In the summer of 2013, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn introduced the High-Performance Building Pilot Project as the City’s latest energy efficiency initiative. Together with Microsoft and the Seattle 2030 District, the project is aimed at using real-time data analysis to allow building owners to make targeted energy efficiency upgrades. While this is Seattle’s most recent initiative, the City has long been a leader in promoting building efficiency.

Benchmarking and Disclosure Ordinance

First enacted in 2010, the City’s Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Program requires owners of non-residential and multifamily buildings over 20,000 square feet (excluding parking) to conduct annual energy benchmarking or performance tracking using the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, a free web-based tool provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).[1] The City also allows buildings below the benchmarking size threshold to produce voluntary reports. To provide privacy for individual tenants, data reported to the City is based on energy use for the entire building, with individual meter readings excluded. Upon request, building owners must provide the most current energy benchmarking report to current tenants, prospective tenants negotiating a lease, potential buyers negotiating a purchase and potential lenders considering a financing or refinancing of the building. Complementing Seattle’s ordinance, Washington State Law (RCW 19.27A.170) mandates disclosure of energy performance data for state and nonresidential buildings over 10,000 sq. ft.

City Energy Code

The 2012 Seattle Energy Code, which took effect in 2013, is a key component of the City’s long term goal of increasing energy efficiency. What makes Seattle’s new code different from other codes is its inclusion of an optional target performance pathway. Traditionally, an energy code prescribes specific requirements for each regulated aspect of the building (lighting, insulation, etc.). In contrast to this prescriptive approach, the target performance path allows designers of certain commercial and municipal buildings to submit an energy model demonstrating how the proposed building would meet the specific energy requirements mandated by the code. Upon completion, the building is then required to operate within that energy level requirement for a full year. By treating the building as a system rather than a collection of individual components this approach should provide building designers with increased flexibility to achieve cost effective energy efficiency.

Home Energy Audits

Through a program provided by the City’s municipal utility, Seattle City Light, the majority of Seattle homeowners are able to receive a home energy audit at a discounted price of $95. After inspecting a home, an auditor rates its efficiency with an Energy Performance Score, an assessment tool co-developed by the Earth Advantage Institute and the Energy Trust of Oregon. Using this assessment, the auditor is then able to suggest home upgrades, including their projected costs and savings as well as estimated energy and climate impact reductions. Audits are also available at reduced rates or for free to residents who meet certain income qualifications.

Rebates and Financing Options

The City of Seattle and Seattle City Light offer a variety of incentive programs for businesses and residential consumers to encourage energy efficiency upgrades. The programs include:

• Residential Rebates: Seattle City Light provides rebates for qualifying high efficiency residential appliances such as refrigerators, washers, water heaters, and ductless heat pumps.
• Commercial Rebates: Incentives to encourage businesses to make efficiency retrofits are also available through Seattle City Light. Based on either total energy savings over the first year of the project or a fixed rebate, as much as 70 percent of a retrofit’s installation costs may be covered. Supported projects include upgrades to lighting; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, controls, transformers, and insulation, as well as industrial process improvements.
• Weatherization Assistance: To help low-income residents with energy efficiency improvements, the City’s Office of Housing provides free weatherization services and loans for homeowners and renters who meet certain income criteria.

Community Power Works, a pilot project funded with $20 million from the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Neighborhood Program, complemented these programs by providing residential, commercial, and public institutions with additional rebates to finance energy efficiency upgrades. While available funding from Community Power Works ended in September 2013, energy upgrades have been completed or are in progress for 2,071 single-family homes, 883 low-income multifamily housing units, 46 small businesses and 14 City buildings.[2]

Seattle 2030 District

If all of these efficiency initiatives were not enough, Seattle is one of four U.S. cities to have established a 2030 District. Established as a public-private partnership with property owners and managers, professional stakeholders, and community members, the Seattle 2030 District’s goal is to create a high-performance building district in downtown Seattle. This will mean achieving a 50 percent reduction in existing building and infrastructure energy use compared to national average energy use, as measured in the Energy Information Administration’s 2003 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), by 2030. Based on the 2003 CBECS national average, new buildings and infrastructure will also need to achieve a 60 percent reduction below the national average by 2030. Using a process similar to the City wide benchmarking ordinance, aggregate data for the District as a whole will be used to assess progress toward these efficiency goals.