Launched on July 1, 2025, the Tier 2 Early Adopter Incentive Program supports buildings between 20,000-50,001 square feet, including multifamily residential buildings over 20,000 square feet. Through a partnership with Washington state utilities, Commerce is providing $150 million in incentives to help building owners make energy-efficient upgrades.
Commerce will review and approve compliance and incentive applications, while building owners will receive incentive payments directly from their utility provider on a first-come, first-served basis. See the list of participating utilities. You can find the application process on the Clean Buildings Portal, so apply early to comply and ensure funding is available.
Program guidelines
The program offers a base incentive of $0.30 per square foot to building owners who benchmark their buildings’ energy use, identify an energy use intensity target (EUIt), and develop and implement an energy management plan and operations and maintenance program. Multifamily building owners who are willing to sign an Anti-Displacement Agreement may be eligible for an enhanced incentive amount of $.75 per square foot. The enhanced incentives qualifications may be expanding within the next few months. You can receive the latest incentive updates by subscribing to Clean Buildings updates on the right side of this page.
Tier 2 Incentive Guidebook
The Tier 2 Early Adopter Incentive Guidebook is essential reading as it provides all processes and requirements for applying to the Tier 2 Incentive Program. This guidebook does not cover all elements of the Clean Buildings Performance Standard that are otherwise covered by law or rule. Download the Tier 2 Early Adopter Incentive program guidebook (PDF).
Legislation and additional compliance details
Please refer to RCW 19.27A.220 for the legislation that established this program and visit the CBPS Tier 2 compliance webpage for additional compliance information. You can request access to the Clean Buildings Performance Standard integrated document, which includes the full glossary of terms, along with forms and templates from the Clean Buildings Performance Standard. Mandatory compliance is detailed in RCW 19.27A.210, which establishes the Clean Buildings Performance Standard, and ASHRAE Standard 100-2018 with Washington state amendments (WAC 194-50). Please note that Tier 2 buildings are only required to identify a EUIt at this time. They aren’t required to meet a performance metric.