This bill reenacts and amends provisions in chapter 19.27A RCW to expand compliance pathways and administrative rules for the state clean buildings performance standard. It directs the (unnamed in the provided text) department to adopt a state energy performance standard by rule using ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 100‑2018 as an initial model, set energy use intensity (EUI) targets by building type, establish conditional compliance methods (energy management plans, O&M programs, audits, and investments), create a covered‑building database, provide owner notifications and customer support, and update the standard by July 1, 2029, and every five years thereafter. The act also requires adoption of energy management and benchmarking requirements for tier 2 buildings by December 1, 2023, rulemaking for performance standards for tier 2 by December 31, 2030 (not effective before the end of the 2031 regular legislative session), and various reporting and evaluation deadlines. The bill imposes data and benchmarking procedures on utilities and building owners. Qualifying utilities must keep at least 12 months of monthly consumption records in a format compatible with EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and, upon written or secure electronic authorization from a building owner or operator, upload specified account energy consumption data to Portfolio Manager without disclosing personally identifying information. Phased disclosure deadlines for nonpublic nonresidential benchmarking data are set (by Jan 1, 2011 for buildings >50,000 sq ft and by Jan 1, 2012 for buildings >10,000 sq ft in the provided text), building owners must disclose benchmarking results to prospective buyers/lessees/lenders for the most recent continuously occupied 12 months, non‑qualifying utilities must offer upload services or deliver formatted electronic data within 60 days of request, and utilities must provide aggregated tenant consumption data to building owners on request while avoiding tenant PII or billing details. The bill creates administrative procedures, incentives, and penalties. It authorizes an early adoption incentive program and sets eligibility windows and baseline per‑square‑foot incentive amounts for tier 1 and certain multifamily buildings, requires verification and reporting of incentive payments, and mandates periodic legislative reports on implementation and incentives. For enforcement, the department may issue notices of violation and may impose administrative penalties for failure to submit required compliance documentation (the provided text sets a maximum base penalty of $5,000 plus a continuing‑violation amount described as "not to exceed $1 per year per gross square foot per day" and allows higher base penalties by rule for inflation); penalties may not be passed to tenants and must be deposited into the low‑income weatherization and structural rehabilitation assistance account. The bill also authorizes a separate administrative penalty for tier 2 owners not to exceed $0.30 per square foot. Important elements are incomplete or unclear in the provided excerpts: the identity of "the department" is not specified here, some definitions and the full text of amended RCW sections (including portions of RCW 19.27A.210, 19.27A.220, 19.27A.250 and the full list of energy sources and tier definitions) are missing, and certain reporting schedules and statutory language are only partially included.

If enacted, the Department of Commerce would create and run a state energy performance standard that sets energy use targets for large buildings, requires owners to report and either meet those targets or follow a conditional compliance plan (based on audits, operations and maintenance, and investment standards), and offers time-limited incentive payments for early compliance (base amounts identified at $0.85 and $0.30 per gross square foot for certain categories). Building owners of tier 1 buildings face phased compliance deadlines (largest buildings due June 1, 2026, with smaller tier 1 sizes due in 2027 and 2028) and may request limited two-year extensions around those dates; tier 2 owners will get benchmarking and management requirements starting with rules by Dec. 1, 2023, notifications by July 1, 2025, reporting by July 1, 2027, and potential performance standards adopted by Dec. 31, 2030 (not effective before the end of the 2031 legislative session). Owners will likely incur costs for audits, efficiency investments (generally expected to meet a savings-to-investment ratio of 1.0), recordkeeping, and reporting, but may receive incentives if they qualify; penalties for failure to submit required documentation are authorized (with caps and a prohibition on passing penalties to tenants) and any penalties collected must be deposited into the state low-income weatherization and rehabilitation account. Utilities and county assessors are also directly affected: qualifying utilities must keep and, with owner authorization, upload 12 months of monthly energy use records in a form compatible with EPA ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and must provide aggregated tenant consumption data to building owners on request without tenant consent; nonqualifying utilities must either offer an upload service or supply electronic consumption data within 60 days of a request. The department must run a building database, notification and customer support programs (with extra help targeted to underresourced, rural, small‑business‑tenant, and certain nonprofit building types), administer incentive certification and verification, and enforce reporting with notices and administrative penalties. Some implementation details and full text of related amended sections are not included in the extracted material, so precise penalty calculations, funding limits for incentives, and a few definitional thresholds remain unclear.