In 2000 Seattle became the first city in the nation to formally adopt a Sustainable Building Policy. Coupled with the biggest capital improvement program since the Seattle fire of 1888, the new policy provided a unique leadership opportunity to create change in the building industry. Since then City of Seattle green building experts have worked steadily to incorporate sustainability principles into the daily work of engineers, plans examiners, code developers, planners and other City staff. They have also worked with developers, architects and private citizens to embrace green building principles in all aspects of development, from small renovations to highrises.

This is our year in review:

OVERALL

• $671 million gross revenue per year generated by Green Building activity
• 2,000+ citizens attended the second year of the City’s Urban Sustainability Forum

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

• 17% of all new residential construction is Built Green™. This includes 242 Built Green Residential projects, representing 835 Built Green housing units.
• 150 citizens attended classes & workshops provided by City Green Building
• 15,000 Green Remodel Guides distributed in 2006:
  — recently featured in The New York Times,
  — to be revised, reprinted & used statewide through the State Department of Ecology.
• 7,000+ people attended the Green Living Expo at Highpoint, a Built Green neighborhood, that included 4 green idea model homes.

COMMERCIAL MARKET

• Seattle has the highest number of LEED Certified buildings of any city in the world!
  (23 of 609 buildings)
  This represents:
  — 7.9 million square feet
  — $1.8 billion in capital investments
  
• Seattle’s LEED Certified buildings include:
  — 10 City (5 Gold, 3 Silver, 2 Certified)
  — 7 Private (including 1st Platinum in Washington state)
  — 4 Non-Profit
  — 1 County
  — 1 State
  — at least another 26 LEED Registered Buildings will be certified in the next few years
• Seattle has the highest concentration of LEED Accredited Professionals in the nation
  (3.3% of over 33,000)
  — 1,160 Seattle (30 City staff)
  — 1,800 Washington state
• 750 professionals attended Classes & Workshops provided by City Green Building
• 70+ projects received technical assistance provided by City Green Building

GOVERNMENT

• 1ST U.S. city to adopt a LEED-based building policy (in 2000) for all facilities over 5,000 square feet. (68 cities have followed suit.)
• 1ST U.S. state to adopt LEED-based green building policy (for all public agency facilities over 5,000 square feet.) when it adopted the High Performance Green Buildings Bill. (17 other States have stated commitments to LEED.)
• 160 City staff members attended LEED-based trainings provided by City Green building.

HOW DOES GREEN BUILDING ADD VALUE TO THE CITY OF SEATTLE?
A 2006 report, “LEED Certified Buildings in Seattle: Analysis & Projections,” quantified green buildings’ reduced impact on Seattle’s utilities. An analysis of 15 LEED-certified buildings within the City’s limits estimated the following savings:

• 1.6 million gallons: total annual stormwater run-off diverted from stormdrains
• 1.4 million gallons: total annual wastewater reduction
• 3.2 million gallons: total annual potable water savings
• 22,012 tons of construction waste recycled (about 80% of all construction materials, compared to standard practice of 60%)
• 6.9 million kilowatt hours electricity per year saved*
• 73,000 therms of natural gas per year saved*
  *(compared to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999, the National Energy Code. Seattle has its own energy code, which is more efficient in some areas).

This report will be updated to incorporate newly-certified buildings on an annual basis. For results, please visit the Green Building Program website (see address below) in early 2007.