Building Performance Standards in 2026: Where They Stand and How HVAC Efficiency Counts
Key takeaways
- Several standards were softened or delayed in 2025 and 2026, including Denver, Colorado, Maryland and parts of Boston's reporting calendar.
- NYC Local Law 97 emissions limits have applied since 2024; stricter limits begin in 2030.
- Texas has no statewide performance standard, and Houston has no private-building mandate; Austin requires benchmarking and disclosure only.
- Whether cooling savings help depends on the metric: energy use intensity, total emissions, or direct on-site emissions only.
- Most programs use ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager data, so good benchmarking habits pay off everywhere.
A building performance standard (BPS) is a law that requires existing buildings above a certain size to meet a performance target over time. The target is usually an energy use intensity (EUI, energy per square foot per year) or a greenhouse gas intensity, and owners who miss it face penalties or alternative compliance payments. BPS laws go further than benchmarking ordinances, which only require owners to report their energy use.
BPS laws change often. In 2025 and 2026 several jurisdictions delayed deadlines, cut penalties or changed the metric. The table below reflects what we could confirm from official and legal sources as of October 2026. Before you make compliance decisions, check the program's own website and your counsel.
Status table (as of October 2026)
| Jurisdiction | Who is covered | What is required | Key dates and recent changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City, Local Law 97 | Buildings over 25,000 sq ft, plus multiple buildings on one tax lot or condominiums under one board totaling over 50,000 sq ft | Annual greenhouse gas emissions limits by building type, with annual reports | Limits took effect in 2024; stricter limits begin in 2030; net zero by 2050. Reports are due May 1 each year. The NYC Department of Buildings published a 2026 Covered Buildings List in March 2026. |
| Boston, BERDO 2.0 | Non-residential buildings 20,000 sq ft and up, residential buildings with 15 or more units, and parcels that add up to those sizes | Annual energy and water reporting; emissions standards that tighten every five years to net zero by 2050 | Larger buildings (35,000+ sq ft or 35+ units) face emissions standards from 2025; smaller covered buildings from 2030. The city extended the 2026 reporting deadline from May 15 to August 15, 2026, and lists an October 15 deadline for approved extensions. Compliance options include efficiency, renewable energy and alternative compliance payments. |
| Denver, Energize Denver | Buildings 25,000 sq ft and larger (smaller buildings have separate requirements) | Energy use reduction targets | Rules adopted in April 2025 moved the interim target to 2028 and the final target to 2032, cut penalty rates in half, delayed penalties until late 2029 and capped required reductions at 42%. City Council approved further ordinance amendments on May 18, 2026. Updated rules took effect August 27, 2026, with timing changes and a simplified path that caps the requirement at 30%. |
| Colorado, Building Performance Colorado | Commercial, multifamily and public buildings 50,000 sq ft and larger (primarily manufacturing buildings excluded) | Benchmarking, plus a greenhouse gas or EUI target for 2030 and a stricter target for 2040 | HB 25-1269 (2025) made the 2026 targets a goal with no penalties. The 2030 targets are unchanged, and a task force is developing the 2040 standards. A $400 annual fee applies. |
| Washington State, Clean Buildings Performance Standard | Tier 1: over 50,000 sq ft of nonresidential, hotel, motel or dormitory space. Tier 2: 20,001 to 50,000 sq ft, plus multifamily over 20,000 sq ft | Tier 1: meet an EUI target or an investment criteria path. Tier 2: benchmarking and operations requirements | Tier 1 compliance dates: June 1, 2026 (over 220,000 sq ft), June 1, 2027 (90,001 to 220,000), June 1, 2028 (50,001 to 90,000). Tier 2 compliance by July 1, 2027. Commerce released a 2026 edition of the integrated standard in August 2026. |
| Seattle, Building Emissions Performance Standard | Nonresidential and multifamily buildings over 20,000 sq ft | Verified benchmarking and greenhouse gas reports, then emissions intensity targets | Verification and reporting run 2027 to 2030 depending on size; the first emissions targets apply 2031 to 2035; net zero 2041 to 2050. |
| Maryland, statewide BEPS | Commercial and multifamily buildings 35,000 sq ft and larger, with exemptions | Annual benchmarking; net direct (on-site) emissions standards in the 2030s | HB 49 became law May 20, 2025. It removed EUI mandates, added exemptions and a $100 annual fee, and bars collection of alternative compliance payments before 2032. MDE accepted 2026 benchmarking reports through June 30, 2026, and plans to add the HB 49 changes to its regulations in 2027. |
| Montgomery County, Maryland | Non-residential buildings 25,000 sq ft and larger, multifamily 25,000 sq ft and larger, and county buildings | Annual benchmarking by June 1; site EUI performance standards | Regulations approved February 2025. Interim evaluations in 2028 (county buildings and non-residential 50,000+ sq ft), 2030 (non-residential 25,000 to 50,000 and multifamily 250,000+), and 2031 (other multifamily). Final standards 2033 to 2036. |
| St. Louis, Missouri, BEPS | Buildings 50,000 sq ft and larger | Meet energy performance standards that are reset every four years | The first compliance deadline was May 4, 2025. The Building Energy Improvement Board approved targets for the second compliance cycle in April 2026. That cycle adds qualified affordable housing and houses of worship, with a compliance deadline in May 2027. |
| Texas (statewide), Houston | None for private buildings | No building performance standard | We found no Texas statewide BPS and no Houston mandate for private buildings. Houston benchmarks its own 300+ city facilities and runs voluntary programs. |
| Austin, Texas, ECAD | Commercial buildings 10,000 sq ft and larger served by Austin Energy | Benchmarking and disclosure only | Ratings are due June 1 each year. The ordinance does not require improvements. |
Sources for most rows are listed at the bottom of this page; the Maryland HB 49, St. Louis, Houston and Austin rows link to their sources inline. Programs and dates change, so confirm with the administering agency before making decisions.
Why the details of the metric matter for HVAC
A BPS can measure performance in different ways, and the metric decides how much an HVAC efficiency improvement helps:
- EUI-based standards (Washington Tier 1, Montgomery County, Denver, St. Louis) count every kilowatt-hour you save. Cutting cooling electricity lowers EUI directly.
- Emissions standards that include electricity (New York City and Boston, for example) convert your electricity use to emissions using a factor the program sets. Lower cooling electricity lowers reported emissions. Boston also allows renewable electricity purchases toward compliance, which shows that grid electricity counts in its calculation.
- Direct-emissions standards (Maryland's statewide BEPS) focus on emissions from fuels burned on site, such as natural gas boilers. Saving electricity in an electric chiller or rooftop unit improves operating cost but does little for a direct-emissions metric. In these programs, efficient electric cooling matters most when you electrify heating.
How a BPS changes the HVAC conversation
A building over its limit has a cost in penalties or compliance payments that grows over time. That changes the arithmetic for efficiency measures in three ways:
- Avoided penalties add to savings. When you calculate return, add avoided payments to avoided utility costs, but only for years in which the building would otherwise be out of compliance.
- Timing matters more than usual. Denver, for example, now ties some flexibility to equipment replacement cycles. Measures that improve existing equipment can bridge the gap until a planned replacement, and documenting that plan can matter for compliance.
- Measured results are what count. BPS programs judge you on metered data reported through tools like ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, not on vendor estimates. A measure that saves energy on paper but does not show up in the next year's meter data does not help your compliance.
Where HVAC-R efficiency fits
Cooling is often a large share of electricity use in commercial buildings, especially in hot climates and buildings that run around the clock. Common measures that improve existing HVAC-R performance include retro-commissioning, controls and VFDs, coil cleaning, and refrigerant-side treatments that address internal oil fouling. Each fixes a different problem. Our ranked menu of efficiency measures compares them.
CryogenX4 describes its product as a one-time treatment, installed while systems run, that removes insulating oil film from heat-exchanger surfaces. The company reports energy savings of up to 30% and notes that results vary by equipment condition. For a BPS building, any such measure should be verified with before-and-after data on the treated equipment, using the methods in how HVAC energy savings are measured, so the result holds up in your compliance filing.
A practical compliance workflow
- Confirm coverage. Check the current covered-buildings list for your jurisdiction. NYC, Boston, Washington and Montgomery County all publish lists or lookup tools.
- Clean your benchmarking data. Make sure meters, floor area and property use details in Portfolio Manager are correct. Errors in these inputs can make performance look better or worse than it is.
- Find your gap. Compare current performance with each upcoming target, year by year.
- Rank measures by cost per unit of gap closed, not just by simple payback.
- Pilot and measure before rolling out across a portfolio, and keep the measurement records with your compliance files.
- Recheck the rules every year. As this page shows, deadlines and metrics move.
Texas owners: why this still matters
Texas has no statewide performance standard, and Houston has none for private buildings. Many Texas owners still run into BPS rules through national portfolios, tenants with emissions targets, or lenders and investors who ask for benchmarking data. Austin's ECAD ordinance already requires benchmarking for larger commercial buildings. Treating benchmarking and measured efficiency as routine puts a portfolio in a good position if rules arrive later. See Scope 2 emissions and HVAC for how kWh savings turn into reported emissions reductions.
Next step
If you own buildings covered by any of these programs, list the HVAC-R equipment that serves your largest electric loads and the next compliance date for each building. Then talk with CryogenX4 about a measured pilot on representative units, so you have verified data before your next filing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between benchmarking and a building performance standard?
Benchmarking laws require owners to measure and report energy use, usually through ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. A building performance standard also requires the building to meet a target by set dates, with penalties or alternative compliance payments if it does not.
Does Houston or Texas have a building performance standard?
As of October 2026 we found none for private buildings. Houston benchmarks its own facilities, and Austin's ECAD ordinance requires larger commercial buildings served by Austin Energy to benchmark and disclose, without mandating improvements.
Were any building performance standards delayed recently?
Yes. Denver moved its targets to 2028 and 2032 in 2025 and amended the ordinance again in May 2026. Colorado made its 2026 targets voluntary. Maryland's HB 49 removed EUI mandates and delayed alternative compliance payments until at least 2032. Boston extended its 2026 reporting deadline.
Will reducing cooling electricity help my building comply?
Under EUI-based standards and emissions standards that count grid electricity, yes. Under a direct-emissions standard such as Maryland's statewide BEPS, electricity savings do little for the compliance metric, though they still cut operating cost.
Sources
- LL97 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction — NYC Department of Buildings
- Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure (BERDO) — City of Boston
- Building carbon emissions reporting deadline extended (April 15, 2026) — City of Boston
- Energize Denver Adopts Updated Rules, Improves Supports for Buildings (Sept. 2, 2026) — City and County of Denver
- Denver adds flexibility to building performance guidelines (April 9, 2025) — Facilities Dive
- Legislative Updates to the Building Performance Colorado Program — Trinity Consultants
- Clean Buildings Performance Standard — Washington State Department of Commerce
- Building Emissions Performance Standard — City of Seattle
- Building Energy Performance Standards — Maryland Department of the Environment
- Covered Buildings and Deadlines (BEPS) — Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection
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