Updated Green Building Incentives

[Link] In Seattle, buildings are one of the largest sources of climate pollution. They are responsible for more than a third of our city's greenhouse gas emissions, with over 90% of these emissions resulting from burning fossil fuels like fracked gas for heat, hot water, and appliances.

SDCI's green building permit incentives aim to create more efficient buildings that center around clean electric energy, water, and resource conservation with a focus on human health. Projects can gain additional height or floor area or a faster building permit in exchange for meeting specific green building goals and certification.

SDCI updated the Green Building Standard and Priority Green Expedited on March 15, 2021.

The Land Use Code requires compliance with the Green Building Standard, as described in Director's Rule 4-2021, when a development exceeds a minimum floor area, includes building a second accessory dwelling unit, and other voluntary incentives for new buildings that provide additional development capacity, such as extra floor area or height. Director's Rule 4-2021 outlines the requirements for projects subject to the Green Building Standard. The previous rule, 20-2017 applies to projects under the 2015 Seattle Energy code and required at least 15% energy savings. For structures over 3 stories, a separate energy model evidencing the energy savings was required. The new rule, DR 4-2021, effective for projects subject to the 2018 Seattle Energy Code does not require additional energy efficiency measures beyond energy code or a separate energy model. Green building certification is required, and it is expected that some energy savings and models will be required to meet certification, but SDCI will not be requiring separate energy models per DR 4-2021.

Integrated design and recognition of the green building requirement before demolition of structures on your development site are essential. DR 4-2021 highlights include:

• Validate your environmental goals by using one of the approved green building certifications
• Shift to clean energy by eliminating fossil fuel in your project
• Reduce site impacts related to lead dust during demolition
• Explore opportunities to reduce waste and save embodied carbon by retaining or deconstructing existing structures
• Hire a third-party green building inspector

Priority Green Expedited is available for all new construction projects and offers faster building permit review and processing for projects that meet green building requirements. Those requirements include:

• Validate your environmental goals by using one of the approved green building certifications
• Shift to clean energy by eliminating fossil fuel in your project
• Reduce site impacts related to lead dust during demolition
• Explore opportunities to reduce waste and save embodied carbon by retaining or deconstructing existing structures
• Hire a third-party green building inspector
• Go beyond code by making your project more energy efficient
• Explore opportunities to reduce embodied carbon from building materials by using and advocating for Environmental Product Declarations
• Reduce refrigerant leaks by meeting our refrigerant management options
• Create healthy indoor spaces by reducing VOCs and formaldehyde
• Reduce material and energy use by meeting our size limits for dwelling units

For questions about these requirements or to discuss if your project would be a good fit to take advantage of these incentives, please reach out to [email protected].

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