Washington DC building owners:

What is the Clean and Affordable Energy Act?

The Clean and Affordable Energy Act requires owners of large buildings to annually report energy and water usage data to the District Department of the Environment (DDOE). The DDOE will make this information public so that building owners and potential buyers can see how their buildings perform.

Purpose

Energy benchmarking is one of many energy initiatives created by the District Department of the Environment. As part of the Clean and Affordable Energy Act, energy benchmarking was implemented to gather information about energy efficiency in the built environment. Without meaningful comparisons, it is very difficult to know whether or not a building is operating efficiently. This collection of data will allow property owners to quickly see how efficient their buildings are so that they can make the appropriate retrofits or operational adjustments. By continuing to benchmark energy, the District of Columbia will be able to monitor efficiency improvements moving forward and will set an excellent example for other cities that are looking to go green.

Does it impact me?

The Clean and Affordable Energy Act impacts you if you own a building that is larger than 50,000 square feet. If you’re not sure whether your building matches this requirement, you can find out by checking out the Covered Building List. This ordinance includes multifamily residential buildings over 50,000 square feet as well as all District government buildings over 10,000 square feet.

What are the deadlines?

Building owners are required to submit their previous year’s energy and water usage reports by April 1 of each year.

What are the fines?

Failure to comply by the April 1 deadline will result in a fine. Non-residential tenants are required to provide the necessary energy and water information to the building owner. If the tenant does not provide this information, or if the building owner does not report this information by the April 1 deadline, then either the tenant or the owner can be fined up to $100/day of noncompliance.

How do I comply?

In order to comply with the Clean and Affordable Energy Act, building owners must report their energy and water consumption using the EPA’s Portfolio Manager tool, a reporting tool that allows building owners to compare their building’s energy efficiency with similar buildings. This DDOE reporting guide provides additional information about compliance.