Solutions for Property Owners & Managers
Find your building type — no square footage required. Each page explains what needs to be done and why your building has to comply.
Churches
There is no religious or nonprofit exemption — coverage runs on square footage. Here’s what congregations need to know, including the exemptions that do exist.
Multi-family living
Multi-family is the exception to the tier pattern — and it comes with the largest incentive available. Here’s what multi-family owners need to know.
Senior care facilities
Assisted living, memory care and skilled nursing are covered, and this sits alongside health licensing rather than inside it. Most of the work is documenting systems your team already maintains.
Private and small clubs
Golf, tennis and country clubs, clubhouses, lodges and member facilities are covered by Washington’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard. Here’s what your club needs to know.
Office buildings
Offices are the largest group of covered buildings in Washington. Most of the difficulty isn’t the requirements — it’s tenancy: energy data, fit-outs, and what vacancy does to your numbers.
HOAs and condo associations
Your association is the building owner — and only the space it owns counts. Here’s what condo and HOA boards need to know.
Why Your Building Has to Comply
Is Your Building Covered?
Washington’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard covers buildings by floor area — there is no exemption for nonprofits, religious organizations, or private membership. Coverage is determined by size and use:
- Commercial, more than 20,000 and up to 50,000 sq ft (excluding parking) — Tier 2. Compliance is due July 1, 2027.
- Multi-family, over 20,000 sq ft — Tier 2 at any size, including above 50,000 sq ft.
- 20,000 sq ft or less — not covered by the standard. Nothing to submit, nothing to do.
- Nonresidential over 50,000 sq ft — Tier 1, a separate program with energy performance targets. Contact us and we’ll point you in the right direction.
What Needs to Be Done
Three Requirements, One Deadline.
Tier 2 has no performance target to meet — buildings develop an EUI target and compare against it, but are not required to hit it at this time. The obligations are benchmarking, an operations & maintenance program, and an energy management plan, per ASHRAE Standard 100-2018 and WAC 194-50. Because benchmarking needs 12 consecutive months of energy data, measured within two years of your compliance date, the window to start ahead of July 1, 2027 is now.
Step 1
Benchmark
Measure and track energy use in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, establishing the building's weather-normalized energy use intensity from 12 consecutive months of whole-building data.
Step 2
O&M Program
Document major systems, maintenance tasks, frequencies, and responsibilities per ASHRAE Standard 100-2018. The program must be implemented by your compliance date.
Step 3
Energy Management Plan
Set energy performance goals, develop the building's EUI target for comparison, and plan improvements. Steps 1–3 run concurrently — the only 12-month clock is on your energy data, which must be measured within two years of your compliance date.
Step 4
Submit
File compliance documentation through the Clean Buildings Portal — submitted by a Qualified Energy Manager — by July 1, 2027, then re-report every five years.
The Stakes
The Cost of Waiting, the Payment for Acting.
Up to $0.30 per square foot
A statutory maximum that applies on non-compliance — not a payment you receive.
Payment of $0.30 per square foot
State-funded ($150M) Tier 2 Early Adopter Incentive. Requires all benchmarking, EMP, and O&M documentation submitted, and a participating utility. Rate is per gross square foot, excluding parking, unconditioned and semi-conditioned spaces, and privately owned condo dwelling units.
Multi-family owners with residential tenants who sign an Anti-Displacement Agreement are paid up to $0.75/sq ft in place of the base rate: the lower of $0.75 and your estimated compliance cost, never less than $0.30.
Applications are accepted first come, first served, in order received, and compliance and incentive submission are both due July 1, 2027. The penalty and the base incentive are unrelated amounts that happen to match — one is a fine, the other is a payment.
Don't see your building type?
More categories are on the way. In the meantime, we can map your building to its compliance pathway directly.
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