Clean Buildings Roadmap
for Washington
Roadmap Menu
Clean Buildings for Our Future
Washington is in the midst of a fundamental transformation from a fossil-fuel based economy to a carbon neutral economy. How we navigate this transition for residential and commercial buildings will have profound effects on the wellbeing and prosperity of future generations.
The SCALE 2030 Clean Buildings Roadmap (the Roadmap) connects Washington’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals with a long-term vision and whole system approach to implementation in the building sector. It is bold. It is pragmatic. It is systemic. Why? Because the clean buildings transition isn’t just about changing buildings. It’s about changing the complex building sector ecosystem and the larger policy, utility, and market context influencing decision-making at every level.
The Roadmap charts a path for decarbonizing buildings while positioning them as strategic assets for the grid and the economic vitality of our state. It focuses on structural changes and strategic investments the state can make in the next five years to create the regulatory and market conditions needed todeliver a total clean buildings transition by 2050.
The SCALE 2030 Clean Buildings Roadmap (the Roadmap) connects Washington’s ambitious climate and clean energy goals with a long-term vision and whole system approach to implementation in the building sector. It is bold. It is pragmatic. It is systemic. Why? Because the clean buildings transition isn’t just about changing buildings. It’s about changing the complex building sector ecosystem and the larger policy, utility, and market context influencing decision-making at every level.
The Roadmap charts a path for decarbonizing buildings while positioning them as strategic assets for the grid and the economic vitality of our state. It focuses on structural changes and strategic investments the state can make in the next five years to create the regulatory and market conditions needed todeliver a total clean buildings transition by 2050.
How We Get There
The Roadmap calls for an expansion beyond existing codes and standards, clean energy grants, and voluntary state and utility programs. With more than three million homes and hundreds of thousands of commercial buildings, Washington’s building stock is simply too large to chip away at year after year with relatively small program budgets. Business as usual will not get us where we need to go.
The Roadmap includes six levers with 16 actions to transform the building sector. They are high impact, high leverage efforts mainly led by the state. The primary focus is state action because the scale and ambition of the transition require a level of consistency, alignment, and coordination that is beyond the capacity of most local governments in Washington.
The Roadmap includes six levers with 16 actions to transform the building sector. They are high impact, high leverage efforts mainly led by the state. The primary focus is state action because the scale and ambition of the transition require a level of consistency, alignment, and coordination that is beyond the capacity of most local governments in Washington.
For levers and their associated actions to be included in the Roadmap they must accomplish one or more of the following:
- Cover a critical gap in the current building ecosystem
- Focus on developing the institutional and market capacity to scale clean buildings
- Drive change for a significant portion of the commercial and residential building stock
The levers and their associated actions are mutually reinforcing. Clear building sector goals and accountability provide a North Star for syncing all levers and actions. Comprehensive codes and standards ensure each building segment has a regulated path to meet building sector goals by 2050. Modernized utility regulation aligns utility programs and policies with the goals and ties earnings to building performance outcomes and grid modernization. More investment in market transformation and innovative financing models provide strong market signals and scale support for compliance with codes and standards. New funding sources allow the state to invest in this network of levers to rapidly scale the clean buildings transition.
Together, the levers act as a 360-degree approach to transitioning all building sector segments, which align with Washington’s Clean Buildings Performance Standard Tiers 1 and 2 and an additional proposed Tier 3:
- Tier 1 Buildings
- Commercial Buildings >50k sq. ft.
- Tier 2 Buildings
- Commercial Buildings >20k sq. ft. and ≤50k sq. ft.
- Multifamily Buildings >20k sq. ft.
- Proposed Tier 3
- Commercial Buildings ≤ 20k sq. ft.
- Multifamily Buildings ≤ 20k sq. ft.
- Single-family Homes ≤ 20k sq. ft.
- Commercial Buildings ≤ 20k sq. ft.
Levers and Actions
Below you can explore the six levers with their associated actions. Click on any lever or action to dive deeper.
Lever:
Building Sector Goals
Clear state goals and tracking mechanisms to create momentum and accountability to scale clean buildings
Lever:
Building Upgrade and Performance Standards
A comprehensive set of energy codes, performance standards, and appliance emissions standards to regulate steady energy reductions, decarbonization, and increased demand flexibility for all building types and sizes
Lever:
Modern Utility Regulation
Modern utility regulations that drive utilities to pursue emissions reductions and load flexibility in buildings that position buildings as essential grid resources
Lever:
Accelerated Market Transformation
Improved cost, awareness, and performance of clean buildings technologies so consumers and contractors choose them over alternatives
Lever:
Accessible Financing Tools
Expanded and new project financing tools that reduce upfront costs
Lever:
Reliable Transition Funding
Long-term, secure funding for investing in the clean buildings transition
Advisory Group
Many thanks to the members of the Roadmap Advisory Group for lending their time and expertise to the developement of the SCALE 2030 Clean Buildings Roadmap:
- Nick Cusick, Sustainable Connections
- Jonathan Heller, Ecotope
- Rachel Koller, Shift Zero
- Eli Lieberman, Washington Builds
- Sandra Mallory, Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment
- Nick Manning, Washington Department of Commerce
- Kerry Meade, Building Potential
- David Reddy, O'Brien 360
- Nicole Sanders, King County Executive Climate Office
- Juliet Sinsterra, Spokane University District
- Caroline Traube, McKinstry
