2022 District of Columbia Code
Title 6 - Housing and Building Restrictions and Regulations
Chapter 14A - Green Building Requirements
§ 6–1451.02. Publicly-owned, leased, and financed buildings and projects

(a)(1) This subsection shall apply to all new construction and substantial improvement of:

(A) Projects that are District-owned or District instrumentality-owned; and

(B) Projects where at least 15% of the total cost is District-financed or District instrumentality-financed.

(2) A nonresidential project shall:

(A)(i) Within 2 years after the receipt of a certificate of occupancy, be verified as having fulfilled or exceeded the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings, at the silver level; provided, that a public school shall be verified as having fulfilled or exceeded the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings, at the certification level;

(ii) Notwithstanding sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph, a public school shall be verified as having fulfilled or exceeded the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings at the gold level or higher if sufficient funding for the construction or renovation is provided.

(B) If the project is new construction of 10,000 square feet or more of gross floor area, and is a building type for which Energy Star® tools are available:

(i) Be designed to achieve 75 points on the EPA national energy performance rating system, as determined by the Energy Star® Target Finder Tool;

(ii) Be annually benchmarked using the Energy Star®Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool; and

(iii)(I) Make benchmark and Energy Star® statements of energy performance available to DOEE within 60 days of being generated.

(II) Upon receipt, DOEE shall make the benchmark and Energy Star® statements available to the public via an online database accessible through the DOEE website; and

(C) Institute building systems monitoring and maintenance accountability methods upon receipt of a certificate of occupancy.

(3) If a residential project includes 10,000 square feet of gross floor area or more, the residential project shall:

(A) Fulfill or exceed the current edition of the Green Communities standard, or a substantially similar standard; and

(B) Submit to DCRA a copy of the standard’s self-certification checklist and a verification of meeting the standard’s requirements for energy efficiency, as part of the application for a certificate of occupancy.

(4) The requirements of this subsection shall apply:

(A) On or after October 1, 2007, for a District-owned or District instrumentality-owned project that was initially funded in the Fiscal Year 2008 District budget or later;

(B) On or after October 1, 2008, for a project on District-owned or District instrumentality-owned property, leased by a private entity as a result of a property disposition by lease, in Fiscal Year 2009 or later; and

(C) On or after October 1, 2008, for a privately-owned project if 15% or more of a project’s total project cost was financed by the District or a District instrumentality in Fiscal Year 2009 or later.

(5) The Mayor shall, as a condition of the financing of a District-financed or District instrumentality-financed project governed by this subsection, include a penalty that will be levied upon an applicant for failure to fulfill the requirements of this chapter. The penalties may include:

(A) Prohibiting the applicant from receiving additional District or District instrumentality financing for a period of up to 5 years;

(B) Assessing a fine as set forth in § 6-1451.05(f); or

(C) Imposing an alternative penalty commensurate with the seriousness of the applicant’s failure to fulfill requirements of this chapter, as determined by the Mayor.

(6) An applicant for new construction or substantial improvement of a mixed-use space shall fulfill or exceed the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings at the certified level for the mixed-use space of the project. Any requirements of § 6-1451.05 shall apply to the mixed-use space of the project. For the purposes of mixed-use space in this paragraph, the term:

(A) “LEED” also includes LEED for Commercial Interiors and LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors; and

(B) “Certificate of occupancy” refers to the first certificate of occupancy issued for a usable, habitable space at grade or above grade for the mixed-use space of the project.

(b)(1) This subsection shall apply to all tenant improvements of District-owned or District instrumentality-owned buildings.

(2) On or after October 1, 2008, all tenants of District-owned or District instrumentality-owned building space shall obtain verification that the improved building space fulfills or exceeds the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors, or LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors, at the certification level, if:

(A) The tenant improves at least 30,000 square feet gross floor area or more;

(B) The improvements involve a comprehensive construction or alteration of partitions, electrical systems, and finishes; and

(C) The building space has a certificate of occupancy for a commercial use.

(c)(1) This subsection shall apply to all District, and District instrumentality, owned or operated buildings.

(2) Beginning January 20, 2009, the District shall benchmark 10 buildings owned or operated by the District using the Energy Star®Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool.

(3) Beginning October 22, 2009, the District shall annually benchmark all District, and District instrumentality, owned or operated buildings, using the Energy Star® Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool, if the building:

(A) Has at least 10,000 square feet of gross floor area; and

(B) Is a building type for which Energy Star® benchmarking tools are available.

(4) Benchmark and Energy Star® statements of energy performance for each building shall be made available to DOEE within 60 days of being generated. Upon receipt, DOEE shall make the benchmark and Energy Star® statements available to the public via an online database accessible through the DOEE website.

(Mar. 8, 2007, D.C. Law 16-234, § 3, 54 DCR 377; Oct. 22, 2008, D.C. Law 17-250, § 501(a), 55 DCR 9225; July 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-209, § 504(a), 57 DCR 4779; Mar. 31, 2011, D.C. Law 18-349, § 2(b), 58 DCR 724; June 5, 2012, D.C. Law 19-139, § 2(b), 59 DCR 2555; Oct. 8, 2016, D.C. Law 21-160, § 6044(b), 63 DCR 10775.)

This section is referenced in § 6-1451.04, § 6-1451.05, and § 6-1451.10.

D.C. Law 17-250 added subsec. (a-1).

D.C. Law 18-209, in subsec. (b)(1)(C)(iii), inserted “Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, the District shall meet LEED for Schools certification at the Gold level or higher if sufficient funding for the construction or renovation is provided.”

D.C. Law 18-349 rewrote the section.

D.C. Law 19-139 rewrote subsec. (a)(1); in subsec. (a)(2)(A), designated the existing text as sub-subpar. (i) and added sub-subpar. (ii); added subsecs. (a)(5) and (6); and, in subsec. (b)(2), substituted “institutional buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors, or LEED for Retail: Commercial Interiors” for “institutional buildings”.

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 501(a) of Clean and Affordable Energy Emergency Act of 2008 (D.C. Act 17-508, September 25, 2008, 55 DCR 10856).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(1) of Green Building Technical Corrections Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-164, October 11, 2011, 58 DCR 8894).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 2(b) of Green Building Compliance Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-257, December 21, 2011, 58 DCR 11222).

Section 2(a) of D.C. Law 19-71 added subsec. (a)(2)(A-i) to read as follows:

“(A-i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, a public school shall be verified as having fulfilled or exceeded the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings at the gold level or higher, if sufficient funding for the construction or renovation is provided.”.

Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 19-71 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect.

Delegation of Authority—Green Building Act of 2006, see Mayor’s Order 2010-1, January 15, 2010 ( 57 DCR 641).