emissions intensity threshold based on each Building Unit's floor area and property type.

WEIGHTED_TARGET = Σ(UNIT_AREA × BERDO_THRESHOLD_FOR_UNIT_TYPE) ÷ Σ(UNIT_AREA)

This ensures mixed-use buildings are evaluated proportionally across their constituent uses.

Scaler compares the asset's actual emissions intensity to its applicable BERDO threshold:

Result categories:

For non-compliant assets, BERDO defines a financial penalty known as the Alternative Compliance Payment, calculated from the excess emissions above the applicable threshold multiplied by the per-ton ACP rate. ACP rates are set by the City of Boston and may be revised over time — for the currently published rate, refer to the City of Boston BERDO page.

To calculate BERDO compliance, the following fields must be populated:

Asset-level fields:

Building Unit fields:

Recommended:

Navigate to: Data Collection Portal → Asset → Building Units

For each Building Unit:

To verify which property types are ESPM-aligned, see Property-type mapping (GRESB, CRREM, ULI, ESPM).

For more detail on filling in Building Unit fields, see Building units: Setting up & entering data.

Navigate to: Analytics Portal → Portfolio → Regulatory → Local Regulations

The Building Performance Standards section shows portfolio-level BERDO compliance status, estimated ACP exposure, and year-by-year detail for each in-scope asset. The Benchmarking section tracks BERDO annual reporting obligations.

For a full walkthrough, see Using the Local Regulations page.

Navigate to: Analytics Portal → Portfolio → Asset List

The BPS: Boston BERDO column displays compliance status for all applicable assets in your portfolio.

If your organization has configured custom BERDO pathways, you can view asset performance against those pathways:

Navigate to: Analytics Portal → Portfolio/Asset → Roadmap Analysis → GHG Emissions

To learn how to set up custom pathways, see Setting and viewing targets, pathways & benchmarks.

If BERDO compliance does not appear for an asset, it is typically due to one or more of the following: