In 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 3409, establishing an Energy Performance Standard policy for commercial buildings, often referred to as a Building Performance Standard (BPS). The initiative affects large existing commercial buildings and multifamily residential buildings. If you own or manage a large building in Portland, this may affect you.
All affected building owners should have been sent a letter notifying them that they are required to adhere to the new standard. If you did not receive a letter but believe your building may still be required to meet the standard, reach out to the Oregon Department of Energy to verify your building’s status.
Here is what has been updated
Since our last article, the comment periods for the rulemaking sessions have ended. The requirements have been clarified and finalized. The incentives have been clarified, and penalties for non-compliance were refined in the rulemaking sessions. The final deadlines are shown below.
Deadlines are approaching
Deadlines are coming up fast. You can begin requesting your data from your power company as of January 2026, and you can begin submitting it to ODOE in June.
Incentives and early reporting rules have been finalized
The rulemaking process led to new developments and refinements of items already in place.
You can follow the rulemaking process on Oregon’s government website.
Exemptions and Historic Buildings
Exemptions are possible for unoccupied buildings, agricultural buildings, and financial hardship. It is a good idea to read more about these exemptions if you believe your building may qualify. You may also be able to declare your building historic. It must still adhere to the requirements, but there may be more leniency.
Early Compliance and Planning Program
They are now accepting applications for the Early Compliance Action and Planning Program.
These are competitive grants designed to help the buildings most in need, but you must apply early and make a strong case for how you will use the funding. These grants are intended to support building owners who would otherwise struggle to comply with the new rules. There is a cap on spending for each program and each round, so apply early and keep checking the government website for the most up-to-date information.
Energy Professionals
If your building is required to comply with the new standards, you will need a qualified professional to help you run energy audits, create energy models, and file the required paperwork.
How can Harka help?
Harka supports owners through the full BPS process—benchmarking setup, EUI/EUIt analysis, retrofit strategy, and phasing that aligns with your budget and planned renovations. Our goal is to solve as much as possible with passive strategies and low-cost operational improvements first, then right-size any mechanical and envelope upgrades.
Harka has been designing and retrofitting high-performance and energy-efficient buildings for over 10 years. Unlike most architects, we do our own energy modeling as part of our service. We qualify as both Qualified Persons and Qualified Energy Professionals and can fulfill either role.
So why hire an architect to do this work over someone who specializes in energy modeling? We can help building owners solve building design issues related to potential energy upgrades. We aim to solve the issue with as many passive systems as possible before making envelope improvements or specifying new expensive HVAC systems. We solve problems through better design that uplifts the whole building while bringing it up to compliance.