The following is a release from Snohomish County:

Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers announced a new initiative to establish green building standards for County-owned buildings. The County’s Office of Energy and Sustainability has assembled a new Green Building Advisory Team with the goal of developing a green building policy recommendation for the Executive and County Council in approximately 12 months. The Advisory Team is comprised of 18 interdisciplinary experts from county departments, partner organizations, and private industry.

“We know that energy efficient and ‘green buildings’ use less energy, less water, and cost less to operate over the life of the building which saves taxpayer money,” Somers said. “Snohomish County is committed to being good stewards of our environment and of taxpayer dollars, and developing green standards for County owned buildings will help us achieve both of these goals.”

The need to establish green building standards for County owned buildings was identified in the County’s Sustainable Operations Action Plan (SOAP). The SOAP is the County’s environmental action plan for government operations and was unanimously adopted by County Council in 2013. Assembling this new Green Building Advisory Team was identified as a priority action item under SOAP Objective 1A: Establish minimum green building practices for County owned buildings, including new construction and remodels. In addition, SOAP Strategy 1(i) calls for the County to: Assemble an inter-disciplinary team, including industry experts, to develop internal standards for green building design, construction and capital projects.

There will be multiple opportunities for public comment on the Green Building Advisory Team recommendations during the approximate 12 month project timeline.