Title III of the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 (CEDC Act) created the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) Program for the District of Columbia (DC). The CEDC Act required that the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) engage an independent third party to conduct case studies to help DOEE and building owners “better understand the cost impacts and benefits of the BEPS Program to District residents and building owners, or owners of large buildings and affordable housing.”
In consultation with the BEPS Task Force, DOEE created a scope for the study, and through a grant, selected Steven Winter Associates (SWA) to conduct the study and develop a subsequent education strategy for communicating the impacts.
The final report, drafted by DOEE, contains a summary review of existing industry cost/benefit research, the technical assessment of 13 buildings representative of the largest property types in the District, a short analysis of other property types, and a summary of findings. The existing industry cost/benefit research includes summaries of studies performed in the high-performing building and energy efficiency fields by groups such as the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF), and other organizations. The case study sections depict the primary outputs of a technical assessment of the potential costs and benefits for buildings to meet the statutory requirements, including building energy model reference cases and a summary of findings from building case studies.
Using these findings, DOEE estimates the total cost of compliance with the BEPS program to be on average $10 per square foot. While the cost of compliance can vary due to multiple factors (existing systems within the building, the Pathway the building elects for compliance, etc.), no property type or building group has an inherent indicator of higher or lower implementation costs as compared to the other buildings. When quantifying the benefits of compliance, this study has a limited scope. The study does not capture all factors that can influence financial decisions, such as soft costs, incentives, Non-Energy Benefit (NEBs), Operations and Maintenance (O&M) savings, or penalties for non-compliance. As a result, the cost/benefit impacts represented in this study do not necessarily capture the entire breadth of benefits that most building owners may consider. In making real-world decisions, any benefits expected to be realized will likely remain a large factor in a building owner’s decision-making regarding BEPS compliance and energy efficiency choices.