The Department of Commerce received funding in the 2023-2025 capital budget to establish a workgroup to analyze the cost of complying with the Clean Buildings Performance Standard. The workgroup was tasked with analyzing the financial investments required for owners of tier 1 covered buildings to comply with the state energy performance standard under RCW 19.27A.210; and to make recommendations to the legislature to help building owners achieve compliance.
Commerce partnered with consultants SBW, Unrooz, and the 2050 Institute to facilitate the workgroup and to complete the financial analysis. The group began meeting monthly in September, 2023 and held the final meeting in July, 2024. The workgroup included representatives from state agencies, higher education, state board of community and technical colleges, K-12 schools, health care, local government, utilities and privately owned buildings. The final legislative report includes a list of recommendations from this workgroup about supporting building owners with the cost of compliance, growing workforce capacity within institutions and the market, and aligning policies and regulations.
