Constructing a Greener Future: Transforming Washington’s Built Environment

By Simone Slykhous

Seattle, Washington. Image courtesy of Thom Milkovic.

SEI’s Climate Corps program has been awarded two U.S. Department of Energy grants with the state of Washington and the City of Seattle. These awards will fund nearly 100 Climate Corps Fellows over 9 years to support the implementation of Washington’s first-in-nation Clean Buildings Performance Standard and the City of Seattle’s Building Emissions Performance Standard. 

“The buildings sector is the single greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions,” said Executive Director Cyane Dandridge. ​“These grants offer a roadmap for other cities and states across this nation to meet ambitious and urgent climate goals while improving the financial well-being of individuals, businesses, and entire communities.”

SEI’s Climate Corps Fellows will help match building owners, particularly in low-income and underserved areas, with clean energy expertise to meet the Clean Building Performance Standards, as part of the $7.7 million grant to Washington State. 

Fellows will work in partnership with Washington’s Department of Commerce, the Smart Buildings Center Education Program, and San Timoteo Associates on the launch of the innovative Building Efficiency and Clean Operations Network (BEACON) to provide technical assistance for a successful implementation of building performance standards across the state.

Under a $17.2 million grant, the work of SEI’s Climate Corps program in the City of Seattle will focus on accelerating equitable outcomes and high compliance rates for Seattle’s buildings performance standard. 
​
​“This isn’t just an investment in infrastructure; this is an investment in people,” said Climate Corps Program Director Steve King. “Passionate, diverse, and highly trained Fellows will be at the forefront of transforming the built environment and working within communities impacted first and worst by climate change.”

SEI’s Climate Corps fellowship program has been a valuable resource for organizations and emerging climate leaders alike. Since 2010, the program has placed more than 800 Fellows within 600 partner organizations, leading to almost one million hours of service, collectively. The support Fellows provide directly impacts communities that are most affected by climate change through their work mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, saving water, and diverting waste. More than 98% of Fellows continue in the sustainability field after completing their fellowships, building our next generation of climate professionals. 

Over the past decade we have created specialized training and resources through our Strategic Energy Management track which is perfectly suited for supporting additional states and regions with a wide range of energy and utility programs. As more cities and states have or are in the process of developing building performance standards, we’d welcome the opportunity to explore how we could work with you in the near term. To learn more about SEI’s Climate Corps, please visit https://www.climatecorps.org/ ​or email [email protected].