What is Washington Clean Buildings Act?
The Washington Clean Buildings Act is a state law that sets energy use intensity targets and energy management requirements for commercial buildings, run by the Department of Commerce as the Clean Buildings Performance Standard.
Who must comply in Washington
Tier 1 covers buildings whose nonresidential, hotel, motel and dormitory floor area exceeds 50,000 gross square feet, excluding parking. Tier 2 covers nonresidential buildings over 20,000 and up to 50,000 square feet, plus multifamily buildings over 20,000 square feet. Federal buildings and buildings owned by federally recognized tribes are not required to comply.
Deadlines and requirements
- Tier 1 dates per the Department of Commerce: June 1, 2026 for buildings over 220,000 square feet, June 1, 2027 for over 90,000, and June 1, 2028 for over 50,000.
- Tier 1 owners meet an EUI target or use the investment criteria pathway, and keep an energy management plan and an operations and maintenance program.
- Tier 2 owners benchmark in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, adopt both plans and report by July 1, 2027, then every five years. No performance target applies yet, and Tier 2 penalties cannot exceed $0.30 per square foot.
- Rules implementing SHB 1543 of 2025, which added compliance pathways, exemption categories and extensions, took effect August 21, 2026.
Records for the operations and maintenance program
The O&M program asks owners to show that equipment is checked and tuned on a schedule. Where rooftop units are connected through Smart Controls, the unit twin logs setpoint attainment, comfort compliance and sequence exceptions, and a maintenance alert can fire from a linked sensor such as filter pressure. Paired with site EUI from aQ EnergySmart, those logs document the program in operation.