Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) is the first community or technical college to meet Tier 1 compliance requirements for the Washington State Clean Buildings Standard. Over the last two years, the college’s work has not only met but exceeded the Standard’s requirements for the Tier 1 buildings on campus. CPTC has four designated Tier 1 buildings that must comply with the Standard, and all four have complied four years in advance of mandatory due dates.
Buildings are the most rapidly growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Washington. The buildings sector is the state’s second-biggest carbon polluter behind transportation, accounting for more than a quarter of statewide emissions. Investment in building energy efficiency is the most cost-efficient way to achieve significant reductions in these greenhouse gas emissions.
The objective of Washington’s Clean Buildings law is to lower costs and pollution from fossil fuel consumption in existing covered buildings, multifamily buildings, and campus district energy systems. Enacted by Washington State Legislative House Bill 1257 in 2019, the Clean Building Performance Standard is a performance-based energy efficiency framework focused on existing buildings. This framework provides each applicable building with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) target based on use and climate zone. Each facility must meet or beat its EUI target one of the two years prior to reporting. Under the standard, Tier 1 buildings are defined as non-residential facilities that exceed 50,000 square feet. The earliest mandatory compliance deadline for Tier 1 buildings is June 1, 2026.
The College decided to partner with ATS Automation to complete the compliance work set out in the Standard. Working with ATS, college staff calculated their EUI targets, created an energy management plan, and created an operation and maintenance guide that will assist the college in meeting its sustainability goals. Each of the four buildings examined exceeded their EUI target goals. On average the buildings beat their targets by 46 points.
The College’s sustainability goal is to reduce energy consumption campus-wide while encouraging staff, faculty, and student participation. A significant amount of resources and effort was put into overhauling systems to meet their sustainability goals, which had a major impact on their EUI results. This effort by the CPTC staff put the Tier 1 facilities in a great position to comply with the Standard.
“Chris Ridler, Assistant Director of Operations, and Wes Prater, former Assistant Director of Capital Projects, led the efforts for Clover Park to become the first college in the State of Washington to attain compliance with the Washington State Clean Buildings Performance Standard,” said Dr. Joyce Loveday, President of Clover Park Technical College. “Their dedication to this initiative demonstrates what sustainability-in-action looks like, and their leadership is directly aligned with CPTC’s strategic goal to achieve environmental sustainability.”
“Congratulations to Clover Park Technical College on maximizing the potential of the state Clean Buildings Performance Standard to improve campus facilities,” said State Energy Office Director Michael Furze. “This work is a great example of seizing this opportunity to increase energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save on energy costs long-term. Clover Park is leading the way for other state-owned buildings to join in our collective work to decarbonize buildings across Washington.”
Furze added that the Commerce Department offers technical assistance and financial incentives for early adoption of the clean buildings performance standard. More information is on the Commerce website.
| EUI Target | CPTC EUI | |
| Building 3 | 112.2 | 63.1 |
| Building 21 | 112.2 | 42.3 |
| Building 24 | 78 | 42.6 |
| South Hill – Aviation | 91.8 | 60.9 |
