The BEACON Fellowship Project: Accelerating the Clean Buildings Flywheel in Washington

Thousands of building owners across Washington are or will soon be navigating pathways to comply with Washington’s first-in-the-nation Clean Buildings Peformance Standard (CBPS). In partnership with the Smart Buildings Center, Strategic Energy Innovations, and San Timoteo Energy Associates, the WA State Department of Commerce has launched the BEACON Fellowship Project—a groundbreaking initiative to support building owners and operators with their CBPS compliance. The BEACON Project is specifically designed to support building owners who lack staff and resource capacity to comply with the CBPS, while simultaneously accelerating the clean buildings flywheel in Washington.

The first cohort of BEACON fellows began in June 2025. In just the first six months, BEACON fellows have worked with building owners spanning multiple counties, conducting targeted outreach to a variety of entities across the state and supporting hundreds of buildings on their path to compliance.

In this presentation, we will share the successes, impacts, and lessons learned from the BEACON Fellowship Project, highlighting the benefits of investing in a workforce who can provide quality technical assistance and customer support to create a more energy efficient future.