This report considers the options for implementing a building performance standard across a broader scope of buildings and geography than a single city or state: federally owned or leased buildings, which comprise 1 billion square feet across the country.

This report assesses the various tradeoffs and challenges of designing building performance standards (BPS) in order to facilitate compliance and promote cost-effectiveness.

While performance elements tell employees what they have to do, the standards tell them how well they have to do it. The first article in this series defined and reviewed the characteristics of critical, non-critical, and additional performance elements. This article reviews the principles of writing good standards that can be used effectively to appraise employee performance of those elements.

The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) has prepared a framework for local governments, community and industry stakeholders interested in building performance standards that provides guidance on how to plan and coordinate the different policy components to achieve equitable outcomes. The USDN has also hosted a series of BPS webinars that are available on demand that provide background for local governments, community members, and industry professionals.