PSE is here to help
Clean Buildings Performance Standard
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). Many questions about the law are addressed in the following 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.
Don’t miss the Early Adopter Incentives
The Washington State Department of Commerce provides 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.
Multifamily Buildings
We are excited to welcome Multifamily buildings on their Clean Buildings journey. The energy and cost savings are particularly crucial and we’re here to help. PSE also has incentives and rebates to help make the upfront transitions sooner and easier. Our award-winning Clean Buildings Accelerator program for Multifamily is great place to start – and it’s free! Learn more.
Clean Buildings Accelerator
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. Learn more at an information session!
Steps to benchmarking
Energy use intensity (EUI) is an important element to benchmarking.
Step 1: Building owners can identify EUI in the required Energy STAR Portfolio Manager tool. Recorded ESPM training webinars are available. Or sign up for PSE's next live Benchmarking Workshop sessions.
Step 2: PSE offers its own EnergyCAP tool to assist building owners with uploading their PSE energy data automatically. Sign up for PSE's next live EnergyCAP session, or contact our PSE EnergyCAP System Admins for questions on your EnergyCAP account.
Department of Commerce’s Partner Support
BEACON Fellowship Assistance is tailored specifically to building owners who lack resource and staff capacity to comply with the Clean Buildings Performance Standard (CBPS). BEACON fellow support includes general CBPS education, the Clean Buildings Portal, energy benchmarking, energy management plans, operations and maintenance planning, and exemption and incentive applications.
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.
Learn the latest about the law, next steps and how it impacts your building(s)!
Our next Clean Buildings Information Session is in 3 weeks – get the details and sign up to learn more!