Support and Resources

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Supporting Roles for Compliance

Commerce serves as the administrator of the Clean Buildings Standard. We are also here for technical assistance. There can be many personnel contributing to compliance with the standard. Understanding these different roles can help you determine what support you may need to comply.

 Any individual can be responsible for more than one of these roles and they can be from within or outside the owner’s organization. The qualified energy auditor and the qualified person are the only defined roles requiring a specific license or certification.

The graphic below shows the relationship between the building owners, staff and service providers. Click here for additional details about defined roles and responsibilities.

Roles and responsibilities for building personnel

*Click on image to enlarge

Sign up for or view directories of qualified persons and qualified energy auditors

Commerce is calling on all qualified persons and qualified energy auditors to participate in our voluntary directories. The purpose of each directory is to connect building owners looking to comply with the Clean Building Performance Standard (CBPS) with individuals who meet the specific credentials required.

Sign up to be included in one or both directories:
Search the directories

Utility Role

There are two specific requirements assigned to the state’s gas and electric utilities.

  • RCW 19.27a.170, Benchmarking
    This section requires utilities to provide energy consumption data to building owners upon request. Large utilities (greater than 25,000 customers) are required to provide this data using Energy Star Portfolio Managers automated upload protocol. Smaller utilities are to provide the data to building owners in an excel document, meeting Energy Star Portfolio Manager specifications.
  • RCW 19.27A.220 State energy performance standard -Early adoption incentive program
    Commerce is to develop an early adopter incentive program to support building owners making efficiency improvements. This program is administered by Commerce. Large utilities are required to participate by making incentive payments to building owners. The incentive payments, plus administrative fees, are then deducted from the utilities public utility tax. Smaller utilities’ participation in the incentive program is optional.

If there are any training or certification programs that need to be added to this resources section, please contact us at buildings@commerce.wa.gov

Quick Links

Home
Clean Buildings Standards
Building Owner Notification
How to Comply
Clean Buildings Portal
Early Adopter Incentive Program

Compliance Deadlines

Covered commercial buildings must meet the
following reporting schedule:

June 1, 2026
More than 220,000 sq. ft.
__________________________________
June 1, 2027
More 90,000 sq. ft. but less than 220,001 sq. ft
__________________________________
June 1, 2028
More 50,000 sq. ft. but less than 90,001 sq. ft

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Submit any questions you may have using the Customer Support Form.

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Resources that Support Compliance

Compliance path flow charts

The training workshops linked below were sponsored by Avista, Clark PUD, Puget Sound Energy, Snohomish County PUD and Tacoma Power.

 
  • ASHRAE 100 Users’ Guide (link)
    Please note: This User’s Guide may not fully capture nor reflect the WA state amendments to Standard 100, as required by law. Please download and review the Integrated Document for further details.
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