This standard is mandatory for all covered commercial buildings located in the state of Washington. It is also applied as voluntary for multifamily residential buildings seeking early adopter incentives consistent with RCW 19.27A.220. Industrial and agricultural buildings are exempt from the standard.

• A covered commercial building is a building where the sum of nonresidential, hotel, motel, and dormitory floor areas exceeds 50,000 gross square feet, excluding the parking garage area.

Building owners can expect to receive a notification letter from Commerce by July 1, 2021. This notification is informing building owners that their building needs to comply with new Clean Building Standards. The letter will include instructions on how to log into the Clean Buildings Portal and additional information on the incentive program. 

Yes! Early compliance begins June 1, 2023. Buildings who want to demonstrate compliance before their mandatory date may apply for compliance beginning June 1, 2023.

For the Early Adopter Incentive Program, an eligible building owner who meets the qualifications may submit an application to Commerce for an Early Adopter Incentive starting July 1, 2021. This incentive program is managed by Commerce in coordination with Utilities and the Dept. of Revenue. 

Qualifications for eligibility:

1. The building must be a covered commercial or multifamily building with over 50,000 square feet of gross floor area.
2. Have least one participating "qualified" electric utility, gas company or thermal energy company providing or delivering energy services.
   • This is a state incentive and can be administered in addition to utility conservation incentives.
   • Utilities who do not pay public utility taxes (PUT) are not "qualified" to participate in the Early Adopter Incentive program. Pacific Power is a participating utility in the Early Adopter Incentive Program.
3. The building must be 15 EUI (Energy Use Intensity) or more above their target.
4. The building must be brought into full compliance with the Clean Buildings Standard, and meet their EUIt (Energy Use Intensity target).     

An eligible building owner that demonstrates early compliance with the Clean Buildings Standard may receive a one-time base incentive payment of $0.85 per gross square foot of floor area, excluding parking, unconditioned, or semi-conditioned spaces. Incentive funds are limited to $75 million statewide. 

1. Get ready by reading the state energy performance standards (see Resources section below) and watching training videos and presentations produced by Commerce on the Clean Buildings Performance Standard. Start with the Clean Buildings 101 video.
2. Establish your building performance metric by benchmarking the building using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager (ESPM). Benchmarking will help to determine which compliance path to pursue. Establish the weather normalized energy use intensity (WNEUI) for each building in ESPM. Create the energy use intensity target (EUIt) for the building in accordance with Annex Z, Section Z6.2.
3. Develop and implement the Energy Management Plan (EMP) and associated Operations and Maintenance Program (O&M) for each building as outlined in Sections 5 and 6 of ASHRAE Standard 100-2018 and WAC 194-50. The EMP and O&M are mandatory requirements for all covered commercial buildings. Implementation of these requirements can begin at any time. The O&M Requirements must be implemented 12 months prior to the mandatory compliance date. 
4. Document compliance through the Clean Buildings Portal as early as July 1, 2023. Application for conditional compliance must be submitted a minimum of 180 days prior to the scheduled compliance date.