2022 District of Columbia Code
Title 6 - Housing and Building Restrictions and Regulations
Chapter 14A - Green Building Requirements
§ 6–1451.03. Privately-owned buildings and projects

(a) This section shall apply to all privately-owned buildings and projects with at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area.

(b)(1) All new construction and substantial improvement of nonresidential projects, including projects involving real property acquired by a real property disposition by sale from the District or a District instrumentality to a private entity, and projects if less than 15% [of] the project’s total project cost was financed by the District or a District instrumentality, shall:

(A) Beginning January 1, 2009, as part of any building permit application, submit to DOB a green building checklist documenting the green building elements to be pursued in the respective building’s permit; and

(B) Be verified by an entity described in § 6-1451.04 as having fulfilled or exceeded the current edition of the LEED standard for commercial and institutional buildings at the certification level within 2 years of the receipt of a certificate of occupancy; 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 gold level or higher if sufficient funding for the construction or renovation is provided.

(2) This subsection shall apply as of:

(A) January 1, 2010, for a project involving real property acquired by a real property disposition by sale, from the District or a District instrumentality to a private entity, that has submitted an application for the first building permit on or after January 1, 2010; and

(B) January 1, 2012, for a project that has submitted an application for the first building permit on or after January 1, 2012.

(3) The area of common space in a project shall be allocated to either residential or nonresidential square footage of a project based upon the percentage of gross floor area of the project occupied by each of the residential and nonresidential occupancies calculated after excluding the area of common space.

(4) 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 nonresidential portion of the project. Any requirements set forth in § 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.

(c)(1) This subsection shall apply to all buildings and projects that are of a building type for which Energy Star® tools are available.

(2)(A) The requirements for existing privately-owned buildings shall be as follows:

(i) The owner or a designee of the owner shall annually benchmark the building using the Energy Star® Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool; and

(ii)(I) Benchmark and Energy Star® statements of energy performance for each building shall be made available to DOEE by April 1 of the respective following year. In 2011 only, the scores and statements shall be made available to DOEE no later than July 1.

(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, beginning with the 2nd annual benchmarking data for each building.

(B) This paragraph shall apply as of:

(i) January 1, 2010, for a building with over 200,000 square feet of gross floor area;

(ii) January 1, 2011, for a building with over 150,000 square feet of gross floor area;

(iii) January 1, 2012, for a building with over 100,000 square feet of gross floor area;

(iv) January 1, 2013, for a building with over 50,000 square feet of gross floor area, or more[;]

(v) January 1, 2021, for a building with 25,000 square feet of gross floor area, or more; and

(vi) January 1, 2024, for a building with 10,000 square feet of gross floor area, or more.

(C) Benchmarking data required in this paragraph shall include water consumption data as incorporated in the Portfolio Manager Benchmarking Tool.

(D) A building owner or tenant who fails to timely, accurately, and completely submit the benchmarking information required by this paragraph to DOEE or to the building owner shall be assessed a penalty by DOEE of no more than $100 for each day during which the required submission has not been made. Civil infraction fines, penalties, and fees may be imposed as alternative sanctions for such failure, pursuant to Chapter 18 of Title 2. Adjudication of an infraction shall be pursuant to Chapter 18 of Title 2.

(E) If ownership of a building covered by this paragraph is transferred, the seller shall provide the buyer with information necessary for the buyer to timely report benchmarking data for the full reporting year in which the transfer occurred. The buyer shall submit the benchmarking data to DOEE by April 1 of the year after the building is transferred.

(F) Every 3 years the owner, or the owner's designee, shall perform a third-party verification of its benchmark and ENERGY STAR statements in accordance with requirements specified by DOEE.

(3) An applicant for new construction or substantial improvement of a project who submits the first building permit after January 1, 2012, shall, prior to construction, estimate the project’s energy performance using the Energy Star® Target Finder Tool.

(Mar. 8, 2007, D.C. Law 16-234, § 4, 54 DCR 377; Oct. 22, 2008, D.C. Law 17-250, § 501(b), 55 DCR 9225; July 27, 2010, D.C. Law 18-209, § 504(b), 57 DCR 4779; Mar. 31, 2011, D.C. Law 18-331, § 2, 58 DCR 22; Mar. 31, 2011, D.C. Law 18-349, § 2(c), 58 DCR 724; June 5, 2012, D.C. Law 19-139, § 2(c), 59 DCR 2555; Sept. 26, 2012, D.C. Law 19-171, § 45(b), 59 DCR 6190; Dec. 17, 2014, D.C. Law 20-142, § 111, 61 DCR 8045; Oct. 8, 2016, D.C. Law 21-160, § 6044(c), 63 DCR 10775; Mar. 22, 2019, D.C. Law 22-257, § 302(a), 66 DCR 1344; Apr. 5, 2021, D.C. Law 23-269, § 501(i)(2), 68 DCR 001490.)

This section is referenced in § 6-1451.01, § 6-1451.04, § 6-1451.05, § 6-1451.10, and § 8-1774.10.

D.C. Law 17-250 added subsecs. (a-1) and (b-1).

D.C. Law 18-209, in subsec. (b)(2)(B), inserted “Schools shall aspire to meet LEED for Schools certification at the Gold level or higher.”

D.C. Law 18-331, in subsec. (a-1)(1), substituted “April 1 of the following year, be made available to DDOE. In 2011 only, the scores and statements shall be made available to DDOE no later than July 1” for “January 1 of the following year, be made available to DDOE”; and added subsecs. (a-1)(3) and (c).

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

D.C. Law 19-139, in subsec. (b)(1)(A), substituted “permit” for “construction permit”; in subsec. (b)(1)(B), inserted “; 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 gold level or higher if sufficient funding for the construction or renovation is provided.”; in subsecs. (b)(2)(A), (B), and (c)(3), substituted “first building permit” for “1st building construction permit”; added subsecs. (b)(3), (4), and (c)(2)(C), (D); and, in subsec. (c)(2)(A)(ii)(I), substituted “April 1 of the respective following year. In 2011 only, the scores and statements shall be made available to DDOE no later than July 1.” for “January 1 of the respective following year.”

The 2012 amendment by D.C. Law 19-171 redesignated (b-1) as (c) in the version of the section as it existed before its revision by D.C. Law 18-349.

The 2014 amendment by D.C. Law 20-142 added (c)(2)(E).

Section 7276 of D.C. Law 24-45 repealed the applicability provision of section 601 of D.C. Law 23-269 that impacted this section. Therefore the amendment of this section by Law 23-269 has been implemented.

Section 7164 of D.C. Law 23-16 repealed § 601 of D.C. Law 22-257. Therefore the amendment of this section by D.C. Law 22-257 has been implemented.

Applicability of D.C. Law 22-257: § 601 of D.C. Law 22-257 provided that the change made to this section by § 302(a) of D.C. Law 22-257 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

For temporary (90 days) repeal of applicability provision of D.C. Law 22-255, see § 7164 of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-112, Sept. 4, 2019, 66 DCR 11964).

For temporary (90 days) repeal of applicability provision of D.C. Law 22-255, see § 7164 of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-91, July 22, 2019, 66 DCR 8497).

For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 501(b) 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(b) 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(c) of Green Building Compliance Emergency Amendment Act of 2011 (D.C. Act 19-257, December 21, 2011, 58 DCR 11222).

Section 2(b) of D.C. Law 19-71, in subsec. (b)(1)(B), added a new sentence at the end to read as follows: “Schools shall aspire to meet LEED for Schools certification at the gold level or higher.”; in subsec. (c)(2)(A)(ii)(I), substituted “April 1 of the respective following year. In 2011 only, the scores and statements shall be made available to DDOE no later than July 1” for “January 1 of the respective following year”; and added subsecs. (c)(2)(C) and (D) to read as follows:

“(C) Benchmarking data required in this paragraph shall include water consumption data as incorporated in the Portfolio Manager Benchmarking Tool.

“(D) A building owner or tenant who fails to timely, accurately, and completely submit the benchmarking information required by this paragraph to DDOE or to the building owner shall be assessed a penalty by DDOE of not more than $100 for each day during which the required submission has not been made. Civil infraction fines, penalties, and fees may be imposed as alternative sanctions for such failure, pursuant to the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Civil Infractions Act of 1985, effective October 5, 1985 (D.C. Law 6-42; D.C. Official Code § 2-1801.01 et seq. (‘Civil Infractions Act’). Adjudication of an infraction shall be pursuant to the Civil Infractions Act.”

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

Section 2(b) of D.C. Law 19-99 added subsec. (b)(3) to read as follows:

“(b)(3) For the purposes of this section, the term ‘LEED’ means LEED for New Construction, Core & Shell, Schools, or Retail.”.

Section 4(b) of D.C. Law 19-99 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect.

Applicability of D.C. Law 20-142: Section 502(a) of D.C. Law 20-142 provided that Title I of the act, §§ 101-111, shall apply as of January 1, 2015.