Municipal Buildings Decarbonization Plan
The Municipal Buildings Decarbonization Plan aims to improve energy efficiency and eliminate emissions from all City-owned buildings by 2042.
The Plan covers 176 City buildings that had fossil fuel systems as of June 30, 2024. The Plan prioritizes cost-effective upgrades to building equipment that is at the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced anyways. This prevents duplicative work and conserves the City’s resources. A follow-up report will outline recommendations for 14 additional buildings at the Seattle Center campus.
Planned Investments
The Plan’s four key strategies will guide investments over the next twenty years. This includes:
Right-sizing equipment and reducing energy loads
Smart planning and analysis will mitigate or eliminate the need for electrical capacity upgrades, reducing the upfront costs of upgrades. Every building gets the equipment it needs for its space — no more, no less.
Incorporating energy efficiency to reduce utility costs
Reducing energy costs generates significant savings for the City budget, making more resources available for other City programs.
Installing efficient equipment that uses clean energy
The new equipment installed under the plan will help the City shift from dirty fossil fuels to the clean renewable energy provided by Seattle City Light.
Providing cooling to adapt to hotter summers and heat waves
Heat waves are becoming more frequent in Seattle, yet many buildings don't have cooling. To solve this, the Plan calls for installing heat pumps in our buildings. Heat pumps can heat and cool a building, and do both with high efficiency.
The Plan will make City-owned buildings healthier, more comfortable, and ready for the future. Drafty buildings will be insulated to stabilize temperatures. Gas boilers will be replaced with electric heat pump systems that both heat and cool. Inefficient equipment will no longer raise utility bills.
Implementing the Plan is estimated to cost $27 million annually from 2025–2042, on average. 96% of investments are for anticipated replacements under standard building management as equipment fails. Only $20 million is slated for replacing equipment earlier than needed.
Estimated Emissions Impact
The Plan complies with BEPS, which requires larger buildings in Seattle to reach net-zero by 2050. Further, the City will eliminate fossil fuels from 85% of the buildings that currently use them by 2037. Meeting BEPS early for most buildings will show other building owners how to do the same.
When work is complete, building emissions will be reduced by about 90% and energy use by 44%. By 2042, municipal buildings would emit around 11,000 fewer MT CO2e per year and would avoid 115,000 MT CO2e of emissions between 2024 and 2042. This is equivalent to taking 27,000 cars off the road for a year.