Attention Tier 1 (greater than 220,000 square feet) building owners who haven’t started with compliance

The compliance deadline for Tier 1 buildings greater than 220,000 square feet is June 1, 2026.

If you’re the owner of a building subject to the Clean Building Performance Standard (CBPS) and have not yet started the compliance process, please begin now and develop a plan to meet the CBPS requirements for your building. Buildings that don’t meet the requirements by the compliance deadline may face a penalty.

• Is your building exempt? If the building meets at least one of the exemption criteria listed in Section Z4.1 of the CBPS, it’s not too late to apply for exemption. Apply for exemption through the Clean Buildings Portal.
• Are you interested in applying for one of the newly proposed compliance pathways or exemptions? We’ll announce when applications open in the Clean Buildings Bulletin. To receive updates, please visit www.commerce.wa.gov/cbps to subscribe or complete the interest form to be notified.
• Are you interested in applying for an extension? Building owners can apply for an extension up to six months before or after the compliance deadline. Extension applications won’t be accepted until the new extension rules are codified. We’ll announce when the exemption application becomes available through the Clean Buildings Bulletin. To receive updates, please visit www.commerce.wa.gov/cbps to subscribe or complete the interest form to be notified.
• When will penalties be issued? Commerce hasn’t established a timeline for sending the Notice of Violation and Opportunity to Correct (NOVC — the first notice) yet. These notifications are intended to encourage building owners to act now in submitting compliance or exemption applications or apply for an extension instead of being penalized. Our priority is to ensure building owners have the opportunity to meet the standard.
• Why start now? If a building owner doesn’t receive an extension or does not obtain an approved compliance or extension application, administrative penalties will be assessed through Notice of Violation and Intent to Assess Administrative Penalties (NOVI) (second notice).
  • Responding to the NOVI with a noncompliance mitigation plan in accordance with the standard may reduce fines. Please refer to Section Z5 of the standard for details about the assessment of administrative penalties and the appeals process for Tier 1 covered buildings.
• Compliance support: Commerce Clean Buildings staff is here to help building owners define a path to compliance and identify available financial incentives. There’s also other no-cost assistance including utility accelerator programs and the Smart Buildings Center help desk.
• Questions? Contact the Clean Buildings Team using the customer support form.

Success story: Mercer Island School District

Mercer Island School District is one of the largest school districts in the state to achieve compliance with the Clean Buildings Performance Standard (CBPS) including Mercer Island High School, which exceeds 220,000 square feet.

“This milestone reflects three years of dedicated collaboration between the district’s facilities team, led by Director of Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities Tony Kuhn, Hargis Engineers, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and ATS Automation,” said Kathy Zurawski, Capital Projects Coordinator for Mercer Island School District. “This accomplishment demonstrates what’s possible through teamwork, innovation, and a commitment to a greener future for students and the broader community.”

Kathy led efforts in data analysis, optimizing building systems, and worked in partnership with community stakeholders to ensure compliance and drive energy efficiency across the district. “Because we had joined PSE’s CSEM program the previous year or so, we had already made many improvements that helped us reach our EUI goals,” said Zurawski.

Hargis supported the district with no-cost HVAC control upgrades to address elevated EUI performance, but then immediately moved into the energy audit phase to adhere to the CBPS timeline.

During the assessment, the district found that updates to the HVAC control systems improved building efficiency enough for the buildings to meet CBPS requirements, making energy audits unnecessary.

This reinforced the importance of maintaining good HVAC controls as their impact on overall building performance can often be significant.

“Our maintenance and operations team, led by Tony Kuhn, is second-to-none. Systems that should have been replaced 10 years ago continue to operate, and thanks to their ingenuity, do so as efficiently as possible,” said Superintendent Fred Rundle.

The district gave a big shout-out to their Maintenance and Operations team: Steve Baird, Shannon Allen and Dana Parkey who they mentioned played a key role in putting energy-saving improvements into action. While challenges remain — particularly with aging infrastructure — the district says it will continue to pursue forward-thinking maintenance practices and employee engagement to extend the impact of its energy conservation efforts.

We continue to receive success stories from building owners and their teams and look forward to sharing them with you. If you would like to have your success story featured in an upcoming bulletin, please fill out this short questionnaire.

Submit your comments for HB1543 Rulemaking

Commerce filed the HB1543 CR-102 rulemaking on April 9. The proposed rules and the CR-102 form are available on the Clean Buildings webpage. The form includes:

• Agency contact information
• Intended adoption date
• Public hearing details
• Small Business Economic Impact Statement.

Public hearing: Thursday, May 28, 2026, 10 a.m.

The public hearing and end of the comment period for HB1543 rulemaking is scheduled for May 28, 2026. This is your opportunity to give a testimony on the proposed rules and to participate in the rulemaking process.

REGISTER FOR the Public Hearing

You can submit written comments can be submitted through the stakeholder comment form. The deadline for written comments is May 28, 2026, at 4:30 p.m.

Free resources and technical support

• Qualified Energy Manager Training: On-demand and live training 
• Statewide Clean Buildings helpdesk offered by the Smart Building Center
• Clean Building Team office hours