DOEE Releases Final BEPS Compliance Rules for Washington, D.C., Building Owners
The Washington, D.C., Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) has released the final rulemaking for the application of the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) for privately-owned and District-owned buildings, following the final establishment of the 2021 BEPS in April.
BEPS establishes the median ENERGY STAR scores (or Source EUI for buildings that cannot receive an ENERGY STAR score) required for every property type. The BEPS requirements will be re-established every 6 years, creating BEPS periods (BEPS Period 1, BEPS Period 2, etc.). In the current period, buildings greater than or equal to 50,000 SF are subject to the 2021 BEPS requirements, which went into effective on January 1.
Owners of buildings that do not meet current BEPS requirements at the start of the period will begin a compliance cycle and have until the end of the cycle to meet the target for their property type. The Building Energy Performance Standards Compliance Guidebook, currently available as a draft, contains details about the pathways, reporting, and more.
Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) works with existing buildings clients in Washington, D.C., to provide innovative solutions for energy efficiency and beyond. SWA is working closely with clients that are evaluating their BEPS compliance options to determine the most cost-effective pathway for their buildings.
“Now that the BEPS compliance rules are final, it’s imperative that building owners begin to chart their path and start planning now for future deep energy retrofits and electrification,” said Andrea Foss, Sustainability Director at SWA’s D.C. office. “We want to help our clients design, retrofit, and operate low-energy, healthy buildings in the carbon-neutral future we envision for D.C.”
Click here to learn more about the BEPS compliance rules, or click here to connect with a SWA expert.