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We can help you get on the path to compliance

What you get

We’ve partnered with Stillwater Energy to deliver the Accelerator. Together, we developed a four-month virtual training and additional year of support designed to help you understand the law, comply and achieve results in your building(s). Additionally, we’ll point you toward applicable PSE energy-management and incentive programs to support your organizational goals. What you learn with us will apply to all your buildings in the state of Washington.

When you sign up for our Clean Buildings Accelerator program, you’ll receive:

• Guidance for Clean Buildings Law compliance.
• Assistance in setting up your Energy Star Portfolio Manager account and PSE’s EnergyCAP tool for automatically benchmarking your building(s).
• Tailored coaching, virtual controls review of space- and water-heating systems, and prioritization of energy-saving opportunities.
• Templates for the required energy-management plan and operations-and-maintenance plan.

Accelerator timeline

Benefits of Accelerator participation

• Early compliance with the Clean Buildings Law, which can bring organizational peace of mind as deadlines approach.
• Catered compliance support for the nuances of your specific building(s).
• Energy savings, carbon reduction and reduced operational costs.
• An opportunity to earn early-adopter incentives from the state.
• PSE technical support throughout the entire process.
• Introduction to PSE’s incentive programs that apply directly to your needs.
• Education for facility and leadership staff around better energy management.

How you qualify

To participate in the Clean Buildings Accelerator program:

• Your building(s) must be 50,000 or more square feet and be subject to the Clean Buildings Law.
• Your buildings(s) must use PSE electricity and/or natural gas, or you must be a Seattle City Light electric customer.
• Enroll one to three qualifying buildings.
• Provide at least one designated energy champion to coordinate communications between your business and PSE.
• Outside contractors and partners are welcome.

Additional information

When you enroll in the Clean Buildings Accelerator program, you’re placed in a training cohort with which you’ll go through the entire program. To help you plan your enrollment, we’ve listed some upcoming Accelerator kickoff dates below.

Not sure if the Clean Buildings Accelerator program is right for you? Need some questions answered before you’re ready to enroll in the Accelerator? We’ve got you covered with one-hour info sessions. Register via link below.

About the Clean Buildings Law

There's a lot of information to absorb when it comes to the Clean Buildings Law. The Clean Buildings Accelerator program is here to help you understand it, but in the meantime we’ve compiled information and links below that we hope you’ll find useful.

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). For an estimate of what your penalties would be for not complying, use this calculator.

K–12 schools

Commerce is providing an allowance for K–12 school campuses subject to Tier 1 requirements of the Clean Buildings Performance Standard. K–12 schools can report all Tier 1-covered buildings as singular buildings or building complexes as defined by the CBPS or report as a K–12 school campus. This allows more flexibility and removes the barrier to submeter if multiple buildings are on a single utility meter. Many questions are addressed in the 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 FAQ section on Commerce’s website. The rulemaking is in process, and you’re welcome to join and give input. Please find the schedule here.

Department of Commerce

The Washington State Department of Commerce is charged with creating energy performance standards and guidelines. They also provide limited-time early adopter incentives to encourage rapid adoption. These incentives can be coupled with PSE incentives. Many questions are addressed on the FAQ portion of the website. Additional compliance-related resources are also available. Building owners or staff begin the process by using the Clean Buildings portal.

Energy benchmarking

Energy use intensity (EUI) is an important element to benchmarking. Building owners can identify EUI in the required Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. PSE offers its own EnergyCAP tool to assist building owners with uploading their PSE energy data automatically.

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.

Additional PSE resources

We offer a diverse array of energy-management programs that can help you continue the journey you start with the Accelerator. Participating in any of these incentive programs can help you meet and exceed your EUI target by upgrading facilities, processes and equipment with greater efficiency in mind.

Below are just a few of our programs that customers often leverage during or after their Accelerator participation. Find a complete list of all our energy-efficiency programs here.

Business Lighting
Commercial New Construction
Commercial Strategic Energy Management
Commissioning programs
Custom Retrofit Grants
HVAC programs
Industrial programs
Pay for Performance

Questions? Get in touch with us cleanbuildings@stillwaterenergy.com.