In Seattle’s ongoing commitment to foster energy efficiency, the City passed a Building Tune-Ups ordinance earlier this year. The Building Tune-Ups ordinance phases in a periodic tune-up requirement for commercial buildings 50,000 square feet or larger, beginning in 2018.
What’s Happening Now
City staff are working to develop a Director’s Rule that will further detail compliance specifications. This week, staff are completing the last of six meetings with a technical working group which is advising on details of a Director’s Rule, The Rule is anticipated to be released for public comment in late September. An Open House to learn about the rule and provide input will be scheduled two weeks after release, in early October.
OSE is hosting a public meeting to seek input for the Director’s Rule on Tuesday, September 13th, 8:30-10 am at the Smart Buildings Center, 1200 12th Avenue S. RSVP to: christie.baumel@seattle.gov
Simple operational changes can yield big savings, and tune-ups are expected to generate 10-15% energy savings for a building, on average. The Tune-Up legislation is a key piece of Seattle’s Climate Action Plan, our roadmap to achieving carbon-neutrality, by helping ensure buildings don’t use energy and water wastefully. Reducing energy and water waste helps the City save resources and move toward its goals to reduce carbon pollution.
Read our FAQ page for more information on the Building Tune-Up policy.