The final meeting of the Green Building Task Force (GBTF) was held on January 13, 2009. This was the culmination of a series of 14 meetings held since July 2009. The meetings were attended by 50 stakeholders and members of the public. The GBTF has been meeting to provide feedback on policies the City can adopt to meet the goals of the Green Building Capital Initiative:

• Improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings
  • Improve energy efficiency in existing buildings by 20 percent by 2020
  • Improve energy efficiency in new buildings and major retrofits consistent with the intent of the 2030 Challenge
• Create job opportunities in the green economy
• Save Seattle residents and businesses money on energy costs

City staff are now preparing the final recommendations report, based on public comments received during this process. The complete draft recommendations report is posted on the GBTF web site at www.seattle.gov/environment/GBtaskforce.htm.

The draft recommendations presented to stakeholders at the January 13 meeting included the following:

• Mandatory disclosure using Energy Star Portfolio Manager’s benchmarking program for existing large multi-family, commercial and institutional projects
• A major pilot program to roll out energy performance score (EPS) audits and disclosure for existing single-family residential units

Staff are also exploring opportunities to utilize existing loan products, as well as other innovative financing tools, that homeowners could access before—or at—the time of sale to pay for energy efficiency upgrades.

The draft report also outlines a suite of recommendations for new buildings. These policies primarily address the commercial and multi-family residential sectors, with policy elements anticipated to be phased in at different times based on their complexity and anticipated implementation challenges.

• Priority Permitting – develop a Green Q permitting program to provide expedited permit review of projects striving for higher levels of energy efficiency.
• Encourage Innovation – provide a venue to provide early review and guidance on permitting of innovative technologies.
• Energy Code Improvements – advocate for 30 percent improvement in the next update of the Washington state energy code, and move to greater promotion of whole-building analysis for future code compliance.
• Energy Efficiency Rebate – identify funding opportunities, and/or state legislative changes needed to implement a self-funded rebate program.
• Neighborhood Energy Strategies – develop city-wide strategy and recommendations for neighborhood-scale energy solutions, and implement pilot district energy systems in appropriate areas.

These draft recommendations are still being evaluated, and many of the details of policy design and the time line for implementation are yet to be determined. The final recommendations report will be posted on the GBTF web site at www.seattle.gov/environment/GBtaskforce.htm when it is released in March. There will be an additional opportunity for public comment after these recommendations are distributed.