(a) This section shall apply to all privately-owned buildings and projects with at least 50,000 square feet of gross floor area.
(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.
(1) This subsection shall apply to all buildings and projects that are of a building type for which Energy Star® tools are available.
(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
(I) Benchmark and Energy Star® statements of energy performance for each building shall be made available to DOEE by May 1 of the respective following year. In 2011 and 2024 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, 2025, 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.
(i) In 2024, 2027, and every 6 years thereafter, 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.
(ii) By April 1, 2025, DOEE shall submit a report to the Council that analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of third-party verification, based on findings from the submission of third-party verification information that was submitted to DOEE pursuant to this section and rules issued to implement this section.
(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.