Through partnerships, grant-funded research, and statewide convenings, StopWaste has helped shape multifamily energy policy and develop practical tools for building upgrades. This page highlights key initiatives including the Multifamily Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee (MF HERCC) and deliverables from a California Energy Commission grant.

MF HERCC Partnership

Since 2010, StopWaste has convened the Multifamily Home Energy Coordinating Committee (MF HERCC), which was a subcommittee of the U.S. EPA's California Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee. As chair of the MF HERCC, StopWaste works with stakeholders in the multifamily sector to develop multifamily energy upgrade program design recommendations and standards. These recommendations have influenced the design of ratepayer-funded multifamily energy upgrade programs, leading to increased participation.

In 2015, MF HERCC updated and published two reports:

Multifamily HERCC Recommendations Report

This report provides consensus-based recommendations for the refinement of Energy Upgrade California Multifamily programs authorized by the California Public Utilities Commission. The recommendations are intended to help program administrators and evaluators design and implement ratepayer incentive programs for the multifamily sector. This report also provides insights into multifamily market conditions for low-income housing programs, for emerging programs such as those funded by cap and trade revenue, and programs that will be defined and implemented by California's Assembly Bill 758.

Multifamily Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee Combustion Safety Testing Protocols

These protocols are intended to be used in conjunction with the Building Performance Institute's (BPI) Technical Standards for the Building Analyst Professional, helping to clarify how to perform Combustion Appliance Safety testing in multifamily buildings.

CEC Grant to Accelerate Multifamily Building Upgrades

In 2017, the StopWaste Energy Council received a $1 million grant from the California Energy Commission to manage a project aimed at increasing the number of energy upgrades in California's existing multifamily buildings through policy research and tool development. The grant deliverables included this comprehensive overview video of new features of EnergyPro Lite – a low cost assessment tool – along with the following reports:

Accelerating Electrification of California’s Multifamily Buildings

This report, Accelerating Electrification of California’s Multifamily Buildings, is a deliverable for the Accelerating Multifamily Building Upgrades project. This project was funded by the California Energy Commission’s Local Government Challenge grant. The report provides policy context (Part 1) and functional technical information (Part 2) to accelerate the electrification of California’s existing multifamily buildings. Part 1, The Value Proposition of Electrification in Multifamily Housing, reviews the historical and policy context for multifamily building electrification, addresses the

Energy Benchmarking For Multifamily Buildings

Building energy benchmarking involves collecting basic building information (such as year built, construction type and occupancy type) and at least one year of monthly energy usage data to compare a building’s energy use to similar buildings. Benchmarking provides building owners and managers with objective data on their property’s energy performance. Better data helps owners and managers accurately value efficiency improvements. Studies show that more efficient buildings command higher lease rates and have increased asset value at resale. Applies to buildings greater than 50,000 square feet

Rental Housing Potential Study

Achieving deep carbon reductions in rental properties is complicated because building owners often have little incentive to invest in energy efficiency when their tenants are the ones who foot the utility bills, an obstacle known as a “split incentive.” For this study, StopWaste and Franklin Energy surveyed and interviewed local government staff from 26 California jurisdictions to understand the characteristics of their rental housing inspection programs. Because we did not identify any California jurisdictions that have energy efficiency requirements as part of their rental housing inspection

Multifamily Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee Convenings

Since 2010, StopWaste has convened the Multifamily Subcommittee of the U.S. EPA's California Home Energy Retrofit Coordinating Committee. Over the course of the grant, MF HERCC was convened on three separate occasions to present on and discuss issues pertinent to energy upgrades in the existing multifamily sector.

  • April 24, 2018 — Low-Cost Assessment Tool and Benchmarking
  • October 30, 2018 — Financing, LCAT and Benchmarking Updates
  • October 27–28, 2020 — Equity and Multifamily Housing
    • Day 1: Equity, Energy & Multifamily Housing
    • Day 2: An Inflection Point for MF Energy Programs

View Committee Presentations