California Energy Commission Workshop Signals Positive Progress for Building Performance Standards

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is developing a statewide Building Performance Standard (BPS) pursuant to Senate Bill 48 (2023). The proposal would establish long-term energy performance requirements for existing commercial and multifamily buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, using California's existing benchmarking program as its foundation. The draft strategy contemplates performance targets extending to 2045 with interim compliance milestones every five years and relies on metrics such as site Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and onsite greenhouse gas emissions intensity. The current draft also includes multiple compliance pathways intended to provide flexibility for buildings with unique operational or financial constraints.

A July 29 CEC workshop suggested growing alignment between regulators and industry stakeholders on key building performance standard issues, including owner control, compliance flexibility and statewide consistency. CEC staff emphasized that compliance metrics should focus on factors within a building owner's control, while acknowledging ongoing challenges related to tenant-controlled energy use, split incentives, and housing affordability. The coalition, led by California Business Properties Association, ICSC, Real Estate Roundtable and Nareit, plans to make targeted updates to its comment letter to reinforce these priorities, including recommendations for consistent statewide standards, transparent greenhouse gas accounting, and climate zone normalization. The letter is expected to be finalized and submitted ahead of the CEC's August 18 technical workshop.