Green building:  Incentives

• DDES permitting incentives
• State, federal and utility energy-efficiency incentives

King County encourages sustainable development and green building practices to help balance growth with protection of our region's valuable natural resources.

DDES permitting incentives

County incentives for builders and developers to use sustainable development techniques include the following for unincorporated King County:

• Residential projects - priority processing and free customized review!

  Residential projects achieving a Built Green 4-star or 5-star level or LEED Silver, Gold or Platinum level receive priority processing and a customized review schedule with an assigned project manager at no extra charge as follows:

• Built Green 5-star or LEED Gold/Platinum single family home, under 1,500-sf
• 8 hours of free project management
• priority processing

• Built Green 5-star or LEED Gold/Platinum single family home, under 5,000-sf
• 5 hours of free project management
• priority processing

• Built Green 5-star multi-family project
• 15 hours of free project management
• priority processing

• Built Green 4-star or LEED Silver single-family home, under 5,000-sf
• 3 hours of free project management
• priority processing

• Dedicated Green Track for green building and low impact development projects

  Building and development proposals in this track are assigned to a green team of King County staffers who have green building expertise.

• Free green building technical consulting service

  DDES Program Manager Cynthia Moffitt provides free technical assistance for green building and low impact development projects at DDES by phone, by e-mail, or by appointment. Simply contact Cynthia at 206-296-6792 or e-mail cynthia.moffitt@kingcounty.gov.

• Cost-sharing and fee discounts

  Cost-sharing and fee discounts are available for use of low impact development best management practices (BMPs).

See DDES information bulletin 55, Green Building and Low Impact Development (PDF*, 86KB) for more information, or contact Cynthia Moffitt at 206-296-6792 or e-mail cynthia.moffitt@kingcounty.gov.

State, federal and utility energy-efficiency incentives

DDES and the King County GreenTools program have developed tools to help facilitate and encourage participation in Puget Sound Energy (PSE), state, and federal incentive programs that promote energy efficiency and conservation in construction and retrofitting.

See Puget Sound Energy (PSE), state, and federal energy-efficiency incentives for:

• Residential Construction (PDF*, 88KB)
• Commercial New Construction (PDF*, 72KB)
• Commercial Retrofits (PDF*, 60KB)
  

*Note: To view PDFs, free software from Adobe is required. For assistance, see helpful hints.

To request this information in alternate formats for people with disabilities, call 206-296-6600 or TTY Relay: 711.