King County and the 39 cities in King County have a formal shared goal to reduce countywide sources of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. King County and 13 cities have a joint commitment to achieve net zero GHG emissions in new buildings by 2030. The King County Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) establishes a target of 100% of King County projects achieve certifications demonstrating a net zero GHG emissions footprint for new facilities and infrastructure by 2030, and includes a commitment to identify and register 10 ZE/LBC projects by 2020. The projects will be built in multiple jurisdictions throughout the county, increasing the opportunities for regional code and policy advancement.
Through extensive collaborative efforts, both internally in King County government and externally with the International Living Future Institute and city jurisdictions, King County has been able to build a framework to accomplish this goal. This framework has resulted in further increasing awareness of emissions reduction opportunities in the built environment, increasing awareness of the Living Building Challenge, and establishing replicable tools and practices to initiate ZE/LBC projects for public work, infrastructure, and industrial type projects.
This session will feature speakers from the County's collective effort, representing executive level staff, project representatives, city representatives, and ILFI partners. Speakers will share policies, lessons learned, best practices, project details, and feasibility assessment tools with attendees that can be replicated in other jurisdictions. The information presented can be useful for attendees whether they are representing government agencies themselves, working on government projects, or even hoping to bring ZE/LBC to their local jurisdiction. Furthermore, there are significant opportunities to scale up these examples and impact different public work industries across the country – such as solid waste and recycling management, wastewater treatment, parks and recreation, mass transit and affordable housing. Demonstrating examples of local government taking action, surfacing and solving barriers, and making significant shifts in practice to meet GHG emissions reductions is timely and significant in the context of current federal affairs.
This session is approved for the following continuing education credits:
- 1.5 LFA credits
- 1.5 AIA LU|HSW credits
