When wildfires hit, homes built under fire-resistant codes are surviving. Communities are noticing.

Building code changes resulted in more saved homes in the 2018 Camp Fire in California. With more frequent, intense wildfires likely, Western communities are taking a look but hearing concerns about costs and property rights.

By Amanda Loudin • June 16, 2023

To reduce carbon footprint of existing buildings, Seattle proposes new standards

Mayor Bruce Harrell called the legislation “among the most impactful proposals [the city] can advance to reduce emissions.”

By Ysabelle Kempe • June 15, 2023

Explore the Trendline➔

Energy Codes and Building Performance Standards

Cities are using these levers to meet climate goals and address everything from data centers to building decarbonization.

By Smart Cities Dive staff

New York City Housing Authority says heating system improvements reduced outages by 9%

New York City’s upgrades are just some of many taking place in municipalities across the country, with others also using energy performance contracts to save money to fund future installations.

By Joe Burns • June 12, 2023

Land-use reform efforts could bring 135K new homes to downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood

To address its acute housing shortage, the city is allowing greater housing density, relaxing parking requirements and creating affordable housing incentives and mandates in updates to decades-old community plans.

By Kalena Thomhave • June 12, 2023

Federal funding fuels modern infrastructure and economic recovery

How to leverage funding to make long-term investments that stimulate economic recovery and promote growth.

June 12, 2023

Dallas in the homestretch of ransomware attack recovery

Security operations and tools are also getting a refresh as city officials rebuild impacted systems and make upgrades across multiple departments.

By Matt Kapko • June 8, 2023

Building performance standards becoming key climate policy in US cities: report

The number of jurisdictions adopting standards has nearly doubled since 2020, with legislation enacted in three states and nine localities, says a new report by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

By Ysabelle Kempe • June 6, 2023

Collecting data to support energy-burdened communities poses unique challenges, experts say

Census data isn’t collected often enough to reflect neighborhood demographic shifts, and asking communities to self-report can present additional burdens, panelists said at a clean energy summit.

By Diana DiGangi • May 24, 2023

The ‘infrastructure decade’ is here, but challenges loom for local governments at the helm

“Money is flowing, grant applications are live, private capital is ready to move. But there are real constraints to achieving public goals,” Brookings Metro Senior Fellow Adie Tomer said at an event last week.

By Ysabelle Kempe • May 23, 2023

In San Jose, city climate plans must have ‘the cool factor’

After winning a national climate leadership award, the city’s chief sustainability officer discussed how libraries can win over electric stove skeptics and how house parties might boost community engagement.

By Ysabelle Kempe • May 22, 2023

Los Angeles mayor announces next steps in plan to build shelters, housing on city properties

Mayor Karen Bass said she would spend the rest of her term trying to make “the disposition and development of City owned land faster, cheaper, and more streamlined” in a Tuesday letter to the public.

By Ysabelle Kempe • May 18, 2023

How NYC is preparing its infrastructure for extreme weather

Thu-Loan Dinh, who helps lead infrastructure design for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, discusses the agency’s biggest resilience concerns and how to address them.

By Julie Strupp • May 17, 2023

Why Boston is turning bus stops into digital pop-up libraries

Users are not required to have a library card or download an app to access the primarily English- and Spanish-language offerings.

By Ysabelle Kempe • May 16, 2023

NYC hotel reopens as asylum seeker center

The reopening of the Roosevelt Hotel will give the city a space to offer resources and short-term housing to a rising number of asylum seekers.

By Jenna Graber • May 16, 2023

NREL energy audit tool may help cities meet climate, building decarbonization goals

Local governments often lack the staff and resources to conduct energy audits on thousands of buildings, an engineer at the National Renewable Energy Lab said, but technology can help overcome those challenges.

By Joe Burns • May 16, 2023

Parking minimums will soon be history in Austin, Texas

“Our priority should be allowing space for people rather than mandating space for cars,” City Council member Zohaib Qadri said.

By Michael Brady • May 12, 2023

Bank failures could slow new apartment construction

Last year’s interest rate hikes have made it more challenging to get construction loans, which could slow multifamily construction starts by 60%, one real estate executive said.

By Leslie Shaver • May 9, 2023

Dallas restores core emergency dispatch systems after ransomware attack

“At this point, we do not have evidence or indication that there has been data removed during this attack,” Dallas CIO Bill Zielinski told city officials Monday.

By Matt Kapko • May 9, 2023

Advocates push for housing owned by communities, rather than by investors

It’s still unclear what broad-scale programs would look like, but there is some evidence that decommodifying housing can work.

By Gaby Galvin • May 4, 2023

How governments are updating ‘operational technologies,’ including AI, and the challenges that remain: survey

Over half of the survey respondents reported their agency plans to upgrade systems by 2025, a Center for Digital Government and Samsara survey found. Operational efficiency and cost savings are a big reason why.

By Michael Brady • May 4, 2023

California spent $1.3B in cap-and-trade funds on climate, equity projects in 2022

The California Climate Investments funding addressed affordable housing, transportation, energy costs, extreme heat, fire, access to clean drinking water and more, a California Air Resources Board official said.

By Kalena Thomhave • May 2, 2023

Affordable, all-electric and energy-efficient housing gets $15M boost from NYC initiative

The initiative “will demonstrate to the affordable housing market a highly replicable new construction solution,” said Doreen Harris, president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

By Ysabelle Kempe • May 2, 2023

Flying taxis are coming. Cities will need dozens of vertiports.

By 2030, just one eVTOL operator could operate nearly seven times as many flights per day as the nation’s second-largest airline, estimates McKinsey and Co.

By Dan Zukowski • May 1, 2023

Women, people of color, renters underrepresented on land-use boards: report

Homeownership and other requirements could create barriers to participation that “function as inexplicit racial filters,” an Urban Institute report found.

By Gaby Galvin • April 28, 2023

First state law banning gas in new buildings passes in New York

The law does not include a “poison pill” provision backed by the oil and gas industry, which environmental and social justice advocates had worried would make its way into the measure.

By Ysabelle Kempe • Updated Dec. 21, 2023