DC Mayor Bowser’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Support Act of 2026 proposes deep cuts to funding that affect programs that the building industry relies on including $18M reallocation of the Sustainable Energy Trust Fund (SETF) to general funds. Mary Thomas, Director of the Building Innovation Hub, gave the following testimony on May 1, 2026 to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, Budget Oversight Hearing on the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) and DCSEU.
Based on live testimony provided May 1, 2026
Thank you, Chairperson Allen, members of the committee, and council staff. My name is Mary Thomas, and I am the Director of the Building Innovation Hub (the Hub), a program of the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT). I have been with the Hub for three years and became the Director last Fall. I am also a long time DC resident and have a background in commercial real estate. So, I understand both the challenges and solutions that this industry is facing locally.
While the Hub is part of IMT, we operate as a neutral and trusted third-party. We do not advocate for or against any policy or regulation as our role is to help building and industry stakeholders mitigate risk by navigating the regulatory landscape; and to provide support with implementation. Our funding comes from a variety of sources, including a DOEE grant for the Small Building Retuning Pilot Program as a sub-grantee to Baumann Consulting, and a subcontract with DCSEU where we provide support to DC residents and businesses working to improve their buildings and comply with BEPS.
I’ve spoken with the Hub’s numerous partners and stakeholders across the industry to better understand what’s working, what’s not, and how we can come together, especially in these challenging times, to drive greater adoption of high performing buildings to benefit both District residents and businesses.
Here is some of what we’re hearing and seeing in the market:
- I’m happy to report that the data show that building performance is improving across the District. Buildings subject to BEPS are making progress against their targets. ENERGY STAR medians are increasing over time. This goes beyond numbers on a chart, this represents building owners investing in their assets; and hiring consultants and contractors to implement improvements.
- To make these improvements, buildings need support from technical assistance, incentive programs and low-cost financing. The Hub conducts an annual needs assessment; we routinely find that industry stakeholders report that they need financial support to implement retrofit projects.
- The industry needs help with capacity building, growing the labor force, and preparing contractors to meet the demand for high-performance buildings.
- Our survey last year found that 45% of respondents identified shortage of skilled contractors and tradespeople as a gap in decarbonization implementation.
- DCSEU has provided effective support for businesses, and residents over the years including through the Affordable Housing Retrofit Accelerator, Train Green and more.
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- Since 2011 DCSEU has invested $360M in energy efficiency, saving residents and businesses a total of $2.2B in lifetime cost savings. That’s $6 in savings for every $1 invested.
- The Affordable Housing Retrofit Accelerator is a model for other jurisdictions. Over 70 projects have competed energy audits and nearly 30 projects have completed. implementation projects. Much of the investment in the other 40 projects will be wasted if the District goes through with cutting the funds needed to complete the projects.
- In 2025, DCSEU invested $9M in low-income communities and $8.1M in CBEs.
- DCSEU’s Workforce programs have proven to be effective. In 2025, they created 93 green jobs for DC residents and graduated 31 DC residents with new skills to fill some of those jobs.
- The need is only growing as smaller buildings focus more on building performance with benchmarking now in effect for buildings over 10,000 square feet, and the BEPS size threshold dropping with future cycles.
- Small buildings are less likely to have dedicated staff for efficiency improvements which means that public support programs are even more critical.
- Future BEPS cycles will add another 3,500 buildings. This will drive additional demand for businesses and investments to improve building performance; creating healthier, more energy efficient, resilient spaces for District residents.
There are many challenges facing the District and the building industry right now. What we are hearing is that residents and businesses need public support to make better buildings that improves lives and support business growth across the District.
Thank you again, Chairperson Allen and members of the Committee, for the opportunity to testify.