Clean Buildings Accelerator
Join us and Seattle City Light for a Clean Buildings Law Open House!
Get expert help, free guidance, and one-on-one support on Washington's Clean Buildings Law!
- Who: PSE and City Light commercial and multi-family property owners and managers
- Date: Wednesday, May 14
- Time: 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
- Location: Tukwila
We can help you get on the path to compliance
PSE is here to help you comply with Washington’s Clean Buildings Law (HB 1257, 2019). Our Clean Buildings Accelerator program unpacks the complex law, meets you where you’re at with your energy use, and teaches you how to comply and go beyond through a hands-on approach using your own building(s).
We’ll also help you leverage additional PSE energy-management and incentive programs throughout the entire process. Best part: there's no cost to participate in the Accelerator. It starts with enrolling.
Here’s a quick look at the Accelerator
This video covers how our Clean Buildings Accelerator program came to be, talks about what is required of commercial building owners in terms of the Clean Buildings Law, and shows you how PSE’s Accelerator can help you get on track to comply with the law and go beyond.
What you get
We’ve partnered with Stillwater Energy to deliver the Accelerator. Together, we developed a four-month virtual training and additional year of support designed to help you understand the law, comply and achieve results in your building(s). Additionally, we’ll point you toward applicable PSE energy-management and incentive programs to support your organizational goals. What you learn with us will apply to all your buildings in the state of Washington.
When you sign up for our Clean Buildings Accelerator program, you’ll receive:
- Guidance for Clean Buildings Law compliance.
- Assistance in setting up your Energy Star Portfolio Manager account and PSE’s EnergyCAP tool for automatically benchmarking your building(s).
- Tailored coaching, virtual controls review of space- and water-heating systems, and prioritization of energy-saving opportunities.
- Templates for the required energy-management plan and operations-and-maintenance plan.
Accelerator timeline
Learn how the law affects your buildings and how PSE's no-cost Accelerator program can help.
Discuss law basics and nuances in the Accelerator group kickoff session with your energy team. Receive a 45-minute, one-on-one coaching call.
Learn about energy use intensity, state targets and tools as they relate to your buildings. Receive a 45-minute, one-on-one coaching call.
Receive a virtual controls review for low- and no-cost opportunities in up to 3 of your building’s largest energy systems.
Implement tools and templates to create required operations-and-maintenance and energy-management plans. Receive a 45-minute, one-on-one coaching call.
Cultivate buy-in for energy improvement and overcome organizational barriers. Receive a 45-minute, one-on-one coaching call.
Continue on your journey with three quarterly technical seminars, three quarterly one-on-one coaching calls, and support from PSE's energy-management programs and upgrade incentives.
Benefits of Accelerator participation
- Early compliance with the Clean Buildings Law, which can bring organizational peace of mind as deadlines approach.
- Catered compliance support for the nuances of your specific building(s).
- Energy savings, carbon reduction and reduced operational costs.
- An opportunity to earn early-adopter incentives from the state.
- PSE technical support throughout the entire process.
- Introduction to PSE’s incentive programs that apply directly to your needs.
- Education for facility and leadership staff around better energy management.
How you qualify
To participate in the Clean Buildings Accelerator program:
- Your building(s) must be 50,000 or more square feet and be subject to the Clean Buildings Law.
- Your buildings(s) must use PSE electricity and/or natural gas, or you must be a Seattle City Light electric customer.
- Enroll one to three qualifying buildings.
- Provide at least one designated energy champion to coordinate communications between your business and PSE.
- Outside contractors and partners are welcome.
Additional information
What is a virtual Clean Buildings Accelerator info session?
Watch this video for a peek at what you’ll learn in a virtual one-hour info session for the Clean Buildings Accelerator program. Register for one of the dates listed above to attend a live session and get all your questions answered.
About the Clean Buildings Law
There's a lot of information to absorb when it comes to the Clean Buildings Law. The Clean Buildings Accelerator program is here to help you understand it, but in the meantime we’ve compiled information and links below that we hope you’ll find useful.
Initiative overview
The Clean Buildings Standard (HB 1257, 2019) was signed into law in May, 2019. It aims to lower energy and fossil fuel use in commercial buildings across Washington. Building owners with structures over 50,000 square feet were notified via hard-copy letters sent by Commerce in September of 2021. Compliance deadlines begin in 2026 depending on building size. Energy targets must be met and operational one year prior to building size deadlines or incur penalties (scroll to Z5.4 on the page). For an estimate of what your penalties would be for not complying, use this calculator. Many questions about the law are addressed in the following FAQ document.
K–12 schools
Commerce is providing an allowance for K–12 school campuses subject to Tier 1 requirements of the Clean Buildings Performance Standard. K–12 schools can report all Tier 1-covered buildings as singular buildings or building complexes as defined by the CBPS or report as a K–12 school campus. This allows more flexibility and removes the barrier to submeter if multiple buildings are on a single utility meter. Many questions are addressed in the FAQ document.
Tier 2 Buildings: 20,000 to 50,000 square feet and multifamily
On March 25, 2022, the Clean Buildings expansion bill (SB 5722, 2022) was signed into law. The expansion adds a second tier that applies to buildings 20,000 square feet or larger and includes multifamily buildings. To find out more about the expansion of the law and Tier 2 buildings, please view the fact sheet and the compliance requirement documents on Commerce’s website.
Department of Commerce
The Washington State Department of Commerce is charged with creating energy performance standards and guidelines. They also provide limited-time early adopter incentives to encourage rapid adoption. These incentives can be coupled with PSE incentives. Please find more information in the Early Adopter Incentive Guidebook. Additional compliance-related resources are also available. Building owners or staff begin the process by using the Clean Buildings portal.
Energy benchmarking
Energy use intensity (EUI) is an important element to benchmarking. Building owners can identify EUI in the required Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. PSE offers its own EnergyCAP tool to assist building owners with uploading their PSE energy data automatically.
Contractor assistance
The following links lead to growing directories of qualified persons and qualified energy auditors who can assist building owners to comply with the Law. PSE also maintains a list of prequalified commissioning professionals.
Additional PSE resources
We offer a diverse array of energy-management programs that can help you continue the journey you start with the Accelerator. Participating in any of these incentive programs can help you meet and exceed your EUI target by upgrading facilities, processes and equipment with greater efficiency in mind.
Below are just a few of our programs that customers often leverage during or after their Accelerator participation. Find a complete list of all our energy-efficiency programs here.
Business Lighting
Commercial New Construction
Commercial Strategic Energy Management
Commissioning programs
Custom Retrofit Grants
HVAC programs
Industrial programs
Pay for Performance
Questions? Get in touch with us cleanbuildings@stillwaterenergy.com.
Interested in learning more about the Clean Buildings Accelerator program?
If you have a quick question and are a contractor, building owner or facility staff, the Smart Buildings Center offers coaching during office hours via phone, virtual meetings and email.
KG Investment Properties: Read this business customer’s thoughts on how the Accelerator saved them time and money by not having to create Clean Buildings trainings for their employees.
UW Bothell: A PSE business customer shares how the Accelerator helped their team feel more confident in meeting Clean Buildings Law standards.
Steilacoom Historical School District No. 1: Hear from this business customer how the Accelerator cleared up gray areas and helped them navigate their way toward compliance.
2024 AEE Regional Award Winner
2024 AESP Energy Award Winner for Program Design & Implementation for Commercial & Industrial
E Source 2023 Achievement in Business Customer Experience
Fortnightly Top Innovators 2023
EEI Edison Award