Early last year, the City of Seattle enacted Energy Use Benchmarking with the addition of Chapter 22.920 of the Seattle Municipal Code. If your association is located outside of Seattle, then you’re off the hook…for now. Seattleites, you have a new goal: “achieve a 20% improvement in energy performance of existing building by 2020.” 

The ordinance has three components: benchmarking the building(s), annual reporting to the City of Seattle, and providing an energy disclosure report, upon request, to tenants, buyers or other qualified parties. While increased energy performance is the ultimate goal, the new law does not mandate reductions in energy use. Instead, the law requires building owners, including condominium associations, to provide the Department of Planning and Development an initial energy benchmarking report and, when available, an energy performance rating. Click here for more information.

On July 24, 2012, Seattle City Council's Environment and Energy Committee was briefed on a proposal to extend the reporting deadline for non-residential & multi-family buildings 20,000 to 49,999 SF to April 1, 2013 and make reporting voluntary for buildings less than 20,000 SF. Multi-family buildings 50,000 SF or larger still need to report by October 1, 2012. The proposal also simplifies the ordinance enforcement and penalties.

As of today, the City of Seattle has not formally adopted the proposal. Once the requirements and deadlines have been finalized, the team at Barker Martin, P.S. will send out a recap.In the interim, feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding the City of Seattle’s Energy Benchmarking and reporting program or any other legal needs of your associations.

In light of last week’s email, we hope you are taking some time to get outside and enjoy the summer!