Washington D.C. Enacts Building Energy Performance Standard

According to Facilitiesnet, as of April 1, 2023, buildings in Washington D.C. that are at least 50,000 square feet must meet the capital’s Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS).

BEPS is part of the Sustainable DC Plan, established by the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2032.

The buildings will need to follow one of three compliance pathways:

Performance pathway—Building demonstrates the reduction of energy use by 20% compared to 2019 usage.

Standard target pathway—Building chooses energy efficient measures now that will later provide the reduction of energy use by 20% compared to 2019 usage.

Prescriptive pathway—Buildings report milestones on one or more design changes that will allow a building to eventually meet the performance pathway.

Facilitiesnet reports that, by 2026, all buildings more than 25,000 square feet in size will also have to comply with the BEPS, and by 2032, so will buildings more than 10,000 square feet.