With state compliance deadlines approaching as early as June 2026, the cities of Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond have joined forces to help owners of large commercial and multifamily buildings navigate Washington’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard — and avoid potential fines.
The three cities are expanding an existing Clean Buildings Incentive Program to offer free consultations, engineering services and technical support to building owners. The program, administered by McKinstry, prioritizes buildings larger than 20,000 square feet and will run through the end of 2026, while funding remains available.
The stakes are significant. Energy use in buildings accounts for 60 percent of total emissions in Issaquah, 53 percent in Bellevue, and 43 percent of commercial and industrial emissions in Redmond, making building performance a central piece of each city’s climate goals.
Washington’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard was first passed in 2019 to reduce energy use and fossil fuel consumption in commercial buildings. The state expanded the law in 2022 to include multifamily buildings and structures of 20,000 square feet and above.
Compliance deadlines are tiered by building size: buildings over 220,000 square feet must comply by June 2026, those 90,000 square feet and above by June 2027, and smaller buildings face deadlines in July 2027 and June 2028.
To comply, building owners must track energy use over time, submit a benchmarking report, and develop operations and energy management plans. Buildings must also meet an energy performance metric, either by hitting a target energy use intensity level or by completing an energy audit and implementing efficiency improvements.
Through the regional program, participating buildings will receive support with benchmarking, required documentation, best practices for building operations and energy management, and assistance accessing available financial incentives.
