Building performance standards: paying for compliance in Boston, Denver, Colorado and Washington
A building performance standard turns energy or emissions targets into a legal deadline, and the deadline turns a retrofit into a capital need. This guide puts Boston's BERDO, Energize Denver after its 2026 rule changes, Colorado's statewide standard as amended by HB25-1269, and Washington's Clean Buildings standard side by side — who is covered, when, what non-compliance costs — and explains where C-PACE or C-PACER can fund the work and where it cannot.
Published 2026-10-16 · last checked 2026-10-16
This guide is for owners of large buildings in Boston, Colorado or Washington State facing a compliance deadline. It sets the four standards side by side and explains where C-PACE (in Washington, C-PACER) fits. Every source was checked on 16 October 2026. If your building is in New York City, read our guide to NYC C-PACE and Local Law 97 instead — we do not repeat it here.
What a building performance standard is, and why it creates a capital need
A building performance standard sets a target for energy use or emissions, gives the building a date to hit it, and attaches a cost to missing it. That date changes the financing conversation: a boiler or envelope upgrade that could have waited now has a deadline set by someone else.
That is the kind of project C-PACE suits: a large, upfront capital cost that produces savings over many years. The honest comparison is never “C-PACE versus nothing”; it is the C-PACE payment against the penalty you would pay instead and the savings the work produces.
Boston: BERDO
Boston’s Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance covers residential buildings with 15 or more units, non-residential buildings of 20,000 square feet or larger, and any tax parcel with multiple buildings that together reach 20,000 square feet or 15 units. Owners report the previous year’s energy and water use to the city by 15 May each year.
Emissions standards start in two cohorts, according to the city’s compliance guide:
| Building | Emissions standards start |
|---|---|
| Residential, 35 or more units | 2025 |
| Non-residential, 35,000 sq ft or more | 2025 |
| Residential, 15–34 units | 2030 |
| Non-residential, 20,000–34,999 sq ft | 2030 |
The standards decrease every five years, and the city expects all covered buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
The city lists three ways to stay under a building’s limit: reduce energy use in the building, obtain eligible renewable energy, or make an Alternative Compliance Payment. The ACP is $234 for every metric ton of CO2e a building is above its limit, it goes into the city’s Equitable Emissions Investment Fund, and it can be made annually. Boston is careful to say that an ACP is not a fine — it is a compliance mechanism.
That framing matters for financing. An ACP buys a year of compliance and leaves the building no closer to its next, lower limit; a financed retrofit closes the gap for good. Compare the annual C-PACE payment against the ACP you would otherwise pay, plus the energy savings.
Where C-PACE exists: PACE Massachusetts, run through MassDevelopment, is open to owners of commercial and industrial buildings, multifamily properties of five or more units, and nonprofits that own buildings, but only in municipalities that have opted in by majority vote. MassDevelopment lists Boston among the communities that have adopted it. See our Massachusetts C-PACE page.
Denver: Energize Denver after the 2026 changes
Energize Denver applies to commercial and multifamily buildings of 5,000 square feet and larger, split into small buildings (5,000–24,999 square feet) and large buildings (25,000 square feet and larger). The figures below are for large buildings.
The deadlines have moved twice. In April 2025 the city offered large buildings a timeline extension that moved the 2024/2025/2026 interim target to 2028, eliminated the 2027 interim target, and moved the final target from 2030 to 2032. City Council then approved ordinance amendments on 18 May 2026, and updated rules took effect on 27 August 2026. The city’s technical guidance, version 4.0 dated 1 September 2026, summarises what the 2026 update did, including:
- Timing: codified the timeline extension already earned by 98.5% of large buildings, changing the first target year from 2024 to 2025, and added a capital plan cycle option to the timeline extension.
- Targets: added a process to request a maximum 30% reduction energy target, and boosted the electrification credit so that the same 80% threshold now earns a 20% credit.
- Enforcement: codified the 2025 reduced penalty structure in the ordinance, added a 90-day cure period between a notice of violation and an administrative citation, and added an option to request penalty reinvestment for owners who act within 150 days after a citation.
Two earlier changes, from the April 2025 rules, still shape the financing picture. No building is required to reduce its energy use by more than 42%. And penalty rates for large buildings were cut in half, with no penalties levied until late 2029. Buildings can also apply to extend beyond 2032 with a long-term compliance plan, for reasons that include the end of an HVAC system’s service life and major renovations.
Denver’s penalties scale with the size of the miss: the “kBtu not achieved” multiplied by a penalty rate per kBtu. The city’s own worked example in the technical guidance is a 100,000 square foot office that misses its target by 10 kBtu per square foot, giving 1,000,000 kBtu at $0.35 — a $350,000 civil penalty.
The city says 44% of large buildings already meet their final energy efficiency target, up from 15% in 2022. If yours is in the other 56%, use the time to line the work up with your equipment’s replacement cycle.
Colorado statewide: HB25-1269
Colorado’s statewide standard applies to buildings of 50,000 square feet or larger; Denver’s technical guidance says it covers about 1,700 commercial and multifamily buildings in Denver alone. HB25-1269, signed on 20 May 2025, rewrote the statewide timetable.
What the act did, from the signed text and the final fiscal note:
- 2026 became optional in practice. An owner may either comply with the 2026 performance standards or track progress towards compliance by answering progress questions in its benchmarking reports, starting with the 2025 reports submitted in 2026.
- Penalties for performance start in 2030. On and after 1 January 2030, a violation of the performance standards carries a civil penalty of up to $2,300 for every 30 days in violation for a first violation, and up to $5,800 for every 30 days for a subsequent violation, adjusted annually for inflation. Benchmarking violations carry up to $577 for a first violation and up to $2,300 for each subsequent one.
- 2040 standards are coming. The Air Quality Control Commission must adopt 2040 performance standards, with the division proposing them by 1 June 2029.
- A new fee and a new fund. The act created a Building Decarbonization Enterprise in the Colorado Energy Office to provide technical assistance, financing and other support; according to the fiscal note, covered building owners pay it a $400 fee beginning in fiscal year 2025-26.
- Local programmes can stand in. A local jurisdiction with its own standard can be deemed equivalent. Denver’s guidance says Energize Denver was approved for deemed compliance in January 2026, so a Denver building subject to both has one set of targets to meet — but must still benchmark with both the city and the state.
Where C-PACE exists: which Colorado counties take part in C-PACE, and the market’s track record, are on our Colorado C-PACE page.
Washington: the Clean Buildings Performance Standard
Washington’s standard has two tiers.
Tier 1 covers buildings where the combined nonresidential, hotel, motel and dormitory floor area exceeds 50,000 gross square feet, excluding parking. Compliance is due in three waves:
| Building size | Compliance date |
|---|---|
| More than 220,000 sq ft | 1 June 2026 |
| More than 90,000 up to 220,000 sq ft | 1 June 2027 |
| More than 50,000 up to 90,000 sq ft | 1 June 2028 |
Under RCW 19.27A.210, the penalty for failing to document compliance may not exceed $5,000 plus a continuing-violation amount that may not exceed a daily amount equal to $1 per year per gross square foot, and the Department of Commerce may raise those rates for inflation. Commerce’s Tier 1 page says owners can choose to pay penalties in lieu of compliance, and that penalties will be assessed at the maximum amount of $5,000 plus $1.50 per square foot of gross floor area. On a 200,000 square foot building, that page’s figure is $305,000. The statute also says penalties may not be passed along to tenants, as long as tenants provide access to utility data and space and respond to the owner’s compliance needs — worth knowing before you assume a net lease will carry the cost.
Tier 2 covers buildings whose nonresidential, hotel, motel and dormitory floor area is more than 20,000 and up to 50,000 gross square feet, excluding parking, and multifamily buildings over 20,000 square feet. They must report by 1 July 2027 and every five years after, and Commerce says Tier 2 penalties cannot exceed $0.30 per square foot.
Where C-PACER fits: Washington’s version is C-PACER — Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy and Resiliency — under RCW 36.165. A qualified improvement is a permanent improvement that reduces energy use or demand or supports renewable energy, reduces water use, or increases resilience (seismic retrofits, flood mitigation, stormwater management, wildfire and wind resistance, energy storage and microgrids are named). Eligible property is privately owned commercial, industrial or agricultural property, or multifamily property with five or more units.
To be precise: no statute ties C-PACER to the Clean Buildings standard. The standard gives you a deadline; C-PACER is one way to pay for the energy work that meets it. Counties take part voluntarily. King County, for example, says it administers C-PACER but does not fund work; the financing comes from a private capital provider, and the county records the lien. See our Washington C-PACER page for participating counties.
The four side by side
| Boston BERDO | Energize Denver (large) | Colorado statewide | Washington Tier 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size threshold | 20,000 sq ft / 15 units | 25,000 sq ft | 50,000 sq ft | Over 50,000 sq ft |
| Key dates | 2025 or 2030 start | 2028 interim, 2032 final (with extension) | Penalties from 1 Jan 2030 | 1 June 2026, 2027, 2028 by size |
| Cost of missing | ACP $234 per tonne CO2e | Penalty per kBtu not achieved | Up to $2,300 / $5,800 per 30 days | $5,000 plus a per-sq-ft amount |
| PACE route | PACE Massachusetts | See Colorado page | See Colorado page | County C-PACER |
When C-PACE is the wrong answer
C-PACE is not free money, and if your building has a mortgage you will need to deal with your lender before you plan around it (see our guide to lender consent). It suits a capital project that is large enough to carry the closing costs and long-lived enough to justify a long term. It is the wrong tool when:
- The gap is small. If an operational fix, a controls upgrade or a few years of Boston ACPs close the gap more cheaply than a financed retrofit, do that.
- The deadline is not yet binding. In Denver, the 2032 final target and the planned-replacement routes can let you time the work to your equipment’s end of life. Paying to finance early replacement can cost more than waiting.
- Your lender will not consent. Then the conversation is about the lender, not the programme.
If you want help working out whether your building’s compliance gap is a C-PACE project at all, get in touch. We are an advisory and placement service, not a lender, and we will tell you if it is not.
Questions people actually ask
How much is Boston's BERDO alternative compliance payment?
According to the City of Boston's BERDO emissions compliance guide, checked on 16 October 2026, an alternative compliance payment is $234 for every metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent a building is above its emissions limit. The city describes the payment as a compliance mechanism, not a fine, and says it can be made annually.
What are Energize Denver's current deadlines for large buildings?
For Denver buildings of 25,000 square feet and larger that took the 2025 timeline extension, Denver's technical guidance (version 4.0, 1 September 2026, checked 16 October 2026) says the interim target moved to 2028, the 2027 interim target was eliminated and the final target moved from 2030 to 2032. The 2026 update codified that extension, which 98.5% of large buildings had already earned.
When do Colorado's statewide building performance penalties start?
Under HB25-1269, signed on 20 May 2025 and checked on 16 October 2026, penalties for violating Colorado's building performance standards apply on and after 1 January 2030: up to $2,300 for every 30 days in violation for a first violation and up to $5,800 for every 30 days for a subsequent violation, adjusted annually for inflation.
What is the maximum penalty under Washington's Clean Buildings standard?
For Tier 1 buildings, RCW 19.27A.210, checked on 16 October 2026, caps the administrative penalty at $5,000 plus a continuing-violation amount that may not exceed a daily amount equal to $1 per year per gross square foot, which the Department of Commerce may raise for inflation; Commerce's Tier 1 page says penalties will be assessed at the maximum amount of $5,000 plus $1.50 per square foot of gross floor area. For Tier 2 buildings, Commerce says penalties cannot exceed $0.30 per square foot.
Can C-PACER pay for Washington Clean Buildings compliance work?
It can pay for work that is a qualified improvement under RCW 36.165, checked on 16 October 2026 — permanent improvements that reduce energy or water use, support renewable energy, or increase resilience — on eligible commercial, industrial, agricultural or five-plus-unit multifamily property. No statute ties C-PACER to the Clean Buildings standard; the standard is a reason to do the work, and C-PACER is one way to fund it.