Seattle's First Sustainable Building Policy

Seattle is one of the top cities in the nation for LEED facilities and the City of Seattle is one of the largest single owners of LEED facilities in the world. This achievement was spurred by the City's adoption of the Sustainable Building Policy in 2000. Adopted in February 2000, it called for new City-funded projects and renovations with over 5,000 square feet of occupied space to achieve a Silver rating using the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Green Building Rating System™. 

Coupled with the biggest capital improvement program since the Seattle fire of 1888, the Sustainable Building Policy provided a unique leadership opportunity to create change in the building industry and the Mayor and City Council unanimously adopted it to encourage adoption of green building.  The City set out to “Lead by Example,” while meeting other city goals, which included:

• demonstrating the City’s commitment to environmental, economic, and social stewardship,
• yielding cost savings to the City taxpayers through reduced operating costs,
• providing healthy work environments for staff and visitors, and
• contributing to the City’s goals of protecting, conserving, and enhancing the region’s environmental resources.

Using a national standard such as LEED helps establish minimum performance levels, creates a common dialogue for discussion, and allows Seattle to measure its building performance relative to other jurisdictions using the same system. In addition, technical rulings, training, networking and marketing support are provided by the USGBC.