The Washington DC Building Energy Performance Standards Program

Local governments throughout the United States and Canada have adopted energy benchmarking programs these last two decades. Along with energy benchmarking laws, ordinances, and voluntary programs, Building Performance Standards (BPS) are also becoming more prevalent. BPS laws are expected to be established throughout the US among different jurisdictions ranging from city requirements to state policies. Denver is one of the initial ten jurisdictions to have BPS requirements for existing buildings.

The District of Columbia's Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) has established a Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) Program to increase energy performance in existing buildings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 50% by 2032. The BEPS Program applies to all privately-owned buildings of at least 10,000 square feet, though the requirements phase in over time according to building size. The BEPS Program establishes property types and corresponding performance standards for the upcoming compliance cycle, setting a minimum threshold for energy performance for each property type. 

With the BEPS Program embarking on its first compliance cycle this year, certain privately-owned buildings and District-owned buildings that don’t meet the established BEPS energy standard will be required to take certain actions in order to accomplish compliance. Here is our comprehensive overview of the BEPS Program and what actions are required for property owners to complete for proper adherence. 

Understanding the District of Columbia’s BEPS Program

Depending on the property type, the standard may be set by ENERGY STAR Score or source energy use intensity (EUI). DOEE will reestablish new BEPS Standards every six years and re-evaluate buildings’ annual benchmarking data for compliance with the new standard for their property type.

The BEPS program has three phases, called compliance cycles. In the first compliance cycle, which runs from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2026, owners of buildings 50,000 square feet and greater that do not meet their BEPS standard must take action to improve their buildings’ performance. The first compliance cycle is six years long due to a one-year extension that DOEE granted to accommodate the disruption caused by the COVID-19 public health emergency. The second compliance cycle, running from January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2031, applies to buildings 25,000 square feet and larger. Beginning in 2033, all buildings 10,000 square feet and greater are covered by the performance regulations.

BEPS Compliance Cycle One

Buildings subject to the BEPS Program's first compliance cycle (buildings of at least 50,000 square feet) that meet or exceed the BEPS Standard for their property type are not required to take any further action during the compliance cycle, aside from submitting annual benchmarking data by April 1 of each year. Those that do not meet the BEPS Standard for their property type must complete one of the available “compliance pathways,” which include the Performance Pathway, the Standard Target Pathway, the Prescriptive Pathway, and the Alternative Compliance Pathway.

Compliance Pathways

Property owners have until April 3, 2023 to select the compliance pathway they will pursue, although owners will have the opportunity to change their selection after that date if they decided another pathway is more appropriate for their building. Note that if an owner fails to select a pathway by the April 3rd deadline, DOEE may issue a fine and select a pathway on the owner’s behalf. Building owners should review their building’s benchmarking data on Open Data DC and compare it to the BEPS standard for their building type to see if they need to select and complete a compliance pathway. The compliance pathways include:

• Standard Target Pathway

• Performance Pathway

• Prescriptive Pathway

• Alternative Compliance Pathway

Here is an overview of each of the four compliance pathways.

Standard Target Pathway

The Standard Target Pathway is only available to property type groups whose energy usage falls above the national median. Under this pathway, building owners need only reach the DOEE BEPS Standard for their property type by 2026. A list of all property types that are eligible for the Standard Target Pathway is available here.

Performance Pathway

The Performance Pathway requires a building to reduce its Site EUI as recorded in its 2019 benchmarking data by 20%. Because DOEE delayed the implementation of BEPS by a year due to COVID-19, it will allow a building owner to use an average site EUI taken from the two years preceding the first compliance cycle (2018 and 2019) as a performance baseline. Compliance with this pathway will be evaluated in 2027 based on the building's 2026 Site EUI data.

Prescriptive Pathway

The Prescriptive Pathway allows building owners to implement a set of cost-effective efficiency measures to reduce energy usage. Under this pathway, building owners will be required to complete an energy audit of their building and agree on a set of energy efficiency improvements that are projected to achieve similar reductions to the requirements of the performance pathway. This pathway gives owners a greater degree of certainty than the performance pathway about the building improvements they need to make to achieve compliance; however, it allows less flexibility in determining the package of improvements to pursue and involves submitting more documentation.

Alternative Compliance Pathway

The Alternative Compliance Pathway was designed by DOEE for circumstances in which a building owner may need to follow a compliance pathway with special criteria. This pathway contains a number of different options including compliance paths for buildings doing deep energy retrofits, newly constructed buildings, buildings that had a change in property type, or buildings facing property-specific barriers.

How to Choose a Compliance Pathway

Touchstone IQ energy and policy experts are available to help Touchstone IQ for Buildings customers identify the optimal compliance pathway for their building and identify a set of energy efficiency measures that will meet the requirements of your building’s chosen compliance path. See how we can help you comply with BEPS here. 

Once a building owner has selected a compliance pathway for a building, they have until the end of the compliance cycle, December 31, 2026, to meet the requirements of the chosen pathway. Beginning in 2027, DOEE will evaluate buildings’ performance and assess penalties of up to $10/square foot against buildings that failed to complete their selected compliance pathways. 

Building Energy Performance Standards Data Verification

On April 1, 2024, building owners in DC are required to have their benchmarking data for the calendar year 2023 verified by an approved third party. An approved data verified cannot be the building owner or an employee of the owner, nor can it be the owner’s designee who prepares and submits benchmarking data in Portfolio Manager on the owner’s behalf. Verification of benchmarking will be required every three years from 2024 on. 

Enforcement and Penalties

As mentioned above, DOEE has the authority to issue an “alternative compliance penalty” of up to $10/square foot for building owners whose buildings fail to comply with BEPS, with a maximum total penalty of $7,500,000 for a building; however, penalties will be adjusted proportionately to the building’s performance relative to the target performance for its selected compliance pathway. For example, if a building pursuing compliance via the performance pathway achieved a 10% reduction in its site EUI and not the 20% reduction needed to achieve full compliance, its maximum alternative compliance penalty would be reduced by half. See section 6.1 of the BEPS Compliance Guidebook for a chart that summarizes the method of adjustment for each compliance pathway.

Work With DC’s Trusted Building Performance Standards Experts

Touchstone IQ delivers the all-in-one solution you need for ensuring building performance standards compliance along with all other energy requirements needed for your specific property. With leading, hands-on expertise and compliance deliverables from our highly-experienced energy experts to our exclusive platform for supporting your own DC BEPS management, enjoy access to everything required for your project in one place. Our leading building performance standards consulting services are here to help you maximize your building’s potential and subsequent benefits. Schedule your free demo today or contact us with questions at any time.