Join program staff from the Department of Planning and Development on October 17th  to learn more about the Seattle Building Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Ordinance and find out how to take a bite out of your energy bills. You’ll learn about: 

    -Free tools available to evaluate your building’s energy use
   - Financial incentives for improving your building’s energy efficiency
   – The city’s energy benchmarking and reporting program

You’ll also hear from other owners that have already taken the plunge into deep energy savings. Many resources have been developed to assist building owners including a self-guided webinar, FAQ’s and a How to Benchmark Guide. Local utilities have simplified the benchmarking process and now offer automated benchmarking to transfer summarized building energy consumption data directly into a building owners Portfolio Manager account. This service eliminates time consuming monthly manual data updates.

 Exhibitors include: 

• Seattle City Light
• Puget Sound Energy
• Seattle Steam
• City Green Building
• 2030 District
• Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance/Better Bricks
• Seattle Climate Partnership 
• Northwest Energy Efficiency Council
• US Environmental Protection Agency

Seattle City Hall, Bertha Knight Landes room
600 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA
4:00-7:00 PM (presentation at 6:00)

• Fall Bonus: $500 off the cost of an energy upgrade 
• Loan Fee Waiver: Waive $400 loan fee for people who receive the CPW Home Energy loan 
• Energy Performance Score Refund: Reimbursement of $95 EPS cost for homeowners who have electric heat.For more information on the Community Power Works program, visit www.communitypowerworks.org

Medium and large businesses can save up to an additional 15 percent on most measures for new commercial projects. Small businesses can now earn rebates on 80 percent of the average installed cost for most lighting retrofit fixtures. The standard rebate would have been about 50 percent.

More details on all Seattle City Light incentives here.

Thursday, September 22, 11:00 – 12:30

The EPA and The City of Seattle offer this FREE webinar training session to demonstrate how to benchmark a building’s energy performance using Energy Star’s Portfolio Manager. Instruction will include how to request Automated Benchmarking Services from local utility providers, Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy and Seattle Steam as well as how to annually report to the City of Seattle to comply with Seattle’s Building Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Ordinance. This session will review EPA’s online energy management tool, Portfolio Manager, which enables you to track the progress of energy efficiency efforts and compare the energy use of your buildings to peer buildings across the country. Attendees will learn how to measure and track energy use and carbon dioxide emission reductions to establish baseline energy use, prioritize investments, set goals, and track improvements over time.

Register for these and other ENERGY STAR training sessions at https://energystar.webex.com/energystar

The City completed a study earlier this month that evaluated the neighborhoods where district energy is likely to be a promising strategy. The First Hill area creates the best near-term opportunity for district energy given the planned Yesler Terrace redevelopment.  Policy recommendations to pursue will be available in the fall, and additional analysis will be done on other promising neighborhoods next year, such as Capitol Hill, South Lake Union and the University District. The latest information is available at the Office of Sustainability & Environment’s website.

Speakers include Councilmember Hilary Franz, Bainbridge Island City Council, Stan Gent, President/CEO, Seattle Steam, Denis Hayes, President and CEO, The Bullitt Foundation, Andy Wappler, Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Puget Sound Energy. The panel will be moderated by Grist staff writer David Roberts.

More information and registration information at City Club’s website.

In doing so, the City became one of 3 cities to accept President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge to reduce energy use in commercial buildings by 20 percent by 2020.

This effort is just the latest in many efforts the City has undertaken to reduce Seattle’s energy use, which include Community Power Works and an Energy Benchmarking Ordinance.

Reduce your energy use – which reduces your carbon footprint – by upgrading to energy-efficient appliances.

Seattle City light offers rebates to help.

Join your central and southeast Seattle neighbors and the City of Seattle at South Shore School on May 3, 2011. The event will feature:

• Food and children’s activities
• Free advice from our Energy Experts
• Sign up for an Energy Assessment
• Meet our certified contractors
• Learn about special rebates and incentives from our partners at Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy

Find out details on the Community Power Works Loan program. Plus, learn how you could earn money for your local neighborhood nonprofit organization by helping spread the word about Community Power Works.

More information about the program and event at www.communitypowerworks.org.