Green Building Task Force

Green Building Capital Initiative Policies Announcement
April 22, 2009

The City of Seattle announced a suite of policies that represent the culmination of the year-long Green Building Task Force effort to achieve the City's goals of improving energy efficiency by 20% in existing building stock and creating carbon neutral new construction. This comprehensive building energy strategy addresses conservation opportunities in new and existing buildings alike, and encompasses the vast residential and commercial housing stock in our city. It creates tools and financial resources that will help building owners save energy, save money and help reduce Seattle’s greenhouse gas footprint. And it is one that we can again share with our region and our nation.

View the launch documents and report here:

• Press Release (PDF, 26 KB)
• Final Policy Report (PDF, 278 KB)
• Two-page policy summary (PDF, 19 KB)
• Policy presentation (PDF, 397 KB)
• Sample Environmental Performance Score scorecard (PDF, 336 KB)
• Residential energy efficiency program: audit to tax credit (PDF, 241 KB)

See also (released upon completion of the Task Force's work):

• Draft staff policy recommendation report (PDF, 289 KB)
• Appendices (PDF, 1.1 MB, includes policy scorecards and case studies)

Three years ago, Seattle pledged to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions to 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012, and in the long term, reduce emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. We are well on our way towards meeting our ambitious short-term target, but we still need to make substantial investments in climate protection to meet all our goals.

There is tremendous opportunity for greenhouse gas emission reductions by increasing energy efficiency in public and private, residential and commercial buildings. To make Seattle America’s Green Building Capital, in 2008 we identified an initial target of achieving an increase of 20% in the energy efficiency of Seattle’s new and existing buildings.

The Green Building Task Force was convened to provide guidance on appropriate policy mechanisms that the City can employ to achieve these goals. 50 stakeholders with a range of perspectives on environmental and policy issues were invited to sit on the Green Building Task Force and met monthly from June 2008 through January 2009. The membership included representatives of real estate professionals, building operators, green building experts, low-income housing providers and advocates, historic preservation advocates, energy suppliers, financial institutions and other interested parties.

To facilitate increased participation and make best use of considerable member expertise, the Task Force was broken out into two committees of approximately 25 members: a new buildings committee and an existing buildings committee.

• Full Task Force member list and bios
• Task Force Background & Resources
• Task Force Charter (revised, 8/26/08)
• Task Force Workplan/Schedule (PDF, 73 KB, revised 10/17/08)
• Key Themes from initial interviews with Task Force Members (PDF, 98 KB)
• Press Release, 7/23/08

July 24, 2008, Central Library, 4-6 pm

• Meeting Agenda
• Meeting Summary
• Mayor's Green Building Capital Initiative Presentation (PDF, 157 KB)

December 2, 2008, Seattle Public Library, Level 4, Room 1, 2:00-5:30 pm

• Meeting Agenda
• Meeting Summary

Presentation & meeting materials

• Western Climate Initiative & State Climate Action Team Overview (PDF, 61 KB)
• Sound Alliance Sustainable Works: Quality Jobs for a Healthy Environment (PDF, 976 KB)
• ShoreBank Cascadia: Energy Efficiency Loan Program (PDF, 1 MB)
• New Buildings Policy Synopsis (PDF, 215 KB)
• Existing Buildings Policy Synopsis (PDF, 196 KB)
• Small Group Discussion Questions (PDF, 18 KB)

January 13, 2009, City Hall (Bertha Knight Landes room), 2:00-5:30 pm

• Meeting Agenda
• Meeting Summary (PDF, 112 KB)

Presentation & meeting materials

• Draft Staff Approach for Energy Efficiency (PDF, 303 KB)

Full Task Force Membership

Member Biographies

Lisa Richmond, AIA Seattle
Anindita Mitra, American Planning Association (WA Chapter)
Joanne MacKintosh, American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)
Jerry Dinndorf, Associated General Contractors
Scott Finley, Atmosphere IEM, Inc.
Paul Purcell, Beacon Development Group
Rod Kauffman, BOMA Seattle-King County
Chris Elwell, Building Construction Trades Council
Jason McLennan, Cascadia Region Green Building Council
John Powers, Colliers International
Liz Dunn, Dunn + Hobbes
Susan Drummond, Foster Pepper, PLLC
Mary McCumber, FutureWise
Aaron Fairchild, GreenWorks Realty
Kathleen Brooker, Historic Seattle
Richard Bendix, Homestreet Bank
Patricia Chase, International Sustainability Institute
Pedro Vasquez, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc.
Kent Barber, Keithly Barber Associates, Inc.
Christian Gunter, Kennedy Associates
Jim Lopez, King County
Patti Southard, King County GreenTools
Aaron Adelstein, Master Builders
Ash Awad, McKinstry
Rich Franko, Mithun
Kari-Lynn Frank, NAIOP (Nat'l Assoc. of Industrial & Office Properties)
Duane Jonlin, NBBJ
Mark Frankel, New Buildings Institute
Stan Price, NW Energy Efficiency Council
Carrie Dolwick, NW Energy Coalition
Kim Drury, NW Energy Coalition
John Littel, Pacific NW Council of Carpenters
Curt Pryde, Pryde-Johnson
Bob Stolarski, Puget Sound Energy
Cal Shirley, Puget Sound Energy
Cynthia Putnam, Putnam Price Group
Tom Tierney, Seattle Housing Authority
Jolene Anderson, Seattle-King County Association of Realtors
Stan Gent, Seattle Steam
Rachel Brombaugh, ShoreBank Enterprise Cascadia
Dusty Hoerler, Sound Alliance
Tom Marseille, Stantec Consulting
Karen Lesley-Lloyd, Tenants Union of Washington State
Mark Schuster, The Schuster Group
Douglas Howe, Touchstone Corporation
Marco Lowe, Triad Development
Richard Happel, University Mechanical Contractors, Inc.
Kelly Mann, Urban Land Institute - Seattle
Don Horn, US General Services Administration
Chuck Trafton, Washington Land Title Association
Steve Clark, Washington Oil Marketers Association
Arun Jhaveri, Certified Sustainable Development Professional (CSDP)