Recommendations for Implementing the District’s Building Energy Performance Standard in Affordable Multifamily Housing

The Clean Energy D.C. Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 (Act) establishes a minimum Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS) that owners of private buildings will be required to comply with every five years. If buildings meet the square footage thresholds (equal to or greater than 50,000 square feet by 2021, then including all buildings 10,000 square feet or greater by 2026), owners will be required to make certain unspecified energy efficiency repairs and improvements if they do not meet the energy performance standard.

The National Housing Trust (NHT) and Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND) convened D.C. affordable housing advocates, developers, and owners to discuss how to implement BEPS in affordable housing. This document provides an overview of the BEPS program, the consultative process that NHT and HAND undertook to gather feedback from the affordable housing industry in D.C., and the recommendations that resulted from that process.