Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia is the sixth largest city in the United States, and one of the most historically significant cities in the country as the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence. The city is home to about 1.6 million residents, with a metropolitan area of over six million people. The city’s building stock, which is older and smaller compared to other major cities, accounts for approximately 65% of Philadelphia’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In 2021, Philadelphia committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, which includes working towards 100% clean electricity and reducing emissions from buildings.
Philadelphia Programs, Policies, and Strategies
In 2021, the City released theClimate Action Playbook, which serves as a guide for continued action on climate in Philadelphia. The City will be updating their CAP in 2026, and in the meantime continues to implement two key building energy policies: theBuilding Energy Benchmarking Program and theBuilding Energy Performance Program, which require large buildings to report their annual energy performance to the City and implement low-cost tune-ups to improve their energy performance. In July 2024, the City released theEnergy Poverty Alleviation Strategy, a roadmap for ensuring that all Philadelphians, especially the City’s historically marginalized and vulnerable communities, can participate in and benefit from Philadelphia’s clean energy transition.
Creating a fair, multi-decade decarbonization strategy in Philadelphia will require a strategy for protecting and supporting workers. In 2021, the City released the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) Business Diversification Study, which assesses potential decarbonization pathways that would allow PGW, the City’s municipally-owned gas utility, to operate in a low-carbon future while thriving financially and protecting its 1,600-person workforce. BEI, in partnership with the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, conducted a follow-up study, titled Philadelphia Building Decarbonization Workforce Impacts And Opportunities, to assess the costs and skillset alignments of various decarbonization pathways with the existing gas utility workforce. The report finds that by deploying multiple fossil fuel-free technologies, including large-scale district geothermal networks (also known as Thermal Energy Networks, or TENs), and collaborating closely with the existing workforce, the City can create new economic innovation opportunities for PGW and career paths for its workers.
BEI is now working with the City’s Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and Philadelphia Housing and Development Corporation (PHDC) to conduct a study to evaluate the conditions and retrofit needs of affordable multifamily rental housing in the City, helping to advance the City’s commitment to improve rental housing quality and resilience. BEI is working with stakeholders to develop recommendations to bridge funding gaps in affordable housing preservation projects. The goal is to protect and preserve more affordable housing while also ensuring housing conditions are up to code and homes are resilient to climate change. Additionally, BEI is partnering with the City’s housing, energy, and health staff to develop a shared understanding of policy opportunities to improve the energy performance of rental units.
Throughout 2026, BEI will continue to support Philadelphia’s just transition to a clean energy future and work closely with City staff and local partners to help reduce local energy burdens, create good-paying local jobs, and improve the quality and resilience of the citywide housing stock.
