Published October 19, 2026
By California SB 48: Where the Statewide Building Performance Standard Stands
California has spent three years working out how to regulate the energy performance of its largest existing buildings, and the process is now at a turning point. Senate Bill 48, the Building Energy Savings Act, was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 7, 2023. In July 2026, the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a 204-page draft strategy recommending a statewide building performance standard (BPS) for commercial and multifamily buildings larger than 50,000 square feet.
The stakes are significant. According to the CEC, residential and commercial buildings use more than 70 percent of California’s electricity and more than 50 percent of its natural gas, and they generate roughly 25 percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions. Yet California does not currently have an enforceable statewide BPS. SB 48 asked for a plan, not a mandate. This article summarizes what the law requires, what the draft strategy proposes, how stakeholders have responded, and what would need to happen before building owners face statewide performance targets.
SB 48 is law, but its scope is narrower than many observers expected. Authored by Senator Josh Becker and chaptered as Chapter 378, Statutes of 2023, it directs the CEC to develop a strategy for using data from the state’s existing benchmarking program to track and manage the energy use and emissions of large buildings.
The bill as introduced went further. It would have authorized the CEC and the State Water Resources Control Board to set and enforce performance standards covering both energy and water. That authority was removed before passage. The CEC’s draft report states that SB 48 directed it to develop a performance-based strategy but did not grant it the authority to execute that strategy.
The law lists several issues the strategy must consider, including:
SB 48 also set firm dates. The CEC was to adopt a final report by July 1, 2026, and submit it to the Legislature with recommendations by August 1, 2026.
The draft report, publication CEC-400-2026-007, was posted on July 7, 2026, for public comment. Its central recommendation is a statewide BPS built on the existing benchmarking program, which already collects annual energy data from large buildings. The main design elements are:
The report also proposes tenant protections. These would bar owners from passing noncompliance penalties on to residential and small commercial tenants, reinvest penalty revenue in buildings serving low-income communities, and protect tenants from displacement during retrofits.
The choice of metrics matters in practice. Onsite GHGI counts emissions from fuels burned in the building itself, such as natural gas for space and water heating. That ties the standard closely to electrification decisions, while site EUI rewards efficiency regardless of fuel type.
The CEC held a virtual workshop on the draft on July 29, 2026, and written comments followed through August. According to ICSC, the workshop pointed to growing alignment between regulators and industry on owner control, compliance flexibility, and statewide consistency. CEC staff said metrics should focus on factors within an owner’s control, while acknowledging open issues around tenant-controlled energy use, split incentives, and housing affordability.
Positions in the public record vary by group:
The process has moved more slowly than the statute envisioned. The CEC’s 2024 work plan targeted a final strategy by December 2025, and the law required adoption by July 1, 2026, yet the draft only appeared in July 2026. As of mid-October 2026, we could not confirm that a final report has been formally adopted or delivered to the Legislature.
California now has a law requiring a strategy, a detailed draft of that strategy, and an active comment record, but no binding statewide performance requirement. Two steps remain before one could exist: a final CEC report, and new legislation giving the CEC authority to set and enforce standards. The new legislative session that begins in January 2027 would likely be the earliest opportunity. Even if a bill passes, rulemaking and phased compliance would probably place the first statewide deadlines several years out.
For owners of large California buildings, the draft still offers useful signals. Benchmarking data already reported to the CEC would form the baseline, and site EUI and onsite emissions would be the measures that count. Owners in cities with local programs, such as Chula Vista and San Francisco, should also watch how state and local rules are reconciled. Building an accurate picture of current performance now, and testing retrofit options against likely targets, would put owners in a stronger position whatever form the final policy takes.
