Homeowners, homebuyers and building professionals will soon find it easier to use sustainable (green) technologies by taking advantage of expanded expertise and incentives offered by the City of Seattle. A newly structured team of green building experts at DPD is currently gearing up for a campaign to make green development standard practice in Seattle.

While green building has rapidly caught on with “early adopters,” much work remains to be done. According to an upcoming economic development study, Seattle is expected to experience significant growth in the green building industry in the near to mid-future. The new City team will work to remove barriers to green building so that market transformation strategies can be effectively implemented.

The new green building program will focus on key market sectors that align with DPD’s customer base-single family residential, multifamily residential, and commercial/industrial/institutional. The program will also focus on integrating sustainability into urban design and neighborhood planning. The work plan includes:

• expanding educational programs and outreach materials
• proposing increased financial and development incentives for green building
• providing technical assistance to green projects
• evaluating the success and profitability of green projects, technologies and strategies
• recognizing and awarding innovative green projects and exemplary approaches
• coordinating easy access to incentives and assistance from other City departments

The green building team will also work to train DPD permit and plan review staff in green building strategies and provide technical assistance to permit applicants. As a result staff will be able to target projects that could implement green features early in the design and permit process.

Located within DPD’s City Planning Division, the new program will consist of five full-time staff with demonstrated expertise in green building. Some team members came from the existing Citywide Green Building Team, which has been reconfigured inside DPD.

The new structure will increase efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery and establish a citywide program to meet the City’s priorities, including-accelerating adoption of green building in the private sector; continuing to support, monitor and evaluate the City’s green building policy; and creating a sustainable development center. The new program also supports many of the City’s broader economic, environmental and community goals, including energy conservation and climate protection, water conservation and watershed protection, waste reduction and recycling, affordable housing, and healthy communities.