For immediate release: May 22, 2013    
Contact: Sara Wysocki, 206.233.7014

Seattle Discloses Energy Use of City-Owned Buildings
City Leads by Example by Reporting Building Energy Use

May 22, 2013 – The City of Seattle is providing the public a closer look at the energy use of City-owned buildings in a new report, “Seattle Municipal Buildings 2011 – 2012 Energy Use Performance Report.” The report describes City efforts to evaluate the energy efficiency of 6.2 million square feet of City-owned and operated building space, a process that the City is also requiring owners of mid-sized and large privately owned buildings to do every year. The report also details actions the City is taking to improve the energy efficiency of its facilities.

“We hope that sharing the City’s results from evaluating our buildings’ energy use encourages other owners to do the same,” said Jill Simmons, Director of the Office of Sustainability & Environment. “Taking a close look at the energy performance of our facilities helps identify cost-effective opportunities to save energy and free up taxpayer resources for other important City services.”

To lead by example, City departments were directed to go beyond the minimum requirements of the energy benchmarking program and publicly disclose the City’s benchmarking results. Private owners in Seattle are required to disclose their building’s energy use with tenants, buyers, lenders and other qualified parties upon request. The City building report includes office buildings, libraries, fire and police stations, community buildings and more.

The assessment found that City-owned downtown buildings (City Hall, Justice Center, Seattle Municipal Tower, Central Library) are more energy efficient than the national average. The Seattle Municipal Tower has an EPA ENERGY STAR score of 93 out of 100 (50 is average), meaning it is more energy efficient than 92 percent of similar buildings nationwide. More than 3,000 people work at this 62-story high rise that uses about 40 percent less energy than a typical building of its size. Regularly monitoring and quick action to address in energy use helps the City keep the building performing at the top of its class. For example, continuous energy tracking led managers to reduce weekend heating and lighting when fewer people use the building.

On the whole, the City’s extensive public library system uses about 42 percent less energy than other U.S. libraries. Seattle’s libraries use about 61 kBtus (thousand British thermal units) of energy for each square foot of space, whereas U.S. libraries on average use about 104­ kBtu per square foot.

City building energy use was compared to that of similar buildings throughout the nation – information provided by the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program and the Energy Information Agency’s Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS). Private building owners can also use ENERGY STAR and CBECS data to see how their buildings stack up to others nationally.

“We applaud the City for taking a detailed assessment of the energy performance of its buildings and sharing this information with the public. Seattle 2030 District members share building energy performance within our organization allowing participants to compare results, share best practices and make our buildings perform at higher levels of efficiency. The City’s disclosure of its data is a welcome step in providing useful information from which the market can learn,” said Brian Geller, Executive Director of the Seattle 2030 District. The Seattle 2030 District is a collaboration of leading building owners and managers, including the City of Seattle, in downtown Seattle committed to significantly reducing environmental impacts within the built environment.

While this is the first time City building energy use has been made public, the City has a long history of monitoring and improving the energy efficiency of its facilities, including recent energy efficiency upgrades at 17 City facilities. One upgrade—a chiller at Seattle Center’s central plant that cools more than one million square feet of space—is projected to cut electricity use by 13 percent. This and other energy conservation efforts have saved the City and taxpayers $1.25 million since 2008.

The City is currently developing a comprehensive Resource Conservation Management Plan to build on its energy efficiency track record. The Plan will outline strategies to improve the energy efficiency of City’s building portfolio by 20 percent by 2020 (from a 2008 baseline).

As of April 1, owners of all commercial and multifamily residential buildings 20,000 square feet or larger are required to annually benchmark and report energy use to the City. Already, more than 90 percent of large building owners (50,000 square feet and above) have reported their building’s energy use. For more information on Seattle’s Energy Benchmarking and Reporting Program and free benchmarking support, visit: www.seattle.gov/energybenchmarking or call (206) 727-8484.

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Understanding what your customers and neighbors really think about shopping and buying local can have a profound impact on the way a company does business – and help the company fine-tune its strategies to compete against non-local chains and corporations. As part of a new event series, Seattle Good Business Network is hosting ‘What Seattle Really Thinks About Local,’ on June 5 to present the results of a major, exclusive survey examining the perceptions and attitudes of Seattle and King County residents when it comes to spending money with local, independent businesses. The Office of Economic Development provided support for research that will give you a first hand look at:

•    How Seattle/King County residents define the term “local”
•    The importance of buying from locally owned businesses compared to other decision factors
•    How much more, if any, residents are willing to spend on local options
•    How attitudes differ by key demographic and psychographic factors
•    The key implications for your business

Visit the event site for more information.

Changes made to the code

Over 70 percent of an estimated 140,000 street trees are privately owned. The code changes address this and other issues (see the handy table below for a summary) that affect all trees in the ROW (both publicly and privately owned), by specifically regulating:

• Protection, preservation and maintenance of trees
• Restrictions on tree removal
• Requirements for tree replacement
• Tree pruning requirements and qualifications for private tree companies
• Enforcement & penalties

The code changes provide for protection and preservation of existing, mature trees in order to meet the canopy cover goals of the Urban Forest Management Plan.  Because these changes add a new, professional qualification requirement, businesses and homeowners have until January 1, 2014 before any sanctions are applied. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will hold a series of outreach events and educational forums to give the local tree service providers the information they need to become compliant with the new code requirements.

What’s Seattle’s most common street tree? How many new street trees have been planted since 1992? Visit the Department of Transportation’s site to learn the answers and check out the online tree map. Interested in learning more about trees and how you can get involved? Be sure to visit the Seattle reLeaf site for one easy place to find it all.

SDOT is hosting a street party Sunday, May 19 along Alki.  This free event opens the city’s largest public space – its streets – so people can walk, bike, roll, run, skip and shop – without having to watch out for cars! Participate in the West Seattle 5K Run/Walk in the morning, sponsored by West Seattle High School PTSA.  Stay for the party starting at 11 a.m.  And what a great time it is going to be. The Alki Beach Creeps are joining forces with us to bring the largest costumed bike parade in West Seattle’s 111 year history. Skate Like a Girl is planning skating workshops; Hollow Earth Radio is spinning tunes in-between live music; Coastal Boutique is hosting a t-shirt tye-dyeing station; Alki Bike and Board will be repairing bikes; and the Alki Art Fair—West Seattle’s premier art and music showcase—is inviting local artists to join the fun.  Check out our activity location map for moredetails on who is coming out to play and the location of all the restaurants along the corridor—yummy!

The fun continues throughout the summer. Celebrating its sixth year, Summer Streets has quickly become a tradition and a special part of summers in Seattle.  Local merchants and artists work together months in advance to make each event even better every year.  Neighbors, families and friends mark their calendars so they don’t miss it. Remaining events are scheduled for:

Ballard—Friday, May 31 from 3:30 to 7 p.m.
PhinneyWood —Friday, August 9 from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Rainier Valley—Saturday, August 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Get more details at www.seattle.gov/summerstreets and follow us at www.facebook.com/seattlesummerstreets for the latest updates.

Imagine what it would be like if every day you woke up to a hungry family and knew you had to provide them with breakfast, lunch and dinner, but with only a budget of $6 a person? How heavy would your heart be when, after giving your son his $6 worth, you looked into his eyes and realized that he is still hungry?  Still lacking the nutrition needed to think clearly in school, grow strong, and feel healthy.

For more than a million people in Washington State, this imagination is a reality. These families – working mothers, father, sons and daughters – receive food stamps (now knows as SNAP benefits) and must turn that into healthy, fulfilling meals.

Last year, the City of Seattle and the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance piloted a program designed to help SNAP recipients stretch their benefits further when purchasing healthy and nutritious ingredients. Fifteen hundred Seattle families received $2 for every $1 of SNAP spent at a farmers market. For many, it was the first time they had access to high-quality ingredients. As a result of Fresh Bucks, 85 percent of shoppers said they ate more fruits and vegetables. Plus, the increase in customers meant more sales for local farmers, who reported a $70,000 increase in sales.

Now, the challenge is to continue the momentum of this progress. Fresh Bucks is a public-private partnership. The City of Seattle, JPMorgan Chase, and The Seattle Foundation are committed to scaling up Fresh Bucks in 2013. With your help, we can bring Fresh Bucks to all Seattle Farmers Markets in 2013!

Your contributions will directly enable a low-income Seattle resident to put healthy food on his or her table. Make a contribution to Fresh Bucks today, during The Seattle Foundation’s GiveBIG event. All contributions will be stretched by the Seattle Foundation, and contributions of $100 to $5000 will be matched 100% by an anonymous supporter.

As a chef and restaurant owner, eating nutritious organic food is a passion for me. Recently, I challenged myself to the SNAP budget ($6 per person, per day) for 30 days. Within the first week, I was deeply humbled. Filling a basket with the USDA recommended amount of fruits and vegetables and staying under budget was extremely difficult. Finding local foods in a large, budget-oriented grocery chain was equally hard. When you add the cost of sustainable foods, the challenge became almost impossible.

Fresh Bucks goes a long way in helping low-income parents provide better nutrition for their children. Please pledge to help expand this program.  Donate now through the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance, and write ‘Fresh Bucks’ in the comments box.

Thank you so much for your commitment to help feeding Seattle’s families, and help growing our communities.
 

Directs City departments to cut annual use of petroleum-based fuels by 1 million gallons by 2020

SEATTLE – Mayor Mike McGinn announced today that he has directed City departments to build on earlier “green fleet” efforts to meet the challenge of cutting the City’s annual use of petroleum-based fuels by 1 million gallons by 2020. Accomplishing this goal will require improving operational efficiencies, making investments in alternative-fuel infrastructure, and ramping up purchases of alternative vehicles.

 “Reducing consumption of petroleum-based fuels is good for the climate and good for the economy,” said McGinn. “By ramping up demand on the government side we can help support businesses that are interested in innovating sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. I encourage my colleagues across the region and country to take similar actions.”

Using the city’s 2012 fuel usage as a baseline, a reduction of 1 million gallons of petroleum-based fuel would equate to a 42 percent reduction in overall petroleum-based fuel usage by the City’s fleet.

To meet the “million gallon challenge,” McGinn has instructed the Department of Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) to update the City’s 2007 Clean and Green Fleet Action Plan. The plan will focus on four key areas to reduce Seattle’s use of petroleum-based fuels by 2020:

• Using advanced vehicle technology, such as automatic vehicle locators, to create operational efficiencies:
  • Route Planning – ensure vehicles travel the most-effective routes
  • Reduced Idling – avoiding excessive idling
  • Optimal Speeds – identifying ideal speeds to achieve optimal gas mileage

• Purchasing alternative-fueled vehicles:
  • All-Electric passenger vehicles, parking enforcement scooters, and light-duty trucks
  • Electric-Hybrid vehicles, heavy-duty trucks and large work vans
  • Other alternative-fueled vehicles that run on biofuels.  

• Investing and working with regional partners to develop electric vehicle infrastructure to support city fleet needs and enable Seattle residents to purchase all-electric vehicles:
  • Install additional charging stations in strategic locations throughout Seattle and travel points throughout Washington

• Using a biodiesel blend made with waste vegetable oil at the city’s three main fueling sites.

FAS will update the Clean and Green Fleet Action plan in 2013, so that this effort can start in earnest in 2014. McGinn will propose an adjustment to the 2014 endorsed budget to cover the costs associated with achieving this goal in 2020. This includes funding to purchase approximately 36 all-electric vehicles to replace traditional fuel vehicles due for replacement in 2014; to install and maintain 200 Advanced Vehicle Locator systems for supporting more efficient use of vehicles; for installing additional charging stations throughout the city; for preparation of existing tanks for biodiesel use; and to fund a new Green Fleet Coordinator, who will be responsible for implementing the Green Fleet Action Plan and cultivating regional partnerships to achieve green fleet goals. Actual funding amounts will be worked out during the 2014 budget process.

The City has already seen positive results when transitioning from petroleum-fueled vehicles to alternative-fueled options. Since 2011, the City’s 43 all-electric Nissan Leafs have traveled more than 240,000 miles. The switch from petroleum-fueled vehicles to all-electric reduced fuel consumption by more than 5,000 gallons and prevented 53 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of electricity to power the Leafs is cheaper than the cost of petroleum fuels for other vehicles. Over the lifespan of the electric vehicles the City anticipates they will have a net cost savings over petroleum-fueled vehicles.

Seattle has been a leader in green fleet development for more than 20 years – starting in 1991 when Seattle built a regional compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station on city-owned property. Having CNG fueling infrastructure ultimately led to the purchase of CNG fleet vehicles, spurring others to convert to CNG-fueled vehicles and laying the groundwork for requiring Seattle’s waste hauler contractors to use CNG garbage trucks. Seattle was also an early adopter of hybrid technology and grew its fleet of Toyota Prius to be one of the largest in the U.S. The City’s green fleet efforts culminated in 2010 when Seattle was recognized as the “#1 Green Fleet in North America” by Government Fleet Magazine and The 100 Best Fleets™.

The Cedar River

Looking for some relaxing ways to spend time with Mom for Mother’s Day? Here are some great ideas to get outside and experience some of our area’s natural beauty.

Happy Mother’s Day!

• Low tides this weekend make for great beach walks, including ones lead by Parks naturalists at Discovery and Carkeek Parks.
• Have you ever explored the Cedar River Watershed and education center? This weekend’s your chance to get outside and experience it through a mix of all-day field tours, hikes, history walks and family waterfall tours. More tours in June as well!
• In addition to being Mother’s Day this weekend, it’s also World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday. This annual event raises awareness of the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats. You can join the celebration at a Magnuson Park event from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. sponsored by Seattle Parks and Recreation, Seattle Audubon and others.

WHAT: Growing Transit Communities Strategy brownbag discussion
WHEN: Monday, May 13, 12 – 1:30 pm
WHERE: City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, Seattle City Hall, 600 Fourth Ave
WHO: Seattle City Councilmembers  & Puget Sound Regional Council staff

Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) developed a draft “Growing Transit Communities Strategy” to present consensus approaches for developing thriving neighborhoods around high-capacity transit areas, and to provide tools and resources to implement adopted regional and local plans.  PSRC will present the draft plan and solicit feedback.

For additional information, visit http://www.psrc.org/growth/growing-transit-communities/growing-communities-strategy.

Seattle City Council meetings are cablecast and Webcast live on Seattle Channel 21 and on the City Council’s website. Copies of legislation, Council meeting calendar, and archives of news releases can be found on the City Council website. Follow the Council on Twitter and on Facebook.

Re-posted from Council Connection

On Monday, April 29, the City Council unanimously adopted Seattle’s first formal Food Action Plan. The goal of the Plan is to increase access to healthy food, support local food production and strengthen the local economy.

The Plan builds on my Local Food Action Initiative (LFAI), adopted by the Council in 2008 in response to the growing public interest in local, healthy food. Numerous steps have been taken to implement the initiative in the last several years, including providing more stability for Farmers Markets, expanding the City’s community garden (p-patch) program, increasing the City’s commitment to improve nutrition and reduce hunger, and creating land use code amendments for urban farming that make it legal to grow and sell produce and products. The LFAI has been widely publicized and used a model around the country, and the National League of Cities is now promoting the adoption of local food policies as part of its sustainability initiatives.

Our work on local food has now gone beyond the LFAI, with the creation of the Regional Food Policy Council, which I Chair, and with creation of a new a position in the Office of Sustainability and Environment to coordinate our food work. In recognition of the need for a more formal and coordinated strategic approach, the Council first commissioned a consultant to draft a food policy, and then worked with the Mayor’s office to move this draft through a community consultation process and create a formal plan.

The core elements of the Food Action Plan are to:

• Create and sustain strong interdepartmental and intergovernmental coordination on food issues.
• Enhance partnerships with the public and private sectors and community-based organizations in the City and across the region.
• Stimulate collaboration among community organizations, institutions, neighborhoods, and governments.
• Focus on racial and social equity and support the communities most at-risk for food insecurity and diet-related disease.
• Increase inclusive communication and engagement opportunities for the public.
• Use data to assess conditions, inform priorities, and track progress.

The Plan has four key goals, with a series of strategies under each.

Goal 1 is to foster Healthy Food for All. Strategies include:

• Promote the location of healthy food access points that can be reached by walking, biking, or transit by all residents.
• Use the City’s purchasing and contracting power to support healthy, local, sustainably produced food.
• Support programs, policies, and projects that help get more healthy food to children and youth.
• Increase affordability of healthy, local food for low-income Seattle residents.
• Promote healthy food, especially in low-income communities and with youth, through education and collaborative efforts.

Goal 2 is to Grow Local to the maximum extent possible. Strategies include:

• Prioritize food production as a use of land.
• Develop and support programs to produce food on City-owned land.
• Support efforts to expand urban food production on privately owned land, including residential, commercial, and institutional properties.
• Explore opportunities to expand rooftop and building-integrated agriculture.
• Work jointly with other jurisdictions to conserve agricultural land.

Goal 3 is to use the food sector to Strengthen the Local Economy. Strategies include:

• Support businesses that grow, distribute, process, and sell local and healthy food.
• Celebrate and enhance local food as an element of Seattle’s economy and identity.
• Support farmers markets and small retailers that sell healthy and locally produced food.

Goal 4 is to Prevent Food Waste. Strategies include:

• Prevent edible food from entering waste stream.
• Increase composting of non-edible food.

Each of these strategies has a set of action items associated with it. Some highlights are:

• Expanding the Farm to Childcare program, which brings healthy food from local farmers into childcare sites, trains child care providers on nutrition and cooking and brings kids to local farms.
• Expanding the Fresh Bucks program, which increases the affordability of healthy food for low-income Seattle residents.
• Growing the successful P-Patch community gardening program, which will expand to 90 gardens throughout Seattle by the end of 2013.
• Leasing underutilized City-owned land to urban farmers, who want to expand food production in Seattle.

The Seattle Food Action Plan lays the groundwork for a just food system in Seattle. Consumers, retailers, distributors and growers all benefit. The actions in the Plan will help get healthier, local food onto the tables and into the lunchboxes of individuals, families and children.

More information on the City’s food systems work is here.