The Seattle City Council is closing in on new rules requiring roughly 4,100 existing buildings of more than 20,000 square feet to cut their greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050.
The Seattle Building Emissions Performance Standard would apply to existing structures including skyscrapers, low- to high-rise buildings, multifamily residences, retail spaces, restaurants, churches, schools and universities, and community centers.
Buildings account for 37% of Seattle’s carbon emissions, behind transportation’s 61% contribution, according to data from the city. The greenhouse gas sources are primarily oil and natural gas, including fossil fuel-powered furnaces and water heaters, gas stoves, and fuel leaks from pipes and storage tanks.
On Wednesday, the city council’s Select Committee on Climate Action heard public testimony regarding the measure to cut building emissions, including support from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, who proposed the rules.
“We have come up with a bill with support from environmental and climate organizations, as well as organized labor, affordable housing providers and building professionals.”
– Dylan Plummer, senior field organizer with Sierra Club
The legislation is “one of the more impactful actions the city can take to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions,” said Christa Valles, Harrell’s deputy director of policy. “And the mayor hopes that this will help inspire other cities to follow suit. As we all know, collective action is needed to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.”
The standards role out gradually over time, requiring property owners to measure a building’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, document its existing performance and equipment, and then make plans and take steps to reduce a building’s energy and carbon footprints.
City staff on Wednesday shared local examples of buildings that had been upgraded to curb their climate impacts:
- A multifamily affordable housing building installed heat pump water heating, roof insulation, an energy recovery system, and heat pump cooling in a community room, which cut the building’s energy use by 35% and its fossil fuels by 100%.
- A Washington State Department of Services for the Blind modified a building by replacing windows, upgrading lighting, installing a heat pump water heater and heat pump heating and cooling, plus other upgrades. The improvements cut energy use by 70% and fossil fuels by 100%.
The performance standard has multiple routes to achieving compliance and flexibility in the rules. It allows for timeline extensions or customized compliance plans in a wide variety of circumstances including for buildings with high vacancy rates, conflicts with historical landmark status, restaurants with racial and ethnic minority owners, and when there is no feasible low- or zero-emission alternative for a fossil fuel use.
The rules includes penalties for noncompliance, including fines of $15,000 for buildings over 50,000 square feet when owners fail to report information or provide inaccurate information. The fine is $7,500 for buildings under that size.
Seattle officials can also penalize owners whose buildings don’t reach green house gas reduction targets, issuing fines of $10 per square foot for non-residential structures, $7.50 per square foot for multifamily buildings, and $2.50 per square foot for low-income housing.
The city has already launched its Seattle Clean Building Accelerator, a program assisting building owners in reducing carbon impacts. Thirty-two organizations have participated so far. Seattle is leveraging local and other government funding to assist owners with compliance.
The process for drafting the standards included extensive outreach to wide-ranging stakeholders over more than a year, said council members said. Public testimony on Wednesday favored for the measure.
“We have come up with a bill with support from environmental and climate organizations, as well as organized labor, affordable housing providers and building professionals,” said Dylan Plummer, senior field organizer with Sierra Club. “We urge the council to pass this policy to reduce emissions, create green jobs, protect clean air, and continue the work to build a just transition for Seattle.”
Seattle would join Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Boston, Denver, New York City, and four other cities in adopting performance standards for existing buildings. Washington state signed its standards into law in 2019 and expanded them in 2022.
The city’s new rules would not apply to new construction. Seattle has a separate energy code for new commercial and larger multi-family buildings that incorporates rules from the Washington State Building Code Council and includes revisions by the city. Seattle’s proposed building performance standards also would not apply to industrial and manufacturing facilities, buildings smaller than 20,000 square feet, or single-family housing.
The Seattle measure is co-sponsored by city council members Lisa Herbold, Teresa Mosqueda and Dan Strauss.
The council’s Select Committee on Climate Action is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Dec. 7, with a final vote by the full council on Dec. 12.
“This is a tangible step that we can take to advance our our city’s commitment to reduce climate emissions,” Mosqueda said at the hearing. “And [I] appreciate the thoughtful process that led to this.”
