Washington State Energy Performance Disclosure Requirement Remains Market Secret

Interestingly, Washington State has already enacted statewide energy performance disclosure requirements for non-residential buildings in the state. Current law requires property owners to disclose their statement of energy performance to prospective tenants, lenders, and buyers. Absent any enforcement or additional reporting requirements, this state law seems to remain largely a secret in the commercial real estate market (note: the law’s requirements pertaining to state owned buildings has had more traction). A recent NEEC conversation with a self-identified “green broker” in the commercial real estate market revealed that even those who have a niche in high performance commercial buildings are completely unaware of the state law. Wouldn’t it be nice if some of our industry’s young creative social marketers could ignite a campaign to get tenants to simply ask for a building’s energy performance score. You can’t manage what you don’t measure.