Research DEC. 18, 2025

SUSTAINABILITY CASE STUDY SERIES

How Link Logistics Turns Compliance Into Shared Value


Tyler Deaton
Senior Vice President, Head of Sustainability

Justine Zienowicz
Manager, Sustainability

Ben Long
Associate, Sustainability
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Looking up from underneath a power line tower

Proactive energy management helps Link Logistics and its warehouse customers meet evolving building performance standards.

 

The Link Logistics Sustainability Case Study Series explores how the firm creates customer value through efficiency upgrades and proactive energy management. This installment examines how the firm leverages Energy Solutions, its comprehensive energy management program, to meet evolving Building Performance Standards (BPS) policies while helping customers avoid costly fines and improving energy performance across its portfolio.

Businesses interested in enrolling in Energy Solutions, the firm’s cost-saving utility management program, can contact energysolutions@linklogistics.com.


Program Background

BPS policies set by local and state governments require commercial buildings to operate within defined energy use intensity or greenhouse gas emission limits. Each jurisdiction sets its own performance thresholds, compliance deadlines and penalties. Under certain laws, customers themselves can face exposure to penalties for non-compliance, which can range from approximately $0.10 to $10 per square foot per year under the most stringent policies. Link Logistics helps customers avoid such penalties while achieving utility cost savings.

State and Local Building Performance Standards

Passed
Under Construction
Building performance map of the US

The map above depicts building performance standards that have been passed or are under consideration across U.S. state and local governments.

IMT: Institute for Market Transformation

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BPS compliance requires active participation from customers, who must provide access to utility data, physical spaces and mechanical systems, as well as respond promptly to requests from property owners. The process is especially complex in industrial real estate because, while property owners are accountable for overall performance, customers typically control daily operations, equipment and utility accounts. This dynamic makes compliance dependent on close coordination and timely action from occupants. Link Logistics developed a scalable, collaborative compliance pathway that gives customers more energy-efficient and cost-effective spaces.


Customer Opportunity

Through Energy Solutions, Link Logistics helps customers cut utility costs and stay ahead of complex BPS requirements. As more jurisdictions enforce these policies, customers may face confusing notices and tight deadlines. For customers navigating new BPS requirements, Link Logistics simplifies compliance by identifying at-risk buildings and developing tailored plans that reduce confusion and unlock cost-saving opportunities.

 


 

Link Logistics handles BPS compliance end-to-end by:

  • Enrolling properties impacted by BPS in Energy Solutions
  • Creating required energy management and operations and maintenance plans, and recommending low- or no-cost operational improvements alongside larger building upgrades
  • Executing efficiency upgrades with national vendors, leveraging scale for preferred pricing, rebates and incentives
  • Enabling customers to view annual savings benefits in their Energy Solutions dashboard within Link+, the firm’s customer portal

 


 

Using this process, Link Logistics is scaling BPS compliance across 146 properties and 20 million square feet nationwide.


Customer Results

Link Logistics launched its first compliance initiative by enrolling nine customers across three industrial buildings subject to Washington State Clean Building Performance Standards (WSCBPS) in Energy Solutions. Proactive customer enrollment in Energy Solutions and early compliance submission have positioned all three properties to meet the June 1, 2026, deadline, strengthening relationships with customers and reducing their operating costs while avoiding more than $1 million in potential fines.

The graphic below shows the energy consumption of one building subject to WSCBPS compared to the corresponding Energy Use Intensity Target (EUIt). Through proactive compliance engagement and responsible customer operations, the property’s consumption falls below the required EUIt threshold, positioning the property for a successful compliance submission. By tracking energy use across its properties, Link Logistics can leverage the resulting data to identify opportunities to help customers reduce consumption and costs year-round, even during peak demand periods.

Customer Electric Usage and Energy Use Intensity Target (EUIt)

2025 Usage¹
WSCBPS EUIt²
Customer Electric Usage and Energy Use Intensity Target (EU It) diagram
  1. 1. 2025 usage reflects earliest available data per enrollment in Energy Solutions
  2. 2. Annual building EUIt is based on building type and square footage. Building-level EUIt is prorated by customer square footage and divided to show monthly compliance threshold.

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Link Logistics is now scaling its compliance strategy across California, Colorado, Maryland, Oregon and the rest of Washington in line with upcoming BPS deadlines. By embedding compliance into Energy Solutions, the firm has turned a regulatory requirement into a long-term value driver—lowering costs for customers, protecting assets, and helping warehouses and industrial real estate operate more sustainably.


What's Next

Future installments of the Link Logistics Sustainability Case Study Series will showcase additional approaches the firm is using to drive decarbonization and create value for customers.