King County Green Building
Buildings are large energy users: in the Puget Sound region, about 22% of the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change are attributed to the building sector. Additional environmental impacts include contaminated storm water generated by continued creation of hard surfaces, and burdens on existing landfill space from construction and demolition debris generation. Green building techniques, coupled with upgrades and proper maintenance of existing buildings, can help reduce these impacts.
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King County's GreenTools program helps builders, residents, businesses and governments create and sustain "green" buildings and developments.
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The ordinance covers all King County-owned and county-financed projects, specifies reporting requirements to improve the information compiled on county divisions' green practices; and requires project managers to be trained in green building practices.
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The Green Building Team consists of representatives from King County Departments including Natural Resources and Parks, Transportation, Development and Environmental Services, Finance, Executive Services, and Adult and Juvenile Detention.
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The first step to achieving LEED Certification is to register your project with the U.S. Green Building Council.
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Building projects wanting to pursue LEED certification will have the most success by setting goals early on and establishing a process for managing the administrative needs and coordination of the project team.
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Case studies can provide good “how-to’s” on accomplishing green building goals. Finding a case study on a project that matches well with your project type and size is often a good starting and reference point.
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Tools to evaluate your commercial green building projects. Includes a detailed explanation of Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) - an economic methodology for selecting the most cost-effective design alternative for your project. |
King County has adopted many strategies that will enable us to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Green building is one key focus area and provides specific actions to meet the challenges presented by climate change.
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Annual Report
The 2010 Annual Report of King County’s Climate Change, Energy, Green Building and Environmental Purchasing Programs provides an integrated view of interdependent, mutually beneficial programs. Download the report (PDF, 1.4 MB). |
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Program Accomplishments
View expanded list (PDF, 1.3 MB) of King County green building efforts worked on or completed in 2010, including King County’s portfolio of LEED projects, project details by division, and GreenTools Program achievements.
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