(Nonresidential and Multifamily Buildings 20,000+ Square Feet)   

Benchmarking Technical Assistance Available 

New compliance guides are available! Check out the revised step-by-step How to Guide and Annual Update Guide that are now in an interactive format to help you easily navigate all compliance steps and track your progress. They can also be saved as you complete each step, to check off what you have completed, and easily resume where you left off.   

Contact the help desk for support: The City of Seattle in partnership with Building Potential provides support and technical assistance through the benchmarking help desk. Schedule a 1:1 appointment or email energybenchmarking@seattle.gov for help with anything from troubleshooting why your property is showing up as non-compliant or resolving a technical reporting error.* 

New to benchmarking or have general questions? Starting April 1, the benchmarking help desk will host virtual drop-in office hours on most Tuesdays from 11–12 p.m. Drop-in office hours, held over Zoom, are a Q + A forum open to all, but best suited for customers new to benchmarking. See the registration for more information or to sign up now.  

*Please note — volume is high around the benchmarking deadline. Inquiries are typically responded to in 2–3 business days in the order received. 

2025 Light Coaching Cohorts —Sign Up Now! 

Seattle City Light incentives complement efforts to tune up your buildings and comply with upcoming State and City performance standards. Capital equipment upgrades to HVAC and lighting systems are common paths to greater efficiency, but operational improvements to existing systems can also qualify for a “Durable Operations and Maintenance (O&M)” incentive. Completing voluntary actions in your Seattle Building Tune-Up that produce quantifiable electricity savings can receive a Durable O&M incentive of $0.33/ kWh saved or 70% of the project cost, whichever is lower. 

Recently, a Seattle-based business optimized the operation of its refrigeration system. The change resulted in annual electricity cost savings of more than $30,000, and they received a durable O&M incentive that covered 70% of the project cost. Learn more about City Light's full suite of incentive offerings for businesses here or by contacting an Energy Advisor at sclenergyadvisor@seattle.gov. Please contact an Energy Advisor before starting any upgrades to confirm eligibility. 

Commerce awards $55.5 million to help building owners meet Clean Building Performance Standard

Seventy building owners across Washington, including several in Seattle, received $45 million in Clean Buildings Performance Grant funding from the Washington State Department of Commerce. The awarded building owners, which include private and public entities, will use the funds to make energy-efficient upgrades that support compliance with the Washington Clean Buildings Performance Standard (WA CBPS). Learn more about the grantees here. 

Rulemaking and Implementation Continues 

Work to develop the required BEPS Director’s Rule and to implement BEPS continues. In early May, OSE is planning to host two webinars that will educate the public about BEPS and prepare people for the upcoming public comment period for the Director’s Rule draft. Subscribers of this newsletter will be notified about the webinars when registration information is finalized, and owners with buildings covered by BEPS will be sent a mailer informing them of the webinars. 

In the meantime, catch up on rulemaking technical meetings on the BEPS website. 

Featured BEPS FAQ 

Is Seattle BEPS the same as the Washington Clean Building Performance Standard (WA CBPS)? 

No. Both laws are building performance standards, but WA CBPS is an energy standard while BEPS is an emissions standard. In other words, WA CBPS seeks to reduce the overall amount of energy a building uses, while BEPS focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The key metric for WA CBPS is the Energy Use Intensity (EUI), which is measured in thousands of British thermal units per square foot per year (kBtu/SF/yr), while BEPS tracks Greenhouse Gas Intensity (GHGI), measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent per square foot per year (kgCO2e/SF/yr). Both laws require buildings to lower their respective energy or emissions metrics over time.  

The two laws are similar in intent but have different deadlines and requirements — being in compliance with one does not mean your building is in compliance with the other. You can learn more about the WA CBPS on the Commerce Department’s website, which is the entity owners must report to for WA CBPS compliance. The City of Seattle will only accept compliance reporting for BEPS, starting in 2027. 

Find more answers on our FAQs page.  

4/1, 10-11 a.m.: Lighting Design Lab Webinar: Don’t Be Burned by Boiler Decarb Retrofits 

Stet Sandborn, AIA, FASHRAE, will present on strategies to right size all-electric retrofits, including make-ready steps to avoid unnecessary costs and delivery challenges share real world examples and lessons learned. He will also share out key technical resources to dive beyond the hype and deliver high-quality, high-performance retrofits that will achieve decarbonization goals. Sign up for the webinar here. 

Recorded: Lessons Learned on Commercial Hot Water Heat Pump Installations 

This recorded Light Design Lab presentation covers the lessons learned from 5 years of commercial hot water heat pump installations. Learn what is working for installations.