Commercial Whole Building Performance

Commercial efficiency programs in the Northwest reach thousands of buildings each year. Yet hundreds of thousands of buildings will need to pursue upgrades to meet corporate, city and state efficiency and carbon targets. Peak demand savings are also significant and would add to the utility value of these retrofits.

The Commercial Whole Building Special Project is creating a regional, market-focused approach for utilities and efficiency programs to offer meaningful support to building owners, while creating an unprecedented pipeline of efficiency projects. Especially for under-served communities and the many under-resourced building owners throughout the region, there is a significant opportunity to increase access to, and awareness of, the practices that maximize value while exceeding performance targets.

The Project will: 

• Build funder understanding of building decision makers to inform program investments and outreach.

• Create resources and tools designed to be leveraged by utility and existing Market Transformation programs.

• Convene regional stakeholders to understand and craft collaborative approach to shared challenges.

• Identify targeted market interventions to motivate and accelerate building retrofits.

The first phase of the Project will deliver tools and resources that address known barriers to commercial sector engagement, such as curated resources for renovation financing and navigating building performance compliance. The first phase will also explore commercial decision maker barriers and engagement strategies, resulting in a detailed Market Transformation plan for how the Northwest can support building owners and their tenants in pursuing renovations and practices that results in significantly improved energy, carbon and financial performance.